EDUCATION
New York University, MFA Design 2005.Graduate Assistant 2002-2004. J.S. Siedman Prize 2005
Major: Set and Lighting design for stage. Studied: Dramaturgy, Research, Lighting and Set Design
Thesis: Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten, Production Design
University of Alaska Southeast, Non-degree seeking1996-2001.
Completed classes in welding, computer aided design, and several credits of fine art, primarily drawing and figure drawing.
Harvard University BA, Cum Laude in History 1988.
President Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, 1986. Studied: European History, Russian language/literature, research, writing. Thesis: Marxism and the Individual: Soviet Dissident Though in the context of Russian Intellectual History
DESIGN CREDITS
(* Indicates World Premiere)
With* by Carter Lewis * - Sets and Lights - director: Alicia Dyana House - Perseverance Theatre
Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows - Sets - director: Shona Osterhout - Perseverance Theatre
Franklin* by Samantha Noble * - Sets - director: Hannah Wolf - Perseverance Theatre
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostad, adapted by David Grimm - Sets and Lights - director: Eleanor Holdridge - Perseverance Theatre
Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling - Sets and Lights - director: Carolyn Howarth - Perseverance Theatre
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Christopher Sergel - Sets - director: Art Rotch - Perseverance Theatre
They Don’t Talk Back* by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse - Sets and Lights - director: Randy Reinholz - Perseverance Theatre
In the Next Room by Sarah Ruhl - Sets and Lights - director: Carolyn Howarth - Perseverance Theatre
The Last Ferryman* by Linda Britt and Paul Sullivan - Sets and Lights - director: Judith Jerome - Opera House Arts
Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeline George - Sets and Lights - director: Tom Robenolt - Perseverance Theatre
Warriors* by Dave Hunsaker - Sets - director: Dave Hunsaker - Perseverance Theatre
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike! by Christopher Durang - Sets - director: Carolyn Howarth - Perseverance Theatre
Rush at Everlasting* by Aritia Jones - Sets - director: Bostin Christopher - Perseverance Theatre
Treasure Island by Ken Ludwig - Sets - director: Anita Maynard Losh - Perseverance Theatre
God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza - Sets - director: Pirronne Yousefzadeh - Perseverance Theatre
the road weeps, the well runs dry* by Marcus Gardley - Sets - director: Aaron Davidman - Perseverance Theatre
Seminar by Theresa Rebeck - Sets and Lights- director: Cynthia Croot - Perseverance Theatre
Oklahoma! by Rogers and Hammerstien - Sets - director: Shona Osterhout - Perseverance Theatre
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - Sets - director: Jade King Caroll - Perseverance Theatre
Animals Out of Paper by Rajiv Joseph - Sets - director: Flordelino Lagundino - Perseverance Theatre
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - Sets and Lights - director: Carolyn Howarth - Perseverance Theatre
Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker - Sets - director: Brandon Demery - Perseverance Theatre
This Wonderful Life by Steve Murray - Sets - director: Tim Hyland - Perseverance Theatre
The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder - Sets - director: Drew Barr - Perseverance Theatre
The Long Christmas Dinner by Hindemuth and Gianni Schicchi by Puccini Sets - director: Ed Berkeley- Juilliard School
boom! by Peter Nachtrieb - Sets - director: Emma Griffin - Perseverance Theatre
La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini - Sets - director: Ed Berkeley- Aspen Music Festival
O Lovely Glowworm by Glen Berger - Sets and Lights - director:Wier Harman - Perseverance Theatre
Absence* by Wendy Hammond - Sets - director: Ken Marini - People’s Light and Theatre Company
Wittenberg by David Davalos - Sets and Lights - director: Michael Stevenson - Perseverance Theatre
The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol - Sets - director: Emma Griffin - Perseverance Theatre
Treasure Island by Ken Ludwig - Sets and Lights - director: Peggy Shannon - Sacramento Theater Company
Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck - Sets - director: Ed Berkeley- Aspen Music Festival
Marko the Prince, by Jovanka Bach - Sets - director: Marcy Arlin - Immigrants Theater Company
I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda by Sonja Linden - Sets - director: David Bradley - People’s Light and Theater Company
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostad- Sets and Lights - director: Peggy Shannon - Sacramento Theater Company
La Doriclea by Francesco Cavalli - Sets - director: Ed Berkeley - Juilliard School
A Christmas Carol by Gerard Stropnicky - Sets - director: Laurie Mccants - Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck- Sets - director: Michael Stevenson- Sacramento Theater Company
Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, adapted by Louis Lippa - Sets - director: Ken Marini - People’s Light and Theater Company
Eliogabolo by Francesco Cavalli - Sets - director: Ed Berkeley - Aspen Music Festival
Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer - Sets - director: Keith Baxter - Perseverance Theatre
The Mother of Us All by Virgil Thompson - Sets - director: Ed Berkeley - Juilliard School
Bat Boy by Farley, Fleming and O’Keefe - Sets - director: Marcia Douglas - University of Maine
Splittin’ the Raft by Scott Kaiser - Sets - director: jade King Caroll - People’s Light and Theater Company
Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod - Sets - director: Ed Bourgeoir - Anchorage Opera
H.M.S. Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan - Sets - director: Bill Fabris - Anchorage Opera
Noises Off by Michael Frayn - Sets - director: Keith Baxter - Perseverance Theatre
A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen - Sets - director: Ken Kaissar - Epiphany Theater Company
Wintertime by Charles Mee - Sets - director: Tom Mitkotowiz - University of Maine
As You Like It by William Shakespeare - Sets and Lights - director: Jeffrey Frace - Opera House Arts
Women and the Sea by Anita Stewart and Shelly Berc - Sets and Lights - director: Judith Jerome - Opera House Arts
The Man from Nebraska by Tracy Letts- Sets - director: Ken Marini - People’s Light and Theater Company
Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Weber Sets - director: Sandra Hardy - University of Maine
The Crucible by Arthur Miller- Sets and Lights - director: Eleanor Holdridge- Perseverance Theatre
Riders to the Sea by ralph Vaughn Williams and A Dinner Engagement by Lennox Berkeley - Sets - director: Rhoda Levine- Manhattan School of Music
Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward- Sets - director: Marcia Douglas - University of Maine
The Pelican by August Strindberg - Sets and Lights - director: Julie Rossman - Bard College
The Women of Lockerbie by Debora Brevoort- Sets - director: Laurie McCants - Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble
Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman- Sets and Lights - director: Dave Hunsaker - Perseverance Theatre
The Wooden Breeks* by Glen Berger - Sets and Lights - director: Wier Harman - Actors Express
The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night byWilliam Shakespeare - Sets - directors: Carolyn Howarth and Robert Wineapple - Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival
Fair Use* by Sands Hall - Sets - director: Lynn Collins - Foothill Theater Company
A Comedy of Errors and Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare - Sets - director: Michael Haney and Phillip Sneed - Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival
Dracula* by Gary Wright, Translated to Russian by Julia Polshina - Sets and Lights - director: Phillip Sneed - Gorky Theater, Vladivostok, Russia
Moby Dick by Leon Ingulsrud, Peter DuBois and Lucy Thurber - Sets and Lights - director: Leon Ingulsrud - Perseverance Theatre
Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O’Neill - Sets and Lights - director: Kate Whoriskey - Perseverance Theatre
How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel - Sets and Lights - director: Peter DuBois - Perseverance Theatre
W;t by Margaret Edson - Sets and Lights - director: Terry Cramer - Perseverance Theatre
Dracula* by Gary Wright - Sets and Lights - director: Hugh Dignon - Foothill Theatre Company
Goblin Market by Polly Pen and Peg Harmon - Sets and Lights - director: Peter DuBois - Perseverance Theatre
Short Stories* by Ensemble- Sets and Lights - director: Leon Ingulsrud - Perseverance Theatre
Angels in America by Tony Kushner- Sets and Lights - director: Anita Maynard Losh - Perseverance Theatre
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare- Sets and Lights - director: Peter DuBois - Perseverance Theatre
Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? by Edward Albee- Sets and Lights - director: Molly Smith- Perseverance Theatre
The Minneola Twins* by Paula Vogel- Sets and Lights - director: Molly Smith - Perseverance Theatre
King Island Christmas* by Debora Brevoort- Sets and Lights - director: Anita Maynard Losh - Perseverance Theatre
Coyote Goes Salmon Fishing* by Debora Brevoort and Scott Richard- Sets and Lights - director: Molly Smith - Perseverance Theatre
Cabaret by Kander and Ebb Sets and Lights - director: Anita Maynard Losh - Perseverance Theatre
Out of the Blue* by Merry Ellefson and Tom Linklater- Sets and Lights - director: Lynette Turner - Perseverance Theatre
The Faraway Nearby* by John Murrell- Sets and Lights - director: Joanna MacIntyre - Perseverance Theatre
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams- Sets and Lights - director: Molly Smith - Perseverance Theatre
The Grapes of Wrath by Frank Galati- Sets and Lights - director: Tim Dang- Perseverance Theatre
Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward- Sets and Lights - director: Anita Maynard Losh - Perseverance Theatre
American Buffalo byDavid Mamet- Sets and Lights - director: Rita Giomi - Perseverance Theatre
The Plucky and Spunky Show by Mike Ervin- Sets - director: Molly Smith - Perseverance Theatre
The Lady Lou Revue by Gordon Duffy and Allan Chapman Sets and Lights - director: Various, Multi Summer run - Perseverance Theatre
Democracy* by John Murrell- Sets and Lights - director: Molly Smith - Perseverance Theatre
Signs of Life* by Debora Brevoort Lights - director: Christopher Hanna - Perseverance Theatre
WORK EXPERIENCE
Perseverance Theatre, Douglas, Alaska, Artistic Director, 2008-2019
Perseverance Theatre was founded in 1979 with the mission to create professional theatre by and for Alaskans. AD is responsible for curating and staffing and managing artistic programming, speaking and advocating for the theatre, fundraising and finance, hiring and managing personnel, setting an overall direction, and reports to the board. In the 2012-13 season, PT had a staff of 11 Full Time equivalents, contracted over 150 artists, and presented over 110 performances across the state.
Art Rotch Designs, Principal, 2004- Present
Freelance set and lighting design, primarily for theatre and opera. Clients include regional theatres, opera houses, universities, festivals and independent producers. Produced 36 design projects in 2005-2007., and was less active from 2008-2019 while living in Alaska.
Perseverance Theatre, Douglas, Alaska, Resident Designer, 2001-2002
Primary duties were to design and productions and manage other designers, and to work with an architectural firm on a major facility design for a fundraising plan. Prior to this position, also served as Production Manager and Technical Director, managing production department of 3-5 full time personnel, annual budget of $100,000-$200,000. Served as part of the interim artistic management team during Molly Smith’s sabbatical season, and on the hiring committee to recruit her successor.
Perseverance Theatre, Douglas, Alaska, Technical Director, 1989-2001
Served as Production Manager and Technical Director, responsible for managing production department of 3-5 full time personnel, annual budget of $100,000-$200,000, and directly responsible for running the scenery department. Served as part of the interim artistic management team during Molly Smith’s sabbatical season, (1992-1993)n and on the hiring committee that recruited Peter DuBois to replace Smith as Artistic Director in 1998.
University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Fine Arts Camp, TD and Stagecraft Instructor, Summer, 1993
Supervised scene shop and student staff providing technical support (set construction, rigging, electrics, sound) for student productions. Built one set for a rural tour. Taught two stagecraft classes.
Alaska Arts Southeast, Sitka, AK, Technical Director
Working as an independent contractor constructing a temporary theatre/ dance/ musical performance space inside an aircraft hanger for the Sitka Summer Arts camp. Taught two stagecraft classes. Summer, 1991
IATSE local 918, Anchorage, AK, Stagehand, 1988-1989
Worked union calls for concerts, trade shows and theatre, usually as an electrician but also as a fly man or carpenter.
American Stage Festival, Milford, NH Scenic Carpenter, 1989
Worked as one of three carpenters building, loading in and maintaining shows for a three-week stock season. Worked with wood, rigging and welding steel, building from designer’s drawings with and ATD to manage workflow.