Promise recipient returns home, holds workshop for high schoolers

By Caitlan Butler

Staff Writer

El Dorado Promise recipient Jacob George recently held a workshop for El Dorado High School theater students, talking to them about his work in professional theater.

George, who graduated from EHS in 2012, attended Arkansas State University, where he obtained a bachelor's of arts in theater with an emphasis on sound design and technology.

“Basically, a sound designer does all the sound effects, takes care of all of [the] microphones, vocals that are needed, effects on the vocals. You read the script, you figure out what sounds work the best to tell the story and present it to the audience,” George said, adding that thanks to the Promise, he was in a good financial situation throughout his time at college.

Since then, until only recently, George worked at the Jenny Wiley Theatre, a professional theater in Prestonburg, Kentucky. Additionally, he mentored students at the University of Pikeville and worked at Jenny Wiley’s youth theater, Footlights in Pikeville, Kentucky.

“Every show, it’s a brand new experience,” George said. During his time at Jenny Wiley Theatre, he sound designed shows like “Tarzan,” “The Addams Family,” “Hairspray,” “Footloose” and “A Christmas Carol.”

Last week, George spent time with EHS Stagecraft II students to talk to them about sound design and engineering.

“I’ve always liked the opportunity to work with different age groups, especially younger generations,” George said. “It’s my high school alma mater and my class was the first class to graduate from the new high school, so it was really cool to be able to give back in to that program.”

Over two days, George visited the class to talk about the sound design and technical theater. The first day, he said they focused on sound engineering, the technical aspect of sound design. During the course of the class period, George showed students the basics of their sound board, or mixing console, like how to create effects from the board and advice on mixing a live performance.

“From what I saw today, there are [students] interested and that’ll be good to have,” George said.

The second day of the workshop focused on the creative aspect of sound design, George said. He said the students gathered into the auditorium and listened as he described how to analyze a script. He said he emphasized how important it is to coordinate with all the other departments involved in a theatrical production, like lighting and costumes.

George said he also talked to students about career options that could be available to them if they decide to pursue theater professionally. In the field of sound design alone, he said options could include working as a professional sound designer in a theater, like he has; working in film; or even mixing live concerts.

“There’s a lot of different applications and I think they saw that. I think a couple of them are pretty interested in going up to the sound booth and playing around with it themselves,” George said.

George said he thinks the workshop was a success. He said he hopes students learned that there are options to pursue in the theater world outside of acting, adding that he has known lots of shy people go on to be successful in the world of technical theater.

“Theatre is not just getting on stage. … It takes everybody, it’s not just being on stage. I hope that if they want to get involved deeper, they know there’s different aspects to it,” George said.

George said he wanted to highlight how many options students have if they are interested in pursuing a career in theater. He said there are spaces for writers in playwriting; musicians in sound design and live music; painters and other visual artists in set, lighting, costume and properties design; those who like to work with their hands in set building; and many others.

George said that for now, he is taking a breather before he heads back to work. He said he hopes he helped encourage students to consider technical theater as an option for themselves.

“If you see an opportunity to be a part of any production, be it the Arts Center, the high school, Barton Junior High, Washington, if there’s any type of production and you’re thinking ‘I kind of want to be a part [of it] but I don’t want to be on stage,’ talk to whoever’s in charge and there’s always spots to be involved. Don’t shy away from it because you’re scared,” George said. “If you’re scared of it, do it anyway.”

Caitlan Butler can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].

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