Crossroads News
Lights Up at the Bezdek!
Professionals teach students to install lighting at the Bezdek’s Stern Family Theater.
The highly anticipated new Bezdek Center for the Arts is now open on the 21st Street Campus. The state-of-the-art complex, which houses a theater, recital hall, studios and classrooms, is poised to transform arts education at Crossroads, giving students new spaces in which to perform, create and learn. As the finishing touches are added, students are playing an important role in another part of the process: helping to bring the performance spaces to life.
Last week, technical theater students worked with the Burbank-based company VOLT Lites to help install lighting in the Bezdek’s 100-seat Mary Ann recital hall and the 600-seat Stern Family Theater. The hands-on experience gave students an opportunity to work alongside professionals with expertise in theatrical production while learning more about the ins and outs of the spaces that will soon host many of the School’s performances.
For Heather Moses, the newly hired director of arts production at the Bezdek, involving students in the process was essential. “VOLT Lites brings real-world experience, technical expertise and a passion for lighting to the students,” Moses said. “Opportunities like this help our students connect what they are learning in the classroom to real careers, while opening their eyes to pathways and opportunities they may not have otherwise considered.”
During one class workshop, the VOLT team taught students how to rig lighting onto the Stern’s battens—the long pipes suspended above the stage that support lights, curtains and sets—allowing them to put their knowledge into practice in a professional-scale performance space.
For many students, the workshop was also their first opportunity to enter and experience the Stern Family Theater firsthand.
“It’s daunting, honestly,” admitted sophomore Judah Krauss of the space, which is larger than some Broadway houses. “The program’s going to change. It’s much more professional.”
For senior Jake Lerner, who has devoted much of his time at Crossroads to leading audio tech for stage productions, The Stern offers an exciting opportunity to play a part in its inaugural season.
“I think it’ll be fun,” he said. “It’s my senior year, so I’m glad I’m getting some time to do shows in here. I like the new challenge of it.”
That challenge comes in part from the sheer size of the new space. With more room comes more equipment, larger crews and new logistical issues for the theater tech team to solve.
As the first cohorts of students settle into the classrooms and spaces, including the Mary Ann recital hall and Equity & Justice Institute Seminar Room, the building’s identity will begin to take shape through the work, performances and experiences that unfold within its walls.
When the lights come up for the first show in the Stern Family Theater this fall, they will illuminate a space not only created for students but, importantly, by them too.
