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In the summer of 2007, the culmination of a project brought into existence the company now known as FenixScenic—a scenic arts production company owned by David R Steinmetz. David was hired as the Technical Director for the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri’s The Hotel Casablanca, which was designed by Richard Kagey. The Hotel Casablanca was presented during Merola’s 50th Anniversary Season and was the first world premiere opera ever to be produced jointly by the renowned Merola Opera Program and the University of Kentucky Opera Program. After completing a successful run in San Francisco, The Hotel Casablanca was brought back to Lexington to be remounted in the Lexington Opera House with great success.
David R. Steinmetz graduated from Otterbein College with a B.F.A. in Theatrical Design & Technology in 1993. After graduating from Otterbein, David went on to work for the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts where he received a Meritorious Achievement Award for his role as the House Production Manager for the Region III American College Theatre Festival, sponsored by the Kennedy Center, at the Vern Riffe Center in Columbus, Ohio. |
David R. Steinmetz and Patrick Tynan, 2004
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Through the next years, he worked for the Reichhold Center for the Arts on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas and the Alley Theatre (LORT B/D) located in Houston, Texas. After accepting a position at the Indianapolis Civic Theatre, he relocated to Indiana to become the Technical Director of the ICT. At the Civic, David initiated an era of technical advance introducing automation to the oldest operating civic theatre in the nation.
After working professionally for 14 years, David set his goal on earning his Masters degree. He earned his M.F.A. in Scenic Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2005). While attending college and during the summers, he was the Opera Technical Director at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, served as the Technical Director for the Danville Symphony Orchestra, and The New Harmony Theatre (Lort D) under the Artisitc Director, Scott LaFeber.
After earning his M.F.A. in 2005, David joined the theatre faculty at University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor and Technical Director for the Theatre Department and relocated his wife, Janet and three children, Tyler, Justin, and Jennifer to Lexington, Kentucky. Upon arriving, David started working extra board calls for IATSE 346 at both Rupp Arena and the Lexington Opera House, eventually becoming a member of the IATSE 346 Stagehand Union in 2008.
FenixScenic LLC was created by David R. Steinmetz in an effort to increase market potential and to attract the highest quality clientele possible. At FenixScenic, our company represents a team of highly trained professionals that can tackle any project and exceed the customers’ expectations. |
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Lucia di Lammermoor, 2009
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Since 2006 at the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre, we have had the good fortune of having David Steinmetz and FenixScenic available for our Operas. David has designed as well as constructed many shows for our education outreach program and our main stage Operas. David has been our Technical Director where he built the sets for two new operas; The Hotel Casablanca, written by Thomas Pasatieri, in 2007 which premiered at the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program in San Francisco, CA and again in Lexington, KY and The River of Time, composed by Joseph Baber, which premieres in October 2009 in Lexington, KY.
He has also served as our Technical Director on La Boheme and Hansel and Gretel (where he reconstructed a rented set without the benefit of any ground plans or elevations). David built our set for Lucia di Lammermoor where he devised and constructed an innovative air caster system that moved huge scenic pieces effortlessly and soundlessly.
For our Outreach Program, David devised a scenic system that enabled the four singers and one pianist to move scenery in and out of schools in a minimum amount of time and effort. The system is so versatile it has been used for our last three shows and we anticipate being able to incorporate it into many more shows to come.
David is an organized and innovative thinker with a keen eye as to how things work on stage. He also has an uncanny ability to stay on, or below, budget without ever sacrificing the quality or design of the set. I suppose the greatest compliment you can pay the Technical Director is to say “Hey, it looks just like the model”. When David builds our sets, that’s exactly what we say.
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Production Supervisor
University of Kentucky Opera Theatre
doc613@insightb.com
September 21, 2009 |
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