Summer sure did fly by! Thanks to all who helped with Cockpit’s 2018 Summer Theatre, looking forward to next time!
One last conversation with a few behind the scene guys…
Joey Hellman (Stage Crew) is familiar with CCBC and Cockpit, his introduction was as an actor/dancer, you could usually find him dancing in a chorus, it all began with “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying“. Every summer after would find Joey either onstage or backstage. His first tech jobs were backstage at Cockpit and Dundalk Community Theatre. He’s also had a hand in directing, Plaza Suite at Cockpit and a few other productions in the Cabaret Theatre. He says that directing helped him to become aware of how important it is to have reliable volunteers in the technical positions.
Joey is a huge fan of Come Back…Jimmy Dean’s director, Linda Chambers. She’s a great director and a wonderful teach, he knew he could learn something just by being on her tech staff. He started out as the ‘light guy’ pressing one or two buttons at various cues and preprogrammed by Hayden Muller, who Joey refers to as “our fantastic tech director”. He was also responsible for placing the set pieces onstage at the top of each show. Because of an illness, the prop person wasn’t able to work on the production. And because the show must go on, he helped with setting and striking the props and set dressing. Joey gets a sense of pride being part of something bigger than himself. Getting to be part of a successful production of which you can be proud isn’t something everyone gets to do and he feels very honored to be allowed to come back and ‘play’ with his friends each year when they need him. Joey says he asks a lot of questions and in the process learns technical knowledge that you can’t always get from a book.
Hayden Muller (Lighting Designer/Technical Designer) spent most of his childhood building and learning trade skills from his father, and could be seen doodling in the back of class. Before he got involved with theater he worked for his family’s construction business, this helped to fund his art school education. He says he was lucky to get a scholarship to M.I.C.A. but found that the art community didn’t fit his stoic style of art.
He attended CCBC Catonsville as a fine arts major. While attending school, one of Hayden’s friends dragged him to the theatre. He saw him building a platform and says he was doing it incorrectly and slowly. He “offered” to build it instead and ended up volunteering for the day. He was offered a job to work for Moe Conn at Catonsville. This choice led him to Cockpit in Court as Chief Fly Operator and two years later Technical Director of the Cabaret, among other locations. Hayden plans to continue theatre, and build up his theatre, The Green Globe Theatre. He also plans to continue his pursuit of his special brand of art in his free time.