By Abigail Brown
Life after college is on the mind of every graduate as they step off campus for the last time.
For University of Louisville alumni Mia Moss, life after college has returned her to the familiar territory of John Hardin High School. It’s the home of the Hardin County Performing Arts Center, where Mia has taken on the position of technical director.
Moss graduated this past spring from the U of L with a Bachelor in Theatre Arts in the Entertainment Design and Technology track. Moss’s accomplishments at U of L include stage managing and technical directing for various shows with the theatre department, and most notably, serving as head carpenter in the scene shop through the department’s assistantship program.
Though Moss left her mark on the U of L theatre department, her love of theatre first began with the Hardin County Performing Arts Center.
“I honestly never imagined I would be working in this position,” Moss said.
Moss credited her time at U of L for preparing her for the position of technical director, gaining such skills as carpentry and set design, lighting and sound design and drafting. She also gave credit to the scene shop scholarship program for allowing her to build her leadership and collaboration skills.
“The theatre program at U of L provided me with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed; especially since technical direction is my desired career path, so I’ve been working toward this for a long time,” Moss said.
From student to technical director
When transitioning from student to technical director, Moss described the experience as fairly seamless. Her first event was a band concert, which Moss described as an easy beginning to learn her role.
“It required only a small amount of production elements.” said Moss. “In fact, my first month was mostly band concerts, so my transition to here was pretty chill. Since I was still in school, it definitely made finals less daunting.”
A key player in ushering Moss into her role as technical director is former Hardin County Performing Arts Center technical director Aaron Taylor. Taylor is thrilled to be passing the role down to a Hardin alumni.
“After 20 years on the job, it can be a little hard to step away into a new position, but knowing Mia was stepping in and with some knowledge already on our workflow and an overview on how things are typically handled was a tremendous help,” Taylor said.
Though Taylor is more than happy to let Moss grow, he did share some parting words of wisdom for her.
“As theatre people we spend a lot of time here and things can get a little possessive, you need to keep an open mind to suggestions,” said Taylor. “Also, as much as we love it here and want to be here for every event, it’s still a job; don’t make it your life.”
When asked what he hopes Moss will take away from the job, Taylor emphasized the impact passion has on others.
“People will want to work with you,” Taylor said.
He continued his praise for Moss and shared what he hopes for her future.
“Who knows, as she grows and develops a base of student volunteers, Mia may be inspiring kids to go into tech theatre, as I was fortunate enough to do,” Taylor said.
As for Moss’s own hopes for her future, she answered simply.
“In the next ten years, I hope I can continue to grow here at the performing arts center into an experienced and reliable technical director,” Moss said.
Feature Photo Courtesy / Mia Moss
