From February 2002 until July 2005 I worked on 5-star cruise ships for P&O Cruises, one of the world's leading cruise lines. In my capacity as Production Manager, I was jointly in charge of lighting and sound provision for all entertainment venues and performances throughout the ships that I was based on. During my time with P&O I worked in a variety of diverse genres with many world class performers including in-house show companies and cabaret artists, dancers, singers, choreographers, magicians, lecturers, other technicians and numerous, talented, professional musicians.
The diversity, scope and sheer volume of professional performance work that I was involved in provided me with remarkable opportunities to continue my own education and methodology in performance. I was able to consciously and actively contextualize a lot of my undergraduate learning while observing and providing technical support for other forms of performance beyond my previous education and experience. I have been able to employ the system of performance utilized on-board P&O ships to my own experimental writing, while my observations of different theatrical styles and technical techniques expanded my aesthetic vocabulary and allowed me the opportunity to continue my personal interest in audience psychology. Unfortunately, it can not be denied that I had little opportunity to create much of my own performance work or to facilitate any of my own creative work while working at sea. My technical skills in AV, film editing, sound engineering, live sound recording, live sound mixing, lighting design and operation increased immensely. I constantly strive to utilize these skills and techniques in my own creative work.
It has long been my intention to continue my education to Ph.D. level and to aquire a lectureship position at an accredited university. Since coming to the United States I have achieved many life goals and have expanded my abilities and knowledge greatly. In 2004 I had an article published in the summer edition of the South Eastern Theatre Convention magazine - the full article can be viewed here. This article may shed further light on my artistic aesthetic at this time.
By attending the MFA in Theatre Arts at Towson University I was able facilitate my academic interests and contextualize my own creative processes within a practical framework conducive to my long term goals. Teaching at Alfred University, I became increasingly aware that academia gives me both the opportunity to explore and contextualize my own artistic work while sharing my results and extensive theoretical knowledge with the next generation of performance producers.