When imagining how major theatrical productions are successfully executed, creatives like actors and directors are often the first people credited with bringing their shows to life. For Quentin Mariano ’15, the real magic is what goes on behind the scenes.
“It’s basically [our] job to help create the atmosphere essentially that you see on stage,” Mariano said.
Mariano currently serves as head electrician in the ongoing production of Good Night, Oscar, starring Will and Grace’s Sean Hayes, which opened on Broadway April 24. The job marks his first in a major Broadway production.
As head electrician, Mariano helps bring a lighting designer’s vision to life, and he does so on a regular basis to help performers get in the proper mindset and give audiences the same stellar performance daily.
“We want their vision to come alive to make the world the best it can be in the show,” he said. “So the actors have an area to work in that's believable to them, plus the audience, making it like, ‘Oh, I really am in Hadestown. I'm in hell. I'm really at the Paris Opera House.’ They want to feel it.”
Since 2015, Mariano has worked as a touring electrician for multiple stage shows, including Annie, Hadestown and The Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies. The challenges he has faced setting up and running these productions nationwide have prepared him for his new journey at the top of the theatre world, an environment which poses its own unique trials.
“Broadway is harder because there's more eyes on it and it's like, that's where the money is,” Mariano said. “But I think touring is [even] harder because you have the challenges of a new city, new theatre [and] new locals every day loading in the show for you, but the show doesn't change.”
Regardless if he is touring or in a Broadway theatre, Mariano’s goal is to ensure audiences are treated to the same quality show, regardless of the location, scenario or the time it is performed.
“It’s fair to [the audience],” he said. “They’re paying X amount of money to see this show. It's not fair [that] because they're in whatever city [or] whatever tiny town that they shouldn't get the same show.”
In that pursuit, Mariano must perform daily work, including checking rigs, running a light board and performing other tasks in accordance with the lighting designer’s ideas.
Mariano graduated from SUNY Oswego in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in technical theatre and theatre design and technology. His work in university productions and valued mentorship from professors like Gregory Brewster ’05 and Suzayn MacKenzie-Roy ’08 built upon his love of theatre and its technical side.
“I had new faculty who cared about it and just kind of took me under their wings,” Mariano said. “They all put the bug in me and I was like, ‘Well, crap, now I want to do this.’”
His close ties to his professors and run-ins throughout his career with the Oswego alumni network have taught him how crucial connections are for any person hoping to succeed as a professional.
“[Brewster and MacKenzie-Roy] helped me to realize it's a small world,” Mariano said. “Everyone knows everybody.”
In turn, Mariano believes maintaining a likable personality and positive attitude is the key to success for anyone hoping to make it in his, or any, profession.
“The world is so small, and people will know everything about you before you even get there,” Mariano said. “Just have a good attitude because people will remember it, and they'll hire you for that.”
Good Night Oscar’s run will end August 27. Though Mariano has no clear plans following its closure, he is taking life one step at a time as he maintains his unwavering passion for theatre and his craft.
“I'll take it a month at a time,” Mariano said. “I try not to go too far out, and that's how a lot of people take it. I enjoy running shows, and I don't even mind subbing on shows.”
~Ethan Stinson '22