Alumni Spotlight: Taylor Compton

Name: Taylor Compton
Graduation year: 2008
Degree earned (major/minor): BFA in Theatre – Acting/Directing
Current city: Abilene, TX
Current job: Technical Director - Historic Paramount Theatre


Why did you pick McMurry? I picked McMurry after realizing I was one month away from graduation and I had not chosen a college. After writing an email to my former high school theatre director and begging for help, she convinced me that there was no better playwright professor than Charlie Hukil and that I should apply to McMurry.

What was your favorite show you were a part of at McMurry? Noises Off (2005) , I.G.S. (2008)

Be honest, how was the transition from college life to the “real world”? I was very lucky and the transition was very easy. Fortunately, I was Shop Foreman for the first show of McMurry’s Summer Dinner Theatre Deathtrap and had already had a job lined up to begin on July 1st, just one week after Deathtrap closed.

What was your favorite theatre class to take? Playwriting, Directing, Acting I-III, Stage Movement

Do you think your (theatre) education at McMurry prepared you? Absolutely. Yes, my degree says “Acting/Directing” but McMurry was great at making me a Theatre Generalist and opening my eyes to all of the ingredients involved to put on a show.


Please give us a peek at your favorite memory from college (if you can pick just one). My favorite memory would have to be sitting in the light booth stressing over completing my light cues and receiving a phone call telling me my play had won the TETA Playwriting Competition…and the entire process of putting the show together.

What do you miss most about college life? The chance to audition/perform/be involved in about (on average) seven shows a year. And to work and hang out with all of those people involved on stage and off.

What lead you to your current job? I was asked to build a set for the Paramount Theatre just six months before graduation by Betty Hukill, the wife of McMurry professor Charlie Hukill. After the show closed she asked if I would be interested in becoming the theatre’s technical director since their current TD was planning on leaving.

Tell us a little about your current job. As Technical Director, I help coordinate all of the events that happen in the theatre whether they are Paramount productions or people renting the building. I figure out the needs of the event and set up lighting, sound, scenery, etc. and help the production go as smoothly as possible.

What is your favorite thing about your current job? The job is flexible enough that I occasionally can participate in theatre outside of the building. While still working in the building I have been able to act, build sets, design lights, run sound and teach theatre to children at other venues in town. It is also a blessing to have a different event every day rather than monotony. I have also learned how to project 35m film which I enjoy doing.

Give any advice you can to current or perspective students. DO NOT RESTRICT YOURSELF TO ONE AREA OF THEATRE. Your chances of success as just an actor versus your chance of success as a generalist are LIGHTYEARS apart. Get involved with every aspect of theatre. Help build sets, design lights, read plays, paint, design sets, write plays, audition for everything, construct costumes, direct, assistant direct, GO TO CLASS, pull props, volunteer to run lights, run sound, stage manage and most importantly DO IT ALL. Ask questions. “I don’t know how to do that” is not an excuse to give up and quit. YOU are PAYING to learn so LEARN AND DO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!!! And please, save the drama for the stage.

If you could change one thing about your time at McMurry, what would it be? I wish I had been able to take a costume class. That was the only area of theatre I never got around to participating in. And I wish I had had more time to read plays.

Also:
I will be directing Disney’s The Jungle Book, Kids January 20-22nd, 2012 at the Historic Paramount Theatre. It features a cast of local kids aged 8-14. Music Direction by McMurry Alumni Hilary Compton and Choreography by McMurry adjunct professor Teri Wilkerson. You can purchase tickets on the Paramount’s web site at www.paramount-abilene.org or call 325-676-9620.