LACC Theatre Academy Technical Faculty & Staff

LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE
THEATRE ACADEMY

Technical Faculty & Staff

Efrain Corona (Scene Shop Supervisor) - Efrain comes back to the Academy as a former student of the Technical program to lead the scene shop to a new era. With thirteen years of experience in entertainment, he comes to us from Cinnabar California, an entertainment construction company that included leading hundreds of TV commercials, attractions for Universal Studios and stage sets for Sydney 2000 NBC Olympics Studios. He was a member of IATSI Local 33 working on studio calls for ABC, NBC, and CBS. Efrain is excited to be back with LACC Theatre Academy and bring his experience of technical excellence and theatrical innovation to the program.

Musical Chairs at El Portal Center

Oliver! Telluride Repertory Theatre Company

James L. Moody - (Technical Director/Lighting Designer) - Southern Illinois University (B.S. in Science, 1967) and U.C.L.A. (M.F.A. in Technical Theatre and Design, 1969) His thirty plus years of professional technical entertainment and design bring cutting edge understanding of the latest techniques and tools used in today's marketplace to the program. After graduation he spent five years learning R&D of lighting control systems and fixtures at Berkey-Colortran Inc. and then went on to assist famed Broadway lighting designer, Jules Fisher on several productions including "Jesus Christ Superstar. " He was one of the founders in the field of touring concerts lighting. Over the next ten years he designed and/or production managed John Denver, Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles, The Osmonds, the Captain & Tennille, Seals & Crofts, Barry White, Dolly Parton, Jackson Browne, Jose Jose, Andy Gibb, Frank Zappa, Billy Preston, Blondie, Stevie Wonder, America, the Beach Boys, and many others. He toured the world gaining valuable experience in logistics and dealing with international equipment, crews, and venues. He was singled out to receive the first Concert Lighting Designer of the Year Award from Performance magazine Reader&rsquos Poll in 1980. He has published two textbooks based on his concert experiences, "Concert Lighting: Techniques, Art, and Business" under the Focal Press banner, and a new book, "The Business of Theatrical Design" from Allworth Press.

Not content with just two fields, he is also certified as a Director of Photography with I.A.National Local #600 in Hollywood. His credits in film and television are dominated by long associations with Entertainment Tonight (10 years), Jeopardy! (3 years), Hard Copy (7 years), Wheel of Fortune (12 years). All totaled he has racked up 6,000 hours of television programming and over 60 Infomercials and direct to tape projects. He is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Science and serves on the Technical Production Committee with two Emmy nominations and several other industry awards in these fields.

Corporate shows and special projects, such as the 300-foot tall rings that dominated the skyline above Salt Lake City during the last Winter Olympics, he says are possible because of his theatre experience. His ability to solve design and technical problems for the full range of theatrical media has made him a sought after speaker and lecturer as well as an author of over 50 technical articles in all the leading theatre and entertainment media publications.

To assist him in all these projects were his partners and staff at Visual Terrain, Inc. at which he was Senior Designer and C.E.O. with offices in Van Nuys, C and Orlando, Fl. The firm has also won numerous awards for their architectural, themed projects, and commercial designs including the 60-foot light columns at the entry to LAX Airport, as well as recent concert designs for Bruce Springsteen, Styx, Shania Twain, and more.

He has, however, always maintained close ties to theatre and to date has designed over 150 LORT, Equity Waiver, and college productions. He is currently the Technical Director and resident Lighting Designer for the Lizard Head Theatre Company, an Equity group during the summers in Telluride, Colorado. A member of United Scenic Artists, Local #829 union since 1980, he is actively involved in the organizations efforts to support designer&rsquos growth. He has been a member of United State Institute for Theatre Technology since 1968 and served on the Board of Directors for over ten years as well as being on the Publications Committee and was recently named Vice Commissioner for Lighting Design. In 1997 the Institute honored him with their "Fellow" status and in 2003 gave him the Joel E. Rubin Founders Award for outstanding and continuing contributions to the Institute. He has been an adjunct and/or Artist-In-Residence at seven universities including the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.

Recently he accepted a position as co-chair of the ESTA Essential Skills Committee, which is developing a national standard test for theatrical technicians. At the Academy, besides his overall technical supervision of all the productions, Jim teaches Stagecraft, Stage Management and Lighting Design.

One of the most active lighting designers in the country, Jim recently designed three shows, A Midsummer Night&rsquos Dream, Proof and Behind the Broken Words with Roscoe Lee Browne and Anthony Zerbe, in the historic Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, CO.

Kevin Morrissey - (Scenic Designer, Production Manager) - recently joined the faculty of Los Angeles City College after teaching and designing for 10 years at University of California Riverside where he designed scenery, costumes, lighting and/or sound for over fifty productions including; Mother Courage, The Maids, The Little Prince, Angels in America, The Visit, The Laramie Project, Into the Woods, Proof, Rocky Horror, Hamlet and Fool for Love. While at UCR Kevin taught hundreds of students over his ten years in classes like, Introduction to Design for Theatre, Film, and Television, Lighting Design, Scenic Design, Scene Painting, Drafting for Theatre, Film and Television, Scene Painting and Production Techniques for Theatre, Film and Television.


	Rocky Horror UCR Theatre Department

He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from DePaul University, where he designed scenery for both the main stage and the prestigious Children’s Theatre with the world premiere of The Dragon Who Lived Downstairs. While studying at DePaul, Kevin was an intern at the internationally renowned Metropolitan Opera House in New York, working with noted designers Franco Zeffirelli, David Reppa, Zack Brown, and Ralf Langenfas.

After undergraduate school Kevin went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts from New York University, studying with internationally recognized designers Oliver Smith, John Conklin, and Steven Hendrickson. While at NYU Kevin designed scenery for the graduate acting company twice for director Ron VanLieu: All My Sons and The Seagull, as well as production designing and costume designing several graduate thesis films, including the award winning short film Dinner with Malibu directed by Jon Carnoy.

Since graduating from NYU and relocating to the west coast, Kevin has worked extensively in educational theatre and in the entertainment industry as a designer for theatre, film, television, and industrial production. Kevin’s first film credit is as Assistant Art Director for the quirky film Ed and His Dead Mother, working for Production designer Eve Cauley and Art Director Philip Messina. The pilot for Babylon 5 was Kevin’s next position as assistant art director for production designer John Iacovelli. Kevin continued his connection to B5 over its five year run as both an assistant art director and also as a set designer. Other television set designer credits include: Resurrection Blvd. and Crusade, as well as Frasier, Becker, Bram and Alice, and In-Laws working for production designer Roy Christopher.

Some of Kevin’s industrial design credits include: Big Red Honda Motorcycles 1995, MGM Grand Las Vegas, Frankie Avalon in Concert and Crystal Gale in concert for St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital, Victorville, CA, as well as numerous shows for Microsoft and Apple Computers.

Kevin’s most recent feature film credits include: Set Designer for Elizabethtown directed by Cameron Crow, production Clay Griffith (release Fall 2005), Set Designer for Flight of the Phoenix, a remake of the 1965 classic starring Dennis Quaid. Other credits include Assistant Scenic Designer for the Emmy award-winning production of Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby, and Assistant to the Production Designer for Light Sleeper.

Kevin is a member of both IATSE Local 847, and Local 829 and is currently authoring a book on graphic standards for the entertainment industry with specific attention to the influence of computer-aided design. www.kevin-morrissey.com Filmography

Deena Lynn Mullen (Stage Manager Supervisor, Property Supervisor) - has been working in theatre as a set & lighting designer, prop master and stage manager for over 25 years. Her lighting design was recently seen in 'The Hostage' at Alliance Repertory Theatre. She has loved every moment, except one.