Albert Tester
Albert Tester loves the theater but prefers solving problems behind the scenes rather than being on stage.
“My involvement in theater began with my sister performing in a couple of shows at Theatre Bristol. Little by little I worked my courage up to get involved in a show. I was not interested in being on stage but rather helping behind the scenes. My first show in theater was as a stagehand for Theatre Bristol’s production of ‘The Adventures of Peter Rabbit.’ This started my interest in theater. Previous to my work in theater, I was studying electronics, mostly learning from YouTube. So the next show I got to work on really piqued my interest in theater as a creative outlet. I was able to use my knowledge and skills in electronics to build special effects for Theatre Bristol’s production of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ It was here that I was first able to express my creative ability in a new way.
“Since then I have worked on numerous shows. Sometimes it was to fix a particular propping problem, like the witch’s fireballs in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ or a motorized doll box in ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.’
“Some of the theater moments I cherish the most are when I got to be on stage in a set piece. My first experience of actually being on stage was the time when I was hidden in the inventor’s machine in ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ My job was to make the ax chop on cue. One of my favorite times was when I was in the car for ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.’ The audience didn’t see it, but I laid on the bottom of the car under the actors to run all the car’s functions. More recently, I have spent more time in the tech booth working with lights and sound,” he says.
He credits Samantha Gray and Theatre Bristol for allowing him to use his talents in a theater setting. He also learned about the technical side of theater from Ken Cornett, technical director at the Paramount Center for the Arts
Albert has two separate interests in theater. “I especially like it when we are in the early stages of problem solving on special effects issues. Nothing is more satisfying than getting to use my electronic skills to build complex theater props. One of my favorite pieces I got to work on was building Lumiere’s candles. The trick to his candles was they had to be able to turn on and off on stage individually. Be visible while dancing and be silent so the mics did not pick up the sound. None of the solutions we had tried up to that point had the effect we were looking for. So, I built them from the ground up using repurposed computer parts and LED lights.
“My second interest in theater is designing the lights for a show. I have designed the lights for a few straight plays but recently got the chance to design the lights for a musical. It was during my work on ‘Seussical the Musical’ at Johnson City Community Theatre, I realized how powerful lighting can be at setting the mood of a show. For me theater is a place where I fit in and belong. When working on a show it doesn’t take long until the cast and crew are like a large family all working together to create the director’s vision. I like being part of that process and especially like to see the audience’s response to all our hard work. I really feel that this is where I would like my career path to lead,” he says.
Albert is from Bristol, Virginia, and is the 19-year-old son of Daniel and Amy Tester. He is studying entertainment technology at Northeast State Community College, Blountville, Tennessee.
