Welcome our new Technical Director
The Paramount is excited to welcome
Tim Catlett as our new Technical Director!
What are you most looking forward to while working at the Paramount? If you’ve had previous employment, where did you start and what are you looking forward to with your new position?
Having worked in several 1920s vintage theaters in the country, it is very nice to be back in one. They bring their own energy and life to art which is not easily replicable in a theater of newer construction. All theaters are alive, but these theaters have lived a life.
I’ve been in theatre and live entertainment for almost 40+ years, so where I started is where most of us started. I was a kid who thought it would be fun. It was, and I eventually settled into technical and design work for most of my career, though I am also a certified HS theater educator.
I’m looking forward to taking the Paramount in some new directions from a technical perspective. There is so much that can be done in theaters with technology these days. I hope to expand the capabilities of the Paramount stage and give our clients more choices and options to create in ways they haven’t thought of before, or maybe dreamed of, but didn’t have access to.
What is something you do during your free time?
That’s a short question with a long answer. However, just like most people, I enjoy my family very much, and spending time with them is very important to me. My own personal “free time” is consumed by a variety of creative pursuits, but I mostly love reading, Lego, and Minecraft. Yes. At nearly my mid-50s, I am still basically a child.
What was your first show at the Paramount and year?
Or any special memories about the Paramount that stuck with you?
My first show at the Paramount as a Full-time Technical Director was at the Interact/Rotary Battle of the Bands, just this week! What a load of fantastic talent! I always love helping people create the art they feel needs to be in the world.
What have the arts brought to the community?
Art is about storytelling, in all its forms. Storytelling is an ancient and wildly diverse tradition, and it is one we need now more than ever. If we are not telling stories, then “community” doesn’t have a memory, or a culture, to rely upon. You can tell the strength of a community by how it supports and engages with its artists and arts culture.
Any fun facts about yourself that you’d like to share?
In addition to all of the other artistic creativity I get up to, possibly the most interesting is that I am a freelance magic consultant, meaning that I help magicians to design new effects and make them work onstage, or on camera. I’ve been a magician for over 40 years, but I only very rarely perform anymore, preferring the creative and design side of things much better. If you watch magic on TV, it’s possible you’ve seen things I had a hand in helping to create.