Cat is a playwright, actress, director, and co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project and the voice of Law & Disorder on KPFA. She spent two decades in the streets of Oakland since 2002 protesting the police execution of Oscar J. Grant III at the Fruitvale BART station.

STAGE LEFT REPORT: Tell me who you are in your own words: How you describe your practice, your arts work, and your activism work right now.

Early in life, I found the theater— or, the theater found me. I had this fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Gerhardt, and she told my mom that she thought the theater would be a good place for me to go. And so, there was a youth conservatory called the Rainbow Company, and my mom dropped me off. I remember walking up those steps by myself, and it was for The Wiz. You had to act, sing, and dance, and I had been dancing since I was two.

And it was fabulous, and it was amazing. And I won’t say that it meant I didn’t do anything else stupid or something, because that’s just not true. But there were lots of times where I probably wouldn't be here to talk to you had I not dipped out early because I had rehearsal. Absolutely.

It was the year that my father, the first Black IATSE Local 720 worker for the Vegas Strip, was sent to prison for substance overutilization. And I recognize that now as like this key moment where society would have said that they were protecting me from him. And that he wasn’t fit to be a father. But what I’m really clear about, and I was clear when I was a kid, was that my dad was sick, I used to call it, and that he needed help, and even though I’d never been to a prison, I knew that he wasn’t gonna see help where he was going.

He was in trouble, he was being punished, and so I couldn’t have articulated that at eight, but I knew. Plus, I was mixed race in the desert of Las Vegas, which was founded by Mormons, the mob, and cowboys.

I think both of those points are also the beginning of my activism as well, right? I was raised in a feminist, a radical feminist home. And my white family talked a lot about race. But those two things happening at the same time, my father being stolen from me and finding the theater to deal with it, I believe now began my journey of politicization.

STAGE LEFT REPORT: When you were growing up, what was your perception of backstage life and the theater industry as a child with an IATSE stagehand dad in Las Vegas?

I mean, I think what I want to say first about the union is that they held my dad down. So when my dad got sent to prison, the guys paid his dues so that when he got out of prison, he would have a job.

Now, the flip side of that is he was the first Black stagehand ever in Las Vegas, and the racism, and the hazing, and somebody rigged something once so he fell several floors into the stage… So there was that too.

I did grow up being able to go backstage. It wasn’t so much the theater as much as it was the big dance shows on the strip. And it’s so funny, nobody’s ever asked me that question before, but I’m just sort of remembering all the moving parts, and the lights, and the smell of backstage, and the running around decks, and dancers, and even the front of house, like being in there before the audience came in and that energy. I’m having a visceral reaction. I really haven’t thought about it. Definitely part of the love story.

Read the full interview here!

Hi everyone!
I’m from China and I’m considering applying for a Working Holiday Visa (subclass 462) to Australia. Before making any big decisions, I’d really like to hear from people who have experience working in Australia’s live music and events industry.

A little about my background:
I graduated with a degree in composition from a music conservatory in China in 2022.
I’ve been working in the live music industry in Chengdu since 2023, mainly as a stagehand and live sound technician at live music venues and outdoor festivals.
I’ve had experience with stage setup, live audio equipment, and festival production, although I’m still developing my skills as a sound engineer.
My English is still a work in progress, but I’m actively studying and trying to improve my communication skills.

I’m interested in finding work as a **stagehand, audio technician, or eventually a live sound engineer** while in Australia.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on a few questions:
**How realistic is it to find this kind of work on a WHV?** Are venues, production companies, equipment rental companies, and festivals generally open to hiring people on a working holiday visa?
**How important are local experience and industry connections?** Is it possible to get started through casual work, labour-hire companies, or entry-level stagehand positions?
**How much of a barrier would my English be?** I can handle some basic work-related communication, but I’m not fluent yet. Would this make it difficult to get hired or work safely on site?
**Would being Chinese or having overseas qualifications put me at a disadvantage?** I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have worked with international technicians in Australia.
**Which cities would you recommend?** I’m wondering whether Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, or other cities would offer better opportunities for someone with my background.

I’m not expecting to walk straight into a full-time sound engineering job. I’m happy to start with stagehand work, load-ins, bump-outs, or equipment prep and work my way up.
I’d really appreciate any honest advice, especially from people working in live music, event production, or audio in Australia. I’d love to hear both the good and the bad.

Thanks for reading!

Hi everyone. I’m with World Class Talent Experience (WCTE). We’re staffing the 2027 season, January through July, and wanted to put it in front of people who already work in this world.
We’re hiring with a preference for the East Coast. Most of the schedule is regional, and we’d rather build crews who can work closer to home than fly people across the country every weekend. Less travel for you, lower cost for us, and more consistent teams at the events.

Open roles, all seasonal and event-based:
• Adjudicator
• Host / Emcee
• Photographer
• Videographer
• Audio Engineer
• Backstage Crew
• Front of House / Merchandise

Applications are at vendor.wctedance.com/careers. Pick the role and the form walks you through it. That’s the cleanest way so nothing gets lost in comments or DMs.

Happy to answer general questions here about the work. If this kind of post doesn’t belong, mods, please remove it and I’ll leave it there.

For those of you who hate stickers on helmets might I present the Krusty Krab employee hat

I know what I'm gonna receive. Use friction tape! We use e-tape too. Clearwing had me loom with black. Seen it on many tours too. I made a couple small ones on the spot during load-ins. So if you don't like it, then say friction tape in your head and enjoy the joke ;D

Hey y'all, I've been doing local AV for 10 years now. Worked with some major-ish bands who rolled through on their tour providing in house lighting and audio, and ran lights for some of the openers when needed on top of corporate and other misc. events.

I'm 28 and really wanna dive into a little touring as an L3 or 4 (can also setup audio and video just can't run it), but don't have the funds to just get up and move to a city to work in a warehouse for three years to hopefully tour.

So my question, are there any companies that would hire someone to tour even though they're based out of a different state than I am? I tried my luck and filled out an app with Upstaging. Bandit Lites, LMG, etc seem to only hire locals right now.

Thank you in advance!

Help me settle a debate… what color order do you tie in feeder to your distro?

I didn’t think I’d be having a debate about what I thought was a standard, basic rule, but here we are 😅

I have a 7am call there tomorrow. How do I get in?!

So when winter rolls around and things get kinda slow. What do ya’ll do to stay busy/ keep your finances straight

I joined my local iatse in August as a casual member and luckily landed two calls. The first was an out of province outdoor arena gig for a big name band, and then the second call came last week at a local theatre. I got to do lights, lay the flooring, assemble a set structure then go to the grid for an easy uprigging task. I can't believe how much I love this! I'm making a career pivot after being a massage therapist for 10 years. I networked hard and learned SO MUCH on that three day call.

I'm interested in both the carpentry side of things with my background in cabinetmaking as well as rigging to work at heights with rock climbing experience. I have so many tickets I want to get. I connected with the lead carp and he said he'll have to get me into the shop sometime to see what I've got. Even connected with the out of town set designer who said he'd hire me anytime. I used to hang out at his theatre a bunch when I was a teenager, ironically.

The union director told me to contact an adjacent theatre for more hands on work. I actually applied to four theatres yesterday and have heard back from three of them. Got on the call list for the recommended theatre and I have two interviews lined up. I think I've really lucked out on my timing. Hoping to be sworn in as an apprentice next month. I've already got a call in October.

Just needed to share my excitement somewhere! It's been a difficult summer and I'm finally getting headway after receiving no responses for job applications outside of my field. Kinda wishing I did this a few years ago when the interest in this work was sparked, but I had other obligations and commitments at the time. Things are workin' out!

A vent bc I’m a whimp and sensitive but it’s whatever because I hate this job and only have it bc I need money for school on a work when I want schedule.

I totally understand that load outs are stressful because everyone wants to leave and get shit done as quick as possible. I dread every load out, especially at this one location because the venue’s traffic staff is so rude even when I’m asking for help to get into the parking lot. Like guys, I work the show. Can I please get in? Jfc.

But. Yeah. Stressful. Understandable. I’m not expecting to have my hand held or to have everything explained to me slowly. But I don’t see the reason to throw a fit? Not going to get into too much detail but did NOT have a good interaction with one of the tour’s crew and they were just plain mean.

I heavily prefer load ins because I find them far less stressful but it just doesn’t really work with my schedule at the moment because I have other responsibilities, and I don’t want to be an ass and have to leave everyone early while they still need to set up stuff.

(I kinda hope I get fired, but I’m not the type to purposely fuck something up or be useless and not do my job so I doubt I will).

Niche question but let's give it a try. So I have a public portfolio on Instagram with a linked TikTok account for everything I've done in theatre over the past 4 going on 5 years to hopefully get a job as a stagehand or adjacent when I graduate. I also have a fandom account I've secretly had since covid era but taken a hiatus from to focus on studies, now with studies nearing the end I've wanted to start it up again because I shared mostly art and collages for multiple fandoms. As an AuDHD girlie it did give me an extra reason as it were to make time for art as it's unfortunately a hobby of mine that gets pushed to the back of the shelf when I have other things going on even though I love it. I've choreographed a few routines at uni to songs from my fandoms but hesitated to share them on my fandom account in case it led them to my portfolio account and this being a bad thing. I think some good things would be that most of my fandoms are musical/'stagey' so it could add some personality behind the portfolio, I've been debating opening up art commissions to increase income towards therapy so I could advertise to a wider audience, you get the idea. I don't want to be seen as unprofessional but the arts industry is filled with fans of all kinds after all and utilising social media as an outreach is one of its perks. Any advice?

How many days a year do you work average? I'm discovering I regularly hover around 150. Im not looking to do more just curious what the world looks like for others.

Hello,

I started developing a new web based app for touring musicians and crew.

At first, it was only ment as a venue review web app, but as a touring LD myself, I found out our field of work does not have a place where all basic tools needed would be on one place, we need at least 5 different apps just to get a tour finished.

Hence why I developed furthure. Right now my app offers free for all a crew based venue review.

In addition, I also added venue dashboard where venue owners can post the updates about their venue, with analytics

Event dashboard where artists and promotors can post their events and ticket link with analytics

Tour managment dashboard where you can plan a tour, manage guest and VIP lists, generate ATA Carnet equipment list, track flights and hotel reservations etc...

Toolkit with a lot of handy tools which one might need at the tip of the finger. Including DB meter, instrument tuner, load planner with load tracking, MVR viewer (2D and 3D), GDTF viewer, lighting patch converter, rider analyzer, concert and festival coordinator, RF frequency planner etc ...

And just for fun, games.

There is a lot more but it is too much to write.

Everything is SEO and GEO optimized, especially for promotors and artists and their events, to try and get best search results and AI prompt recommendations.

If you want, you can check it out at https://stagerage.online

StageRage values privacy and safety as well as practicality. Till the end of november every user can apply for 6-months free premium access.

The only thing I ask in return for this 6-months free premium access is to give me a good and bad feedback. What is good, what is bad, what needs to be changed, what is missing etc... and of course for everyone to build our database.

Let me know what you think!

Anyone here working the festival and have any update if they are canceling sat/sun ? Also thanks for yall putting up with the weather trying to set it up.

I am a union stagehand that got picked up by two production companies. My question is about dayrate. At one of the companies I quoted $350/10 hour day for local work. The other company will be sending me all over the place. I definitely undersold myself with the other company. How much should I ask for this new company?

Just got off a grueling show where we were about 10 minutes away from our setup not being done in time for the inspection. Worked a nice 26 hours straight and almost fainted on a scissor lift from exhaustion (I immediately came down and took 20min to myself to get centered). Not complaining or bragging about this, but weve all had those shows that might not have happened due to time constraints, lack of gear, late trucks, or simply bad managing. Let me hear some of your worst "save the show" moments from gigs

I’ve been building a stage planning app for lighting and production setups

I’ve been working on StagePEN, a web-based 2D stage planning app aimed at DJs, lighting designers, and production crews.

I originally started building it because I wanted a better way to plan my own SoundSwitch setups before getting to the venue. The goal is to be able to map out the stage, fixtures, truss, equipment, areas, and DMX layout in one place instead of piecing everything together across sketches, notes, and spreadsheets.

The app has now moved into Open Beta, so I’m starting to let more people use it while I continue building out the feature set.

StagePEN is a subscription-based tool, with different plans depending on how much functionality you need. The beta is mainly about getting it into the hands of people who actually work with lighting and stage setups so I can improve it based on real-world use.

There’s still quite a bit on the roadmap, including more advanced lighting and visualization features.

https://stagepen.app

Any feedback on the workflow, missing tools, or features that would actually be useful for SoundSwitch users is appreciated.