From Student to Staff: Alum Zack Lawson Returns to St. Ambrose

As of September 4, St. Ambrose alum Zack Lawson '18 is the new Assistant Technical Coordinator of the Galvin Fine Arts Center.

Lawson helps Aaron Hook, the SAU Technical Director, with any theatre or music event taking place in the building. He also serves as the Scene Shop Foreman whose job is to ensure the safety and proper use of tools in the scene shop.

Lawson worked in the scene shop as a student at St. Ambrose and spent last summer interning with The Mississippi Bend Players in Rock Island, Illinois, where he honed his scenic, lighting, and dramaturgical skills. In an interview, he expressed that he is happy to be back at SAU and to be employed in his chosen field so quickly out of college.

A typical day for Lawson involves teaching and guiding work-study students in the scene shop. Together, they address any immediate needs for the production in progress. This includes creating or gathering furniture or set pieces, addressing safety concerns on the set, and working on the set until it's complete.

"At production meetings, we find out what pieces the director needs first in rehearsal," Lawson explained. "We try to get that done first, so if there is a particular set piece they need to rehearse with, they can have it as soon as possible."

Lawson also helps with music events - both collegiate and professional - that take place on the Allaert Auditorium stage. He shared that he enjoys collaborating with the Music Department because as a theatre student, it was easy to forget that Galvin is home to more departments than his own. Now, Lawson experiences the many different groups that occupy the building.

"I guess there is kind of a day-to-day routine in the sense that expecting something new every day becomes your routine," Lawson said.

Outside of working in Galvin, Lawson has also stage managed professionally. He recently finished stage managing The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Circa '21 Speakeasy. He said he enjoyed his experience but does not want to stage manage as a long-term career.

"I'd like to work with the editing and publishing of scripts," he said. "I really like seeing the process of a work going from mediocre to great."

If you want to see more of what Lawson does, stop down in the scene shop Monday through Friday to see him in action!