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Alumnus Jonathan Hicks ’04 returns to Westmont as the theater department technical director and lighting designer in the fall. Hicks, who taught at Huntington University in Indiana, will oversee set construction, lighting design and other technical aspects of the department. He will also teach two courses each year.

His areas of expertise include lighting, installation art, and performance art. “I can’t wait to share my training and expertise in the area of lighting design with our students,” Hicks says.

John Blondell, ������Ƶ theater arts professor, contracted Hicks to do the lighting of “Pirates of Penzance,” which won an invitation to the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. “The show was like a breath of fresh air into my design career,” Hicks says. “John wanted me to feel free to explore the limits of my craft to support the production’s unique approach. John has always been exceptional at planting a seed and nurturing the environment for a bountiful harvest.”

After graduating from ������Ƶ, Jonathan earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “Although John and I didn’t converse much during my graduate training, his artistic approach and love of the art form greatly influenced the additional training I was experiencing,” he says.

As a student at ������Ƶ, Hicks began pursuing a double major in economics and business and kinesiology. “But somehow I found myself gravitating toward the mysteriously dim space with wild voices echoing from its depths,” he says. “The theater program has always been strong in performance and directing with a growing playwriting component. I am intent on stabilizing the design/technology component.”

Hicks and director Mitchell Thomas will begin working on their first production of the fall, “Almost Maine,” a story about the delicate nature of love, for performances in November.