06/12/2025
For the past few weeks I’ve been working on preliminary design for “The Little Prince”, the production intended for the Fall.
This early stage of the design process is always thrilling to me as concepts begin to take shape. Our 1929 stage is always a fun challenge when planning scenery: modifying stock pieces to fit a new design, balancing the excitement of building something new with the the struggle of space constraints.
The development stage of production is critical and filled with hours spent reading, thinking, sketching, drawing; sometimes even rendering tests on the ol’ Vectorworks. Most important of all: outlandish ideas start forming that inevitably complicate the build, the costumes, the props, the characters. And while those ideas complicate the process, they in turn enrich the overall vision of the piece.
We know it’s harder and takes more time to do the interesting thing, to strive for the unique; but I think that’s a part of what made our shows special, what made them memorable. We weren’t doing “high school theatre”, we were doing theatre! Following a time-honored code, we worked to ensure that our process was true to the craft and worthy of us all: the crew, the actors, the costumer, the musicians, our audience, our art, our community.
I am sorry to share that Jackson High School has decided to not renew my contract. I am saddened to not return to my home stage and the culture of theatre and theatre family we’ve been building. I loved working with the students. I loved that old House. This world is what I’ve known and done for most of my adult life.
I am proud of the body of work I produced these last 23 years, and I am honored to be a part of so many young creators’ journeys.
The nature of theatre is ephemeral; I shouldn’t have expected to stay rooted in one place for as long as I did.
I know I will continue to create what I love, but it’ll just have to be somewhere else.
If anyone here has learned anything from me, even accidentally, I hope you continue to take up our torch to always “make the theatre a stronger institution for your having labored there”.
I am proud to leave behind:
A healthy Theatre Account with a few thousand dollars in the black.
A “little shop of horrors” that created and built 102 shows.
No paper trail to duplicate any of the 79 shows I directed (Burn after use! No Repeats!)
A bare stage with 23 years worth of memories and one ghost light.
Thank you students, thank you parents, thank you patrons of the theatre, and thank you fellow theatre artists who never flinched when asked for help. You have all contributed to the work that has enriched me and our world these last two decades.
This Page will serve as a personal archive of my technical and artistic work. This page is not officially associated with Jackson High School, but is open to theatre fam, alumni, supporters, and friends.
Diego
