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Alex Snodgrass is our new technical director for the theater department here at GV. Snodgrass is originally from Des Moines, where he attended Roosevelt High School. He then went on to attend Webster University in Missouri, where he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in scenic and lighting designing.

After college, Snodgrass made his way back home.

“I was down there for four years. I loved it, but Iowa is pretty great,” Snodgrass said.

Before working at GV, Snodgrass worked professionally on the east coast and worked with a few high schools in the Des Moines area, including Waukee. Snodgrass met Kristin Larson, the head of the theater department, over five years ago working on shows together through the Goldfinch Theater Company. A couple of years ago, Snodgrass took over the stage craft class at GV for half of a semester.

Randy Young had been the prior technical director for three years and started after graduating from GV. Young left this past year to attend graduate school.

Kristin Larson, head of the GV theater department, said, “Randy was great but it was time for him to go get his own experience and go follow his passion to see where it would lead him.”

When looking for a replacement, Larson created an ad for the human resources department to post on GV’s job listing website and other job search engines. Larson then reviewed all the candidates, chose her top four and brought them in for interviews. A student representative and the Dean of Humanities and Education both sat in on the interviews.

Larson chose Snodgrass because he was the most qualified individual in all of the criteria.

“He has design, technical and teaching experience. Additionally, he is a very personable guy … he’s friendly,” Larson said.

As the technical director, Snodgrass said, “My job is when we pick a show, we see if students want to do costumes, props. And then if there are students, I make sure we have the material. I help them out on the designs and execution. Hopefully with more students involved my job will become less designing, so students can design, and I’m just there to help them execute their visions.”

Since Snodgrass has joined the GV theater crew, he has had a major impact on the department. With the help of Snodgrass’ organizational skills and preparation, the theater department is on track for this school year. According to Larson, Snodgrass has organized the budget and the work-study students, and is preparing for recruitment and for productions. Snodgrass has hosted design meetings and come up with photos and sketches for sets.

“He’s prepared on how to work the budget for a show and how to make it the best possible show with what we have,” Larson said.

Snodgrass is currently working on the upcoming play “Miss Nelson is Missing,” which opens November 17. Snodgrass said his favorite part about the show is the back wall.

“The set is a half-pipe going into this back wall,” Snodgrass said. “And this back wall is essentially going to do all these magic tricks; my favorite part is going to be what this back wall can create as far as magic.”

“Miss Nelson is Missing” is a children’s play. However, Snodgrass believes adults and students are going to enjoy it too. Snodgrass is also prepping for the rest of the theater season and will be doing some work with the Waukee high school students in December.

In Snodgrass’ limited spare time, he tries to enjoy the outdoors and hang out with family. Due to working indoors a lot, Snodgrass enjoys camping and going into the woods.

“I know that sounds creepy, but I love outside and fall is my favorite time of year,” Snodgrass said. He said he is trying to plan a camping trip if his schedule will allow it.

Theater is a huge part of Snodgrass’ life. Not only does he help produce it, but he also loves watching and talking about it.

“I would prefer musicals, but I love any theater. I hate watching a show that copies and pastes from other shows,” Snodgrass said. “When you sit down as an audience member and think, ‘aw, that’s a cool set piece,’ or ‘all of that properly fits the story,’ or you sit there and enjoy the show, I think that means I’ve done a good job.”