(2016 March) Ivan Padilla Loza has the enormous task of being the Stage Manager for Oliver!  New to Luxembourg, we find out a little more about his experience and enjoyment of theatre.

Welcome! We understand that you are relatively new to Luxembourg, what are your first impressions?

Lovely, I am really happy here, and I truly enjoy the global environment Luxembourg life develops.

What was your first experience of theatre?

I have to say that my first experience at a theatre happened when I was kid, my father would take me to see the theatre.  Probably the one that I remember as a first experience was “Fiddler on the roof”, which I loved.

I became engaged backstage during university. There would be one or two big productions per year and several other ones in smaller scale but as challenging…

What sort of productions do you enjoy?

I love all theatre productions, each one has its own challenge but if I had to choose I would probably say musicals, as there is a lot happening on and off stage plus I love live music plays.

Who/what inspires you?

Oh, so many things, for the theatre I have to say what still inspires me is “Les Miserables”, I enjoy it a lot.

As Stage Manager, how are you preparing for Oliver! and which aspects do you enjoy the most?

I have to look at several things, I usually divide them in 3 to 4 groups. In this case I have the Lighting and sound group, the Stage Crew group, the props and wardrobe group and of course the Cast group.

I have to learn the music and the play by heart so I am able to react and also to keep up. Most of all I enjoy the performances although there is always mixed feelings when it ends.

What is the biggest challenge for you in this show?

Probably the preparation before is the biggest challenge, being truly ready and on time, whilst during the performance I see the biggest challenge being to keep up with the rhythm of the play. Live music and performances can be rather challenging and it is also true that we have some challenges as well for couple of scenes changes.  And of course there is usually a higher challenge when the kids are involved in such plays.