The Venice Little Theatre is now a state of Florida-accredited educational institution.

Its 6-year-old Technical Theatre Apprenticeship Program was recently accredited by the state of Florida Department of Education and is now part of the National Apprenticeship Program.

VLT Artistic/Managing Director Murray Chase and Director of Education and Outreach Sandy Davisson, who began the program in 2000, made the announcement Wednesday afternoon in the theater's lobby. The audience included Steve Campora, director of apprentices for the state Department of Education; Jon Goins of the department of education; Venice High School Theater Director and teacher Miles Mowry; Broadway actor and VLT director Larry Alexander; and Duwain Hunt, VLT's new director for advancement.

"There are more stage technicians in the country than auto workers," Hunt said. "This is a growing industry. The biggest market is churches, then concerts and trade shows. The convention center in Orlando employs more theater techs than both Disney and Universal combined."

Campora said about half the people need degrees but those without degrees still need skills, which they can acquire in apprenticeship programs.

Starting pay for a journeyman theater tech person is $15-$18 an hour in Orlando, Hunt said.

Duwain Hunt

The employment of Hunt as director of the tech program is nearly as big as achieving state accreditation.

Hunt was involved in the early development of the TTAP program in Nebraska in the 1990s as part of a federally led National School-to-Work program.

In 1994, the Nebraska program was designated a model program by the U.S. Department of Labor. Hunt expanded the program to the two largest community theaters in the United States: the Omaha Playhouse and the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre.

"The level of expertise that he brings to the program is beyond my wildest dreams," Davisson said. "We have the developer of the program right here."

Chase said that when VLT's Director of Development Paul Borgman left recently to work for Tidewell Hospice and Palliative Care, Hunt was his first and only choice to fill that position. When Hunt learned he also would direct TTAP, he accepted the job.

"I can work with him because I believe in Murray's vision," Hunt said.

Retired from the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, Hunt was already living in the Venice area.

VLT's TTAP

The comprehensive training program costs $2,800 per student for four semesters in all areas of behind-the-scenes theater work. Most students complete the program in about two and a half years, working with professionals at the theater and studying in small classes.

"I came out of a program like this and became its CEO," Hunt said. "My replacement also came up through the ranks to be CEO."

Two students were in VLT's first class, and the first graduate was Matt Venigilio, who is a senior in technical theater at Florida State. Seven students are currently enrolled, some with scholarships to help defray the cost, Davisson said.

Students must pass 27 section exams with an 80 percent or higher score to become apprentices. To fulfill 4,000 hours as a junior apprentice and 1,000 hours as a senior apprentice, they study lighting, electrics, front of the house, props, sound, carpentry, box office, costuming, stage management, rigging and set construction; earn nine semester hours of college credit; and take backstage and underground tours at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios and more backstage tours during a week on Broadway.

VLT was the third community theater in the country to offer the program, and did so under an agreement with the University of Nebraska. VLT began its quest for state accreditation in 2004.

Pre-apprentices can begin at 15. At 16, they become actual apprentices. When they earn their certificate from the state Department of Education at age 18, they are immediately employable.

"I get a lot of calls from other community theaters," Hunt said. "I have placed at least a dozen."

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