MHT welcomes new Technical Director

An interview with Jerome Veit

Q: Where are you from? I'm from Crystal Lake, Illinois. A northwest suburb of Chicago.

Q: What is your past work experience? Previously, I worked 3 summers at McLeod Summer Playhouse as a carpenter, then Lead Carpenter, and finally as the sound designer/ engineer. I was going to work for Utah Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 2020 as a carpenter.

Q: Where did you go to school/what did you study? I went to Southern Illinois University Carbondale where I studied Theater specializing in Technical Direction. I also studied film for a while before getting pulled back into theater.

Q: What interested you in working for Market House Theatre? I got a text from a guy I went to school with asking if I was looking for work and was put in contact with MHT. After visiting and seeing the facilities and history of the theatre, I became more interested! Q: Are you liking Paducah so far? It is a nice town that has more to offer then one would think at first glance. Though I haven't truly had the time to explore as much as I would like to!

Q: What are your goals for your role as TD? My first goal is to provide technical support for performances and to make sure it is done in a safe, efficient way. Then, my second goal is to organize the technical spaces in order to be more efficient and resourceful with the materials we have.

Q: What's your favorite part of the technical theatre world? I like it all. I enjoy getting into the details of a show and doing the things no one thinks of when they think of theater. I enjoying being part of the process of taking a few sketches and turning it into a real, physical thing. I also really like that no two days are the same and no two shows are the same.

Q: What's your favorite show you've ever worked on and why? In college, a group of undergrads decided to get together and fully produce, build, and perform a show ourselves, as professionally as we could. The show was called Punk Rock. We were able to fundraise, while getting some support from the theater department, like being able to use all the facilities and materials, but otherwise it was all done just by us and it was fantastic. We did as good a job, if not better, than some of the shows put on by the college. It was all together a fun and collaborative project to round off our college experience.

Q: What else should we know about you? I'm lucky that I was able to turn my hobby into a career. Working in theater can be a lot of hard, long work, but can also be very rewarding. My family has always supported me and I grateful to them for all they have done for me. In my free time I enjoy watching TV and movies; lately I've been watching a lot of sci-fi shows. I just finished watching most of the Star Trek series for the first time. I love good food and I very been, slowly, working my way around town to try out the different options. I also enjoy going out in nature and enjoying what this planet has to offer, weather and time permitting.