Designer Spotlight: Aja Jackson

60 second life story: How did you come to be a lighting designer?

I started theatre in grade school and joined the Omaha Community Playhouse Technical Apprenticeship Program majoring in electrics while I was in high school. After seeing more and more shows, I found that lighting was the most articulate way for me to join the theatrical conversation. I enjoy the ephemerality and complexity of lighting and the technology to make it all happen.

As a guest lighting designer, how did you become involved with this production?

Last season I was invited to design Superior Donuts with Susan Bear Collins. I met Susan as an apprentice at OCP. We had a great collaboration together. This season, Jim Othuse, Resident Lighting and Scenic Designer at OCP, invited me to join the creative team for Shakespeare In Love.

Overhead view of Shakespeare in Love lighting plot

What inspired or influenced your design for Shakespeare in Love?

The text. The play is very fast moving and dynamic. I wanted to create a light plot that was flexible so we would be able to go from the bright comedic moments of a pup scurrying across the stage to the sensual and intimate moments between William Shakespeare and Viola De Lesseps.

What was the biggest challenge you encountered while designing this production?

The second level of the set. We have limits to how high we can fly the electrics out. This is one of the tallest sets that the Hawks Mainstage has had. We needed to light the balcony from many positions to make sure that the actors could utilize the entirety of the playing space.

What do you love about Shakespeare in Love?

I found a lot of joy in lighting a play within a play, intimate scenes, and the big company fight scenes. I think the beauty of this play is that there is a moment that can resonate with most people. From work frustrations, financial woes, to love and love lost, Shakespeare In Love is a romantic, action-packed comedy for all hearts.

See Aja's amazing work in Shakespeare in Love playing through May 6th in the Hawks Mainstage Theatre.

Make a Difference through a TTAP® Scholarship

Ron and Jean Gordon will probably tell you that what they have done for the Omaha Community Playhouse Theatre Technology Apprentice Program (TTAP®) isn’t much. We vehemently disagree.


In 2008, Ron and Jean established the first ever scholarship for TTAP® in honor of Ron’s sister, Joyce Gordon. The Joyce Gordon Memorial Scholarship is now awarded annually to a deserving apprentice entering their second year of the program and underwrites the student’s tuition at Metropolitan Community College as well as needed books and tools.

TTAP® Program Director, Steve Bross, has seen how the scholarship has affected not only the student who receives it, but the entire program.

“The Joyce Gordon Scholarship recipient has really emerged as a leader in TTAP®, serving as a role model for their peers and first year apprentices,” he states. “It’s become a highly coveted award and great learning tool for all apprentices as it teaches them the value of recognizing their own worth and reaching for their dreams.”

The Gordon family decided to establish the scholarship to honor Joyce Gordon, whose lifelong dream was to become a serious stage actress. Joyce had acting experience in New York, Chicago, California and Frankfurt, Germany and also taught drama to children. Throughout her life, Joyce’s devotion to the theatre never wavered as she performed with various theatre groups until her death at age 69. Joyce introduced her children, niece and nephews to all the arts. Now they remember and cherish their relationship with “AJ” (Aunt Joyce) and all the beauty she brought to their lives. Through the Joyce Gordon Memorial Scholarship, Joyce’s legacy lives on as she helps other young people have a successful life in the field of theater and the arts.


Past Joyce Gordon Scholarship recipients include Jamie Fields (2009-10) who is currently attending the University of South Dakota, Vermillion. She spent the summer in between semesters working for the Santa Fe Opera. The 2010-11 recipient, John Bone, is now the Omaha Community Playhouse’s house manager. Katie Harper, this year’s recipient, hopes to pursue a career in theatre in the electronics field once she completes the program.

Although humble about their participation, the Gordons are pleased to support OCP with Joyce's scholarship and hope their story may inspire others to do the same. If you would like more information on setting up a scholarship for TTAP® or other education and outreach opportunities provided by OCP, please contact the Development Director, Alena Furlong, at afurlong@omahaplayhouse.com or (402) 553-4980, ext. 127.

Joining the Circus

What is a typical work day like for you? For John Gruber, it’s a circus. Literally. Gruber is the General Stage Manager for Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity at New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Zumanity, dubbed ‘the sensual side of Cirque’, is a cabaret-style provocative production filled with amazing acrobatics, stellar musical performances and enough nudity to make your mother blush. But what do you expect? It’s Vegas!



How did Gruber land this seemingly perfect job? He worked diligently along a career path that ultimately began at the Omaha Community Playhouse (OCP). After graduating high school, Gruber joined the Apprenticeship Program at OCP and was the first apprentice to ever go on tour with the Nebraska Theatre Caravan. While on tour with the Caravan, he worked on shows such as A Christmas Carol, The Ice Wolf, Forever Plaid and Romeo and Juliet. In addition to the Caravan shows, Gruber also worked on an array of Mainstage shows at OCP, the first and probably most influential for him was La Cage Aux Folles.



Gruber’s time at OCP served as a networking launching pad for him. After graduating from the apprenticeship program and a brief stint at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Gruber enrolled at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) majoring in Carpentry and minoring in Sound and Electrics. While at UNO, he began stage managing and found his true theatre passion. He even received the United States Institute for Theatre Technology Young Designer and Technician Stage Managing Award.

In addition to his education at OCP and UNO, Gruber’s career path brought him to places such as the Santa Fe Opera, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, further education in Delaware, the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival and to Cirque du Soleil twice.

In addition to the technical skills Gruber learned in the OCP Apprenticeship program, he developed a strong work ethic and most importantly learned to always put his best foot forward. “Every time you go to work you need to make sure your doing the best job possible because today’s day of work is tomorrow’s interview,” said Gruber—a philosophy he views as vital to the earlier theatre jobs that launched his career.

So if you’re thinking about running away to join the circus, think twice before entering clown college or being featured as the bearded woman. You may have a different career opportunity in the circus—one that can begin at the Omaha Community Playhouse’s Apprenticeship Program.