Educational

Education

Marymount Manhattan College

Adjunct Professor
2018-2019

Collegiate School New York

Director of
technical theatre
2015-2018

Hillsborough Community College

Adjunct Instructor
2013-2015

Howard W. Blake School of the Arts

Technical Director
2010-2014

University of Memphis

GUEST INSTRUCTOR
2022

Lighting Designer
Production Manager
Educator

As a designer and an educator, I believe in the raw transformative power of live theatre. I believe that as designers, we have a unique responsibility to present meaningful art to the world as a way to enlighten and inform. As educators, we have an equally important responsibility to mentor students as they discover methods for achieving these goals. I encourage my students to think beyond what is “the right way” and to push the boundaries of their creativity.

In addition to the artistic side of the work, I also place a great value on preparing students for the actual realities of a career in the arts and in the theatre lighting business. As an active member of USA-829 and an employer of assistants and associates, I am able to bring real-world knowledge of industry best practices, trends, and opportunities to students in my programs. I have close relationships with nearly all major lighting manufacturers and national lighting vendors/shops, as well as connections with colleagues and friends throughout the country in all different levels and types of live production. I find that many students are graduating from university programs with no real idea of how things like taxes and insurance work for people in our unique line of work. It’s our duty as educators to prepare students both professionally and artistically. 

I am skilled at identifying particular strengths and weaknesses in students and helping create plans for young designers to develop and improve their talents. My range of experience in all types of productions means that I am able to shift from mentoring students doing a large rock musical to a Shakespeare play instantly, and my people-management skills allow me to navigate and de-escalate stressful situations in tech with ease. 

It’s also vitally important to me that students stay up to date with ever changing technologies in our world and in our industry so that they can best implement these technologies in their work. I strive to stay current with industry technologies and trends and have a wide range of technical skills from lighting programming to database coding to construction and more. This technical knowledge allows me to connect the theoretical design world with the practical world – something I see missing in many young designers today.

Finally, I think that it is absolutely essential for any design educator to maintain a professional working career in the industry. A designer who isn’t designing in the real world is not doing their students any favors. The only way to stay current on “how things work” is to actually be doing the work in a real-world production setting. I often facilitate skype classes with my students when a project takes me out of town or otherwise away from the classroom, where students are able to get a video tour of the show, systems, and setup. I enjoy collaborating with institutions that share this core belief. 

I long to work with students who share a love for theatrical design and who want to make this crazy business their career. I love watching a student fall in love with the art and science of lighting and it’s incredibly rewarding to me to be able to mentor young people to succeed.

Capture Previs Contest

In 2020, Mike launched a free previsualization contest for musical theatre designers/programmers to keep themselves occupied during the COVID-19 industry shutdown.

You can download the Capture Presentation Files, the actual Capture files, and all of the associated patch documentation here! Use them to develop your design and programming skills!

Master Classes

Mike is available for workshops and master classes on a variety of topics encompassing nearly all areas of production lighting. He has taught classes for several thespian festival organizations, professional theatres, educational institutions, and community groups. 

In March 2020, our industry was rocked by COVID-19. Mike has worked to transform some of his master classes into webinars instead, which have been viewed by thousands of people since they were started. Mike is also available for private sessions, both digital and in-person. 

Available Webinars:

FileMaker Sessions:

View more information about my FileMaker Sessions here.

  • FileMaker #4.1
    FileMaker #4.1

    Friday, February 12, 2021 @ 1:00p - It's time for Chapter Four! Adding media capture devices to your FileMaker Solution..

  • FileMaker #4.2
    FileMaker #4.2

    Friday, February 19, 2021 @ 1:00p - Capturing focus images with text and graphic annotations! In this session, we will build upon the capture device options that we set up in the previous session...

  • FileMaker #4.3
    FileMaker #4.3

    Friday, February 26, 2021 @ 11:00a - Automated focus image capture using ETC EOS..

  • FileMaker #3.1
    FileMaker #3.1

    Monday, November 23, 2020 @ 1:00p - The start of chapter 3! We're going to go in a slightly different direction for a little while. This chapter is going to cover creating a personalized contract mana..

  • FileMaker #3.2
    FileMaker #3.2

    Tuesday, November 24, 2020 @ 1:00p - Today, we'll add more contract types to our database. We'll also explore creating automatic emails and we'll start diving into how useful having a centralized data..

  • FileMaker #3.3
    FileMaker #3.3

    Wednesday, November 25, 2020 @ 1:00p - Today, we'll wrap up any loose ends and explore data aggregation, including tracking pension/health contributions, union dues, and more...

  • FileMaker #1.1
    FileMaker #1.1

    Monday, July 6th 2020 @ 6:00p - In this first session, we will start out by creating a basic work note database, linking instrument records to worknotes and vice-versa...

  • FileMaker #1.2
    FileMaker #1.2

    Tuesday, July 7th 2020 @ 6:00p - In this session, we'll keep building our basic worknotes database, exploring some basic layout tools and scripts for the first time...

  • FileMaker #1.3
    FileMaker #1.3

    Wednesday, July 8th 2020 @ 6:00p - In this session, we'll keep building our basic worknotes database, focusing on creating and distributing worknote reports...

  • FileMaker #1.4
    FileMaker #1.4

    Thursday, July 9th 2020 @ 6:00p - In this session, we'll add a mobile layout (iOS only) to add and update worknotes from your iPhones and iPads (requires network connection.)..

  • FileMaker #1.5
    FileMaker #1.5

    Tuesday, July 21st 2020 @ 6:00p - This will be a wrap-up session for Chapter 1, covering a few advanced topics and other miscellaneous tips and tricks...

  • FileMaker #2.6
    FileMaker #2.6

    Wednesday, August 26, 2020 @ 12:00p -In this session, we will connect our solution to EOS using MBS plugins to send UDP strings to EOS...

  • FileMaker #2.5
    FileMaker #2.5

    Tuesday, August 18, 2020 @ 1:00p -Today's session is all about labels - how to format them, how to create them, different options for printing them, and more!..

  • FileMaker #2.4
    FileMaker #2.4

    Monday, August 17, 2020 @ 1:00p - In today's session, we'll work on adding focus chart documentation to our solution, including adding a mobile focus photo insertion tool...

  • FileMaker #2.3
    FileMaker #2.3

    Thursday, July 30th 2020 @ 2:00p - In this session, we will create several different pieces of lighting paperwork, including Instrument Schedules, Channel Hookups, Gobo Orders, and more...

Left: Excerpts from letters of recommendation written by Mike’s former students, now working at all levels of production. 

Mike’s former students have gone on to study at North Carolina School of the Arts, Columbia, The University of South Florida, The University of Central Florida, and many more. 

His graduates have enjoyed successful careers with Alvin Ailey, Disney on Ice, The Straz Center, The Phillips Center, Feld Entertainment, and as freelance designers, technicians, and educators throughout the United States.