Behind the scenes at IU Southeast's Ogle Center
With six people, the Paul W. Ogle Cultural and Community Center crew at Indiana University Southeast may be small, but that doesn't stop it from successfully running more than 100 shows per season.
Jay Moore works at the sound board in the Richard K. Stem Concert Hall inside the IU Southeast Ogle Center during a daytime show.
This busy lineup means that Jay Moore, technical director of the Ogle Center, and his assistants Joey Leezer and Derek Young, often run two or more shows per day. Assisting them with operations at the center are Michaeleen Ogden, box office manager, Lynn Reker, administrative assistant and Kyle Ridout, building manager and Moore's supervisor.
"To run the facility and put on the performances here, we all have to work together very closely. I work with some great people," Moore said.
It may sound like a challenge to some, but Moore -- who has worked at the center since it opened in 1996 -- has created his own formula for success.
The Ogle Center has about 20 small rehearsal studios for individual students. There are also three private rooms for lessons, and a larger classroom. Four indoor theaters, an amphitheater and an art gallery are also housed inside the facility. The largest theater has 350 seats on the floor and 150 seats in the balcony.
The main theater hosts a variety of shows, from the Louisville Orchestra to famous comedians. The center also is used during the summer for student orientation.
"There is always something going on whether there is an event or there are school functions here," Moore said. "We don't have the luxury of a large crew and sometimes there are 16 hour days, but we learn to love each other."
During a typical day, Moore, Leezer and Young review the performance schedule to determine if any maintenance needs to be completed before acts arrive at the center. After reviewing the schedule, they open rooms for rehearsals and music and theater classes. Some days, voice students audition for solo parts in the chorus or guitar students will meet for class. The IU Southeast Orchestra and the Commonwealth Brass Band also rehearse upstairs in the recital hall.
When a special event is booked at the center, Moore said the crew plans ahead and each person has his specific tasks to complete. It is not uncommon for the center to have a show and a band perform on the same day. Moore recalls one instance when a 90-piece concert band rehearsed on the main stage the same day of a separate evening show. Moore and his crew tore down the band's shell, cleaned the stage, hung lighting and brought back the curtain all in the same afternoon.
This season, Brad Tassell's Kids Comedy show performed a morning and afternoon show on the same day that Janet Hamilton, an IU Southeast faculty member, had an organ recital and lecture. On Thursday evenings, the IU Southeast band rehearses in a small rehearsal hall, so Moore and his crew arrive at the center Friday mornings between five and six a.m. to move their equipment to the main stage.
Not only does the job require moving stage equipment around the center, but Moore and his team write cues for the lighting needed for each show. The cues indicate to Moore when the lighting needs to be changed during a show.
During shows in the children's series, the groups that perform tend to have specific lighting needs for each act, requiring him to make more than 80 changes during a performance. He follows the script as the show progresses, listening for the moments in the program when he needs to change the lighting.
"You end up with a cue list and you have to listen closely because they don't have their own sound and light guys so you're running the show without a stage manager," Moore said. "You have to learn the whole act and then follow along with them and give them the lighting looks they requested."
Generally, though, Moore works on sound and Young works on lighting. The challenge with sound is to anticipate whether sound will need to be taken down or brought up.
"You can't push too much because it would destroy everyone's ear drums, but we usually don't have that type of act in here anyway," Moore said. "The main room, in particular, has amazing acoustics."
The job is a great way to see a variety of acts, Moore said. Many famous acts pass through the Ogle center, drawing audiences from southern Indiana and Kentucky. This season, noted singer/song writer and saxophonist Curtis Stigers played one night in October. Another noted jazz musician that passed through the center was Chuck Mangione, who has been busy touring and is currently caricatured on the Fox TV hit show, "King Of The Hill."
This is a view of the set of "Bus Stop," a show that played in March 2007 inside the Robinson Theater in the Ogle Center at IU Southeast.
"Generally, if it is a large show you don't get the choice to really take it in," Moore said. "If it is a show without a lot of cues, you get to take in a good part of it."
However, when impressionist Rich Little performed at the Ogle Center during the 2005-06 season, Moore said there was only one microphone and therefore few changes to make, allowing him to take in the entire performance.
For Moore, the biggest challenge working behind the scenes is trying to efficiently change either the light or the sound. "When acts get here, they want you to be ready," Moore said. "So far we haven't had problems, but it gets close because everything is to the wire. However, we've made it every time."
The biggest disaster Moore can recall involved a microphone and the actress and comedian Vicki Lawrence. Lawrence elected to use her own sound company and microphone, and it cut out numerous times during the performance. "We tried to get her to change mikes and she wouldn't do it because she was using a wireless mike," Moore said.
Overall, Moore said the shows run generally without a hitch and the whole crew agrees that the main stage is excellent.
"It was designed with sound in mind. There is not a bad seat in the house," Moore said. "When it's very full, you can hear equally well from every part of the room."
To learn more about the Paul W. Ogle Cultural and Community Center, visit: http://oglecenter.ius.edu/index.cfm.
