HHS Senior Attends Summer Theater Production Program at Carnegie

Harrison High School senior Jacqueline Cabrero was accepted into and attended the 2018 Summer Pre-College program for Design and Production Management at Carnegie Mellon University.

“Attending this program was one of the best decisions I’ve made so far!” said Cabrero. “From Day 1, I was enthralled with new knowledge from my professors and challenged to be out of my comfort zone in each of my classes. Although I had gained most of my knowledge about technical theatre in high school, I

was able to experience and learn more about the different design aspects including lighting design, scenic design, media design, and costume design.”

The six-week program had many components and Jackie took a total of 12 classes – some for the entire six-week period and others broken into three-week increments.

She took two three-week courses. The first was titled Introduction to Production Management, where she learned about budgeting a show and how to work with the production and creative teams to successfully produce a show.

The second was titled Stage Management and focused on the different responsibilities of a Stage Manager in a professional setting. She also packed her schedule with courses in Technical Production, Lighting Design, Carpentry, Props, Drafting, Basic Design, Science of Scenery, Scenic Painting, Costumes, and Dramatic Literature.

Fridays were designated for Jackie and the 10 other students in her program as Mandatory Workshops which ranged from media design and lighting to props making. The Workshops also included crucial strategies and information about the college application process. Carnegie Mellon University faculty helped the students create portfolios/resumes and gave feedback on how to prepare for college interviews.

As if her academic schedule wasn’t enough, Jackie also participated in a club called BOAL- based on the practices of Augusto Boal, a drama theorist and political activist. Boal created Theatre of the Oppressed and the CMU actors performed skits addressing major world problems such as racial discrimination, environmental issues, sex trafficking, immigration, gun control and more. These skits were then performed in front of an audience for the other pre-college faculty and students.

“My personal participation in this club was to be a lighting designer/stage manager where I was working one-on-one with the student directors and faculty to help spread a message about these major world issues,” she said. “As my final, instead of having a sit down exam for three hours, I had a mock interview where my professors mimicked a college interview setting and asked college interview questions for twenty minutes.”

“Overall in the six weeks I was at CMU, I learned and experienced so much that I wasn’t exposed to beforehand and was able to learn more about myself as a manager, technician and designer. I encourage everyone to take an opportunity like this and apply for a pre-college program during the summer to have a once in a lifetime experience.”