Company Spotlight: John Pribyl and Michael Pasquini
John Pribyl, Actor
Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
This is my first year working for the festival.
Where’s your home base?
Dallas, TX
What’s your education/training background?
I am in my last year at SUU where I will be receiving a degree in Theatre Arts with a minor in Shakespeare Studies.
What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
Everything comes back to theatre for me. No matter how many other things I tried, theatre is the only thing that stuck. It’s a beautiful thing when you have the opportunity to do what you love every day. Theatre is unique in that it develops as quickly as the human experience does and is a way of learning from each other.
How will you spend your time off while here?
I take long walks and hike whenever I can. That coupled with my hobby of iPhone photography makes for some lovely Instagram posts.
What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
I adore my friends and I have many who are performing in the shows this year. Seeing them onstage gives me some of the greatest joy I have ever known. Though I would like to work as a professional actor as well, their success means the world to me. The Utah Shakespeare Festival is a family. Anyone who works here can feel a sense of comradery in one way or another. I felt it even before I started working this year.
If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
I have not worked in the Adams Theatre for the festival yet.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Telekinesis would allow me to manipulate things with my mind. This way I could get whoever makes the fudge to make me all the fudge I wanted. Reading minds is also a plus.
If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
I would want to be in the audience for Broadway’s first ever opening night of “A Chorus Line.” Nothing like that show had ever been done before, and the experience would be indescribably meaningful to me as a performer.
Michael Pasquini, Associate Lighting Designer in the Adams
Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
Fall 2006, Summer & Fall 2007 Electrician in the Randall.
Summer 2008 Assistant Lighting Designer (ALD) to Stephen Boulmetis in the Randall.
Fall 2010 & 2011 ALD to Donna Ruzika in the Randall.
Summer 2013 & 2014 ALD to Donna Ruzika in the Adams.
Fall 2014 ALD to Todd Ross in the Randall.
Where’s your home base?
Sarasota, FL
What’s your education/training background?
Booker High School Visual and Performing Arts Theatre Program in Sarasota, FL.
Florida State University School of Theatre in Tallahassee, FL.
What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
I started out wanting to perform when I was younger. When I didn’t have the time to commit to be in shows, I found it easier to commit to the tech schedule and performances of a show at The Players Theatre in Sarasota. It was there that I ran a light board for the first time as a freshman in high school. I was fascinated with how the look of the stage would transform in an instant with the press of a button.
How will you spend your time off while here?
I love hiking as there are so many beautiful things to see here in Southern Utah; not all of them are visible from the road. Zion is my favorite place to hike.
Donna Ruzika, the Adams’ Lighting Designer, and I have a similar interest in exploring new things. Often we will take a drive and head down a road to see where it might lead. We chat and we laugh and have a great time finding places we never would have seen otherwise.
What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
Returning to the Utah Shakespeare Festival year after year is always exciting. It means getting to say hello to old friends while also getting the opportunity to make new friends. The dedication and support of everyone around makes the time here a cherished and fun experience.
If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
When I first arrived to Cedar City for the fall season of 2006, it was prior to the end of the summer shows. So, while I did not work that summer in the Adams, I did work the strike where we took everything down to put away until the next year. I was floored by how well run and organized the whole day was. I was also fascinated by how different the space was from any other theatre I had ever seen or worked in. When I returned in 2007, I was assigned to the Randall, but would come over to help every now and again in the Adams. It was such a foreign space to me. Not until 2013 did I finally work in Adams. It was a daunting experience working my first focus call where I was in charge of letting the electricians know where to go next while also letting Donna know what light she was focusing. Thanks to Jess, the master electrician, as well as those focusing, all went well.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
To be able to fly, invisibility, super strength, ludicrous speed, and the ability to speak any language.
If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
Spello, Italy 1948 and Shelbyville, KY 1956.
