Joe Cantalupo
Who are you and what significant contributions have you made to the organization?
My name is Joe Cantalupo and I am a freelance lighting designer and owner of Joe Cantalupo Design, a full service lighting, audio, and video design company specializing specialty lighting fixtures, design for stage, and live events. I guess I’ve never really given much thought as to how or what I have contributed to the Chappell Players. I only ever think of how being a part of the Chappell Players for four years has contributed so much to my everyday life. One thing for sure I’ve noticed that has lived on since I graduated is the system of tech hours our executive board created almost ten years ago. As participation grew and level of production expanded with it, we realized with such a great community of theatre lovers we could come together for every show, whether completely student produced or with a hired production team, to help build and paint better sets, install lighting rigs, assemble costumes, and prep the theatre for audiences. It really rounded out the support system necessary to make theatre on a budget. Actors, designers, and technicians would come together to support the show with the production value it deserved, and move onto the next one with a better understanding of how everyone is such an important part of the machine that makes a successful mainstage production.
How was the transition from college to the real world? How was life after graduation?
After graduation, I left for France to teach English as a foreign language. I went to this small town in Brittany, learned how to teach the English language, road horses, ate cheese, drank scotch and played kitchen rugby with an English ex-pat, and then went to Paris in August to find a job. The thing about Paris in August is that the entire country is on vacation, so I lasted as long as I could on the few dollars I had and hopped on a flight back to the reality of New York City. When I arrived home, I had no money, no job, and no idea what the hell I was going to do. So I started freelancing. I interned for Bill Cusick, a Chappell Players alumnus with Temporary Distortion at the time, and was able to learn a lot from avant-garde theatre which is “the upside down” of musical theatre. That experience has helped me so much as a designer to think outside the box. It was with TD that I met a now great friend of mine who introduced me to an entire community of talented NYU Playwrights grads who were constantly creating theatre and still do to this day. Through my freelance electrician work I met some other fantastic people and another great friend of mine who helped me break into the live events world of design.
The transition was never going to be easy. I can’t imagine it is for anyone. You live in a support system that pushes you forward each year and then you leave college and sort of expect the next step to happen immediately. It doesn’t, but don’t let that discourage you. Your success is directly related to how hard you hustle, how smart you work, and how well you support each other over the next decade. There’s a delicate balance between selfish and selfless, and it’s going to take time to learn what that is. Always say yes, always look out for each other, pay attention, and learn from every experience you have post college. Be selfless in helping your friends succeed, in helping projects succeed, and in going above and beyond. You don’t get anywhere alone. Community is so incredibly important.
Did being involved in the Chappell Players prepare you for life after college? How so?
Oh, absolutely. Creating theatre with the Chappell Players is somewhere between the real world and being absolutely free. You get the real life experience of initiating and making your own work without someone telling you exactly what to do, and you’re free to take crazy creative chances without anyone telling you otherwise. Do not waste this opportunity. We made some awful creative decisions and some great ones too. I’d have no idea which was which if I didn’t try.
What is your favorite CPTG memory or performance?
For acting, anything I did with Alex Pereira and Brandon Collins. How to Succeed was my first and favorite show with the Chappell Players. Alex came out at the end as a different character every time. One night was Rambo with a machine gun that went off accidentally during an important silence. Or that time Alex Pereira wrote an entire cabaret around one joke: when all the main male characters came out to sing YMCA and turned out to be the Village People all along. For design, anything I did with my dream team of Jon Randhawa and Olivia Hartle. For the E-board, coming out alive without killing each other and burning down the theatre.
Have you been able to remain involved with theatre as much as you hoped/wanted?
I’ve been very lucky to have met all the artists I have and to be a part of a community that stays very involved in theatre.
What is professional theatre like compared to what you did with the Chappell Players?
It’s very similar with higher stakes. It starts with continuing those long hours over less days in the theatre and you form a family over every production.
Do you have any advice for Chappell Players going through college or those who have already graduated?
Work fast and smart, and don’t waste a single minute. Be involved, and include yourself in the conversation.
My name is Joe Cantalupo and I am a freelance lighting designer and owner of Joe Cantalupo Design, a full service lighting, audio, and video design company specializing specialty lighting fixtures, design for stage, and live events. I guess I’ve never really given much thought as to how or what I have contributed to the Chappell Players. I only ever think of how being a part of the Chappell Players for four years has contributed so much to my everyday life. One thing for sure I’ve noticed that has lived on since I graduated is the system of tech hours our executive board created almost ten years ago. As participation grew and level of production expanded with it, we realized with such a great community of theatre lovers we could come together for every show, whether completely student produced or with a hired production team, to help build and paint better sets, install lighting rigs, assemble costumes, and prep the theatre for audiences. It really rounded out the support system necessary to make theatre on a budget. Actors, designers, and technicians would come together to support the show with the production value it deserved, and move onto the next one with a better understanding of how everyone is such an important part of the machine that makes a successful mainstage production.
How was the transition from college to the real world? How was life after graduation?
After graduation, I left for France to teach English as a foreign language. I went to this small town in Brittany, learned how to teach the English language, road horses, ate cheese, drank scotch and played kitchen rugby with an English ex-pat, and then went to Paris in August to find a job. The thing about Paris in August is that the entire country is on vacation, so I lasted as long as I could on the few dollars I had and hopped on a flight back to the reality of New York City. When I arrived home, I had no money, no job, and no idea what the hell I was going to do. So I started freelancing. I interned for Bill Cusick, a Chappell Players alumnus with Temporary Distortion at the time, and was able to learn a lot from avant-garde theatre which is “the upside down” of musical theatre. That experience has helped me so much as a designer to think outside the box. It was with TD that I met a now great friend of mine who introduced me to an entire community of talented NYU Playwrights grads who were constantly creating theatre and still do to this day. Through my freelance electrician work I met some other fantastic people and another great friend of mine who helped me break into the live events world of design.
The transition was never going to be easy. I can’t imagine it is for anyone. You live in a support system that pushes you forward each year and then you leave college and sort of expect the next step to happen immediately. It doesn’t, but don’t let that discourage you. Your success is directly related to how hard you hustle, how smart you work, and how well you support each other over the next decade. There’s a delicate balance between selfish and selfless, and it’s going to take time to learn what that is. Always say yes, always look out for each other, pay attention, and learn from every experience you have post college. Be selfless in helping your friends succeed, in helping projects succeed, and in going above and beyond. You don’t get anywhere alone. Community is so incredibly important.
Did being involved in the Chappell Players prepare you for life after college? How so?
Oh, absolutely. Creating theatre with the Chappell Players is somewhere between the real world and being absolutely free. You get the real life experience of initiating and making your own work without someone telling you exactly what to do, and you’re free to take crazy creative chances without anyone telling you otherwise. Do not waste this opportunity. We made some awful creative decisions and some great ones too. I’d have no idea which was which if I didn’t try.
What is your favorite CPTG memory or performance?
For acting, anything I did with Alex Pereira and Brandon Collins. How to Succeed was my first and favorite show with the Chappell Players. Alex came out at the end as a different character every time. One night was Rambo with a machine gun that went off accidentally during an important silence. Or that time Alex Pereira wrote an entire cabaret around one joke: when all the main male characters came out to sing YMCA and turned out to be the Village People all along. For design, anything I did with my dream team of Jon Randhawa and Olivia Hartle. For the E-board, coming out alive without killing each other and burning down the theatre.
Have you been able to remain involved with theatre as much as you hoped/wanted?
I’ve been very lucky to have met all the artists I have and to be a part of a community that stays very involved in theatre.
What is professional theatre like compared to what you did with the Chappell Players?
It’s very similar with higher stakes. It starts with continuing those long hours over less days in the theatre and you form a family over every production.
Do you have any advice for Chappell Players going through college or those who have already graduated?
Work fast and smart, and don’t waste a single minute. Be involved, and include yourself in the conversation.
