‘Catalyst Sessions’ recap: Jerid Fox of American Stage

Wednesday on The Catalyst Sessions, American Stage’s Director of Production Jerid Fox talked us through his role at the veteran professional theater. As the design chief of a strong creative team, he is responsible for the “look and feel” of each show.

Working with the director, the artistic director, the set designer (which is him, sometimes) and the lighting and sound people, Fox crafts the onstage layouts according to specifications of each. He also does all of American Stage’s extensive stage videography and effects, and locates (or makes) every single prop.

On the program, Fox look at set photos from Pipeline, Mamma Mia!, Vietgone, Silent Sky and others and discussed the way they looked, and why, and how they came to be.

Of course, like all theater companies American Stage has been physically dark since mid-March, and Fox and his team have been pouring their energies into a unique series of virtual performances. The July series, New Shorts, premieres today (July 2) at 8 p.m.

Every Thursday in July, two short (approximately 10 minutes each) plays will be “performed” by a carefully hand—picked cast. “And the playwrights are going to be with is, which is super cool,” Fox announced. Viewers will be able to ask questions of the playwrights.

“The overall goal is that the evening’s done in an hour,” said Fox. “We’re going to have a specialty cocktail that everyone’s hopefully going to make at home. We can all drink a cocktail together. There’s a guest emcee, and there’s going to be some theater trivia beforehand, so really it’s about making it more of a communal experience.”

Click here for details on the New Shorts series.

Today on The Catalyst Sessions: Staci Sabarsky, founder of Tampa’s Innovocative Theatre.

Streaming weekdays at 7 p.m. on the Catalyst Facebook Page. All episodes are archived on our YouTube page.