Welcome to our final Meet Our Team Monday for The Brave Little Tailor!

Keep an eye out for future Meet Our Team Mondays as we prepare for the premiere of Peter Rabbit™ Tales in the fall of 2015!

This post features Mask Designer Alisa Sickora Kleckner and Lighting Designer David O’Connor. All interviews are conducted by our Marketing Intern, Rachel Hulsart.

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Alisa Sickora Kleckner: Mask Designer

Rachel: Our audience primarily consists of children with a wide range of dreams of what they want to be. When you were a kid, what did you want to be?

Alisa: Houdini

Rachel: Where did you attend college and were there any professors that influenced you as an artist?

Alisa: I attended Muhlenberg College in acting and Bloomsburg University in art. My senior year at Bloom I took a costume design course that reshaped my career trajectory (thanks Prof. Karen Anselm!).  I found that my acting and sculptural training translated most profoundly in performance objects like costumes, masks, puppets and the like.

Rachel: What were some memorable theatrical experiences that you remember having growing up or even recently?

Alisa: In recent history, creating ALIVE! (a devised puppet show for adults) with my students at Arcadia University and colleague Scott Cassidy was truly an amazing experience. The artistry, creativity, honesty, humility, trust…I could go on and on.

Rachel: How is working with Enchantment Theatre Company different from any other company you have worked for before?

Alisa: ETC gives me the opportunity to hone my mask making craft. Most institutions shy away from using masks while ETC embraces the “tool” and continually explores its theatrical vibrancy and its imaginative engine.

Rachel: What was the first theatrical production that you saw as a child?

Alisa: A Chorus Line.

Rachel: If you could bring any of your favorite fairy tales/ childhood stories that Enchantment has not yet produced, what would they be and why?

Alisa: Well, since they have already produced the “Velveteen Rabbit…”  I did have a thing for “Where the Wild Things Are” and for some reason “Flat Stanley” come to mind (although I can’t remember why…)

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David O’Connor: Lighting Designer

Rachel: Our audience primarily consists of children with a wide range of dreams of what they want to be. When you were a kid, what did you want to be?

David: I don’t remember one thing – I think it changed all the time. My interests were all over the place. I know at one point I wanted to be an engineer like my dad. But I don’t think I thought about the future too much, and mostly enjoyed playing games and being with my friends.

Rachel: Where did you attend college and what drew you into pursuing a career in Lighting Design?

David: I went to Ithaca College in New York, and by the time I went to college, I knew I wanted to study lighting design because I had done so much of it while I was in high school. I got into lighting because I loved theater, and I was good with technology, and those things went together. When you work as a lighting person, you also get to spend lots of time in the dark, focusing and writing lighting cues, which fit my mood just fine as a kid.

Rachel: What were some memorable theatrical experiences that you remember having growing up or even recently?

David: Oh man. I teach classes about making theater, so my favorite experiences are watching what the students come up with, especially when they say things that are really true and honest. I also work a lot with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and some of the plays those students write have blown me away – like one student wrote a play where a shadow followed him everywhere he went – and I remember feeling like that sometimes when I grew up. (I still do sometimes.)

Rachel: How is working with Enchantment Theatre Company different from any other company you have worked for before?

David: Enchantment Theatre Company is super fun to work with. First, the stories are all geared towards a younger (more imaginative) audience. They are not too heady, more from the heart. It’s a nice change from all the plays of ideas that I work on. The pieces are all movement and mask based as well, which is different than most of the other work I do.

Rachel: What was the first theatrical production that you saw as a child?

David: I don’t know. That was a long time ago and I can barely remember what I saw last week! Maybe Carnival at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut.

Rachel: If you could bring any of your favorite fairy tales/ childhood stories that Enchantment has not yet produced, what would they be and why?

David: I don’t know if I have any favorite fairy tales. But I love what happens when Enchantment brings them to life!

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Thanks, Alisa and David!