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Thompson lands backstage role
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Senior Sarah Thompson, majoring in theatre arts with an emphasis in design, is the production manager for all the shows this season in the Department of Theatre Arts.
Thompson began by managing two or three shows a season, but now she oversees the entire department as well as helping the new stage managers.
Thompson’s final stage-managing production will be this spring’s Damn Yankees.
A Boise native, Thompson joined the Theatre Arts program after she received the Brown Scholarship as a senior at Boise High School.
Thompson participated in theater throughout high school as the stage manager for every production.
“It was a great experience,” Thompson said.
Thompson has always had a preference for backstage work.
“I’m not the acting type,” Thompson said.
However, her high school drama coach encouraged her to give acting a try. During Thompson’s only acting experience as a senior at Boise High, she played a “super-sexy 70s spy”. She wore a spandex and stiletto- heels costume.
“That about did it for me with the acting,” she said.
Instead, Thompson put her energy into backstage work. She hasn’t acted in any Boise State productions, but she did design the lighting for Showcase, a group of plays put on by theater majors. Thompson also has experience in scene design.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree, Thompson plans to attend graduate school, where she will continue to focus on stage management. She said she probably will not stay in Boise, but her options remain open.
Thompson will vie for scholarships at the University Residence Theater Association auditions in Chicago along with some other theater majors. URTA is a prestigious professional theater-training program accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre, or NAST.
After graduate school, Thompson would like to pursue a production-management role. She has mixed feelings about live theater.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” Thompson said.
She may look into managing television, although she has not had any experience in that particular medium. She hopes graduate school will help her with her decision.
Tammy Sands, The Arbiter