A light guy takes pride in his work

A light guy takes pride in his work

	Published : Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:43 By : Agencies Print this Story

NEW YORK (AP) - Seventeen years ago, it was John Kelly's job as a 'followspot' operator to illuminate Cathy Rigby as she flew around the stage in 'Peter Pan,' the musical about the boy who refused to grow up.

Kelly ran a second followspot, too, creating the character of Tinkerbell, portrayed by only a beam of light. So what happened when, in the story, the incorrigible Tink almost dies and nearly blinks away? 'That was me flashing the light,' Kelly said, explaining one of the other duties of his first job on Broadway.

These days, Kelly is not operating any lights at all -- blinking or otherwise.

His current Broadway address, the Neil Simon Theatre, home of 'Hairspray,' is dark. And Kelly, an electrician, stands outside on West 52nd Street, where he and the theater's other stagehands, members of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, walk in silent picketing.

Since Nov. 10, stagehands, who also include scenery, prop and sound people, have been on strike in a dispute with the League of American Theatres and Producers. Kelly and some 350 of his fellow stagehands have been on the line ever since.

'I wear many hats in this scenario,' he said in discussing the strike during a recent interview at the union's theater-district headquarters.

Kelly is also on the union negotiating committee with the league, so he has been in the middle of the labor wrangling since last summer. Talks were to resume Sunday after a week of no contact, which has meant shut theaters for more than two dozen plays and musicals during what is usually one of the most lucrative times of the year for Broadway.

The 52-year-old Kelly, a genial, bearded man who looks a decade younger, takes a quiet pride in his work. The man can talk lighting, all kinds of lighting, an important component of what makes live theater so unique -- and labor intensive. Take those followspot operators, for example.

'They work very hard because typically they are on for most all of the show,' Kelly said of the men and women who keep the spotlight on a specific performer. 'They have to follow an actor on stage and, if there is an understudy on or a change in that evening's performance, the job changes. Even the same actor is slightly different night to night.'

Kelly's official job title at the Simon is deck electrician, responsible for the show's electrical gear on stage.

A typical workday for Kelly -- one that is centered on an 8 p.m. performance -- starts at 6:30 p.m. This is what's known as the continuity hour when Kelly checks the lighting equipment, particularly the show's 52 moving lights.

'We step through a series of checkout cues for my babies, my robot girls (which is what Kelly calls his roving lights),' Kelly said. 'I am responsible for keeping them running.

'During a performance, I am either on stage, in standby getting ready to do a cue, or I am downstairs repairing a moving light.'

It's a full, often busy time, a day that doesn't usually end until 10:40 p.m.; his weekends and most of his evenings are taken up with work.

Kelly refers to himself as 'a Broadway cowboy.' He often assists on the load-ins of other shows, specifically moving in and setting up lighting and sound equipment in a theater.

He didn't plan to be a stagehand; music was his goal. Originally from Stratford, N.J., Kelly moved to Santa Barbara, Calif., when he was 23. He played in bands, including one that worked for a small theater company that was then called the Ensemble Theatre Project. He worked there as a musical director, sound designer, production designer and technical director.

Union work followed at other Santa Barbara theaters and finally an offer came from a friend to join the Rigby 'Peter Pan,' which was then on tour.

Kelly found he liked going out on the road with shows, working as an electrician and a followspot operator. Some, such as revival of 'Man of La Mancha,' starring Raul Julia and Sheena Easton, ended up coming into New York.

These days, Kelly is based in New York and lives with his girlfriend in Manhattan. Unlike many stagehands, he didn't grow up in a family of stagehands, although his sister is also a union member. They are in the same international, although she is in the movie business.

'No two shows are alike,' Kelly said. 'One of the best things about this job is also one of the worst: All shows close.

'If you are working on one you don't particularly like or have a job you don't particularly care for, you can know that, at some point, it will end. But that's also a bad thing because if you are on a show you particularly like with a crew you particularly like and a cast you enjoy, it becomes a family, a group of individuals all working together, a collaborative effort.'