Childs to be remembered during symposium

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

 

 

Childs to be remembered during theater tech symposium

Theater faculty member Don Childs will be remembered as the OSU Department of Theatre hosts an annual winter symposium for the Southwest section of the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology Jan. 14 and 15.

Childs, who died Dec. 18, was a regional past president. A celebration of his life will start at 9 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 14, at the Seretean Center for the Performing Arts. The public is invited.

In a career spanning five decades, Childs designed more than 200 plays, musicals, dance concerts and exhibitions for academic and professional theaters. His teaching career took him from San Diego to Montreal. At the time of his death, he taught design at OSU.

About 200 students are expected to attend the regional symposium which allows students, educators, professionals and vendors in technical theater to meet and share ideas.Workshops include wig-making, costuming, lighting and sound technology, props crafts, management and rigging.

Keynote speakers are William J. Byrnes, provost of Southern Utah University, author and former institute president, and Jerry Nadal, senior vice president of Cirque du Soliel’s resident shows division. The featured artist is author and costumer Rafael Jaen.

A student design competition with more than $12,500 in prizes will be awarded in multiple categories. Registration begins Friday afternoon. The OSU Department of Theatre is one of 24 departments in the College of Arts and Sciences.