COLUMBIA — There might not have been a banner encouraging you to look for the union label, as a popular commercial jingle of yesteryear urged, but if you’ve seen a touring theatrical production or a big rock concert lately, chances are that you’ve enjoyed the work and expertise of union stagehands and technicians.
Formally known as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE, the union includes more than 170,000 technicians, artists and craftspersons involved in motion picture, television and live stage productions.
About 50 are based in and around the Midlands, comprising Local 347, or “The Local,” as it is routinely called.
The national organization’s website notes that in an era of declining of union participation, IATSE membership has more than doubled in recent decades due to a flexibility that includes new technology and specialization, as well as focusing on traditional union goals like fair compensation and professional development.
IATSE Rigging Rescue Training at Colonial Life Arena in June 2023. Perry McLeod/Special to The Post and Courier
While South Carolina is not a state that requires municipal performance venues to use union labor, common sense dictates that the best and most proficient technicians be employed, especially for large shows at facilities such as The Township Auditorium, Colonial Life Arena and Koger Center for the Arts.
“If you need to see or hear the performers onstage, then you need stagehands — and especially if the performers need scenery, props or costumes," said Koger Center Director Nate Terracio. “The production team puts in as much time and effort as the performers do on a show, and it is not uncommon for there to be more stagehands working backstage than there are performers on stage.”
It's who you know and how you act
Jeff Fasick, a member of The Local since 2022, has worked everything from Elton John concerts to an extended run of “The Lion King.” He described his time on the Disney classic as “amazing, just watching them getting everything up in the air.” Crewmembers spent some time securing drops and complex scenery overhead, Fasick said: three days to unload and set up, another two to disassemble the set and pack everything up and a run of almost two weeks led to plenty of opportunities for work.
“It’s not overly complicated,” Fasick said of the details like wiring, connecting sound and lighting equipment. "But it can be very dangerous.”
There's a common trait among union stagehands, he said: “If we don’t know how to do something correctly or safely, we know who to ask. I’ve seen things fail and I’ve seen things fall, and it’s not pretty.”
IATSE members rig up lights and sound equipment. Perry McLeod/Special to The Post and Courier
The solution is the extensive training made available to union members, allowing for new skills to be learned as well as safety best-practices — first aid and CPR for example. He described a hypothetical scenario where someone suddenly collapses backstage. A trained stage technician will know to look to see if there is an exposed power cable that might endanger everyone rushing to aid the injured person, a precaution “that’s not something that everyone will have on the forefront of their mind.”
Putting on a show requires teamwork, Fasick said. “We can’t train people who are not friendly and supportive in this industry.” Hence, the importance of joining an organized union.
“I had some people vouch for me,” he recalled, “and they said ‘yeah he knows what he’s doing.'"
Joining Up
The process of joining is fairly complex.
Jacob Cosentino fell into technical work after helping his stepfather with audio engineering work when he was a child. He graduated to running sound boards for bands but now specializes in rigging. In 2009, he was helping with loadouts as a general stagehand, but three years later he was working outdoor festivals and events as lead monitor engineer.
IATSE training at Williams Brice Stadium on Aug. 26, 2022. Perry McLeod/Special to The Post and Courier
“I worked a lot and was really invested in this as a career," Consentino said.
Word of mouth led to interaction with union members, and he joined The Local in 2015.
“You have to be at journeyman level — 1,000 hours in the business, and you need to specialize in at least one craft,” he explained of membership requirements.
The membership votes on allowing you to apply, he said, after which applications are sent to the international office where one’s background and credentials are verified.
IATSE members in South Carolina have several urban hubs they could work in, with Charlotte, Atlanta and Savannah only a few hours down the road from Columbia. Cosentino said it allows members "to maintain a semi-stable income."
When a venue manager is hiring for a production, a call is made to the local union looking for workers. It depends on what skills are needed, and at what level, who is chosen for the job.
IATSE Rigging Rescue Training in June 2023 at Colonial Life Arena. Perry McLeod/Special to The Post and Courier
“Seniority matters," Cosentino said. "It’s based on hours worked over the years, versus your individual skill. Who’s the most qualified for the job?”
Other union advantages include benefits, plus “you get a direct voice into the percentages and wages that go into contracts,” Cosentino said. “Being a union stage person really is a good career opportunity for a skilled laborer: the union is like a stepping stone to get to the rest — there’s free training, and chances for certification in new areas.”
Union roots run deep
Former Local Vice President Gypsye Legge’s union roots run deep.
Her father was a proud Teamster, starting in the airline industry as a baggage handler before working in ticketing.
IATSE Rigging Rescue Training at Colonial Life Arena in June 2023. Perry McLeod/Special to The Post and Courier
“I was very much steeped in the philosophy of labor growing up,” she recalled. “I walked a picket line before I could spell union.”
Trained in Library Science, Legge became involved backstage with the local performing group AlternaCirque as “a way to be connected to my community.”
Word of mouth led to offers to work on other productions at local colleges and other arts venues, many staffed by local IATSE members. Finally someone asked “Why don’t you have a (union) card?” to which she quipped, “Because you haven’t offered me one.”
A utility player like most in The Local, Legge said, “I am willing to work in any department, but my specialty skills are in wardrobe.” Her talents will come in handy while working the February to March run of “Hamilton,” which features intricately detailed 18th-century costumes.
IATSE Rigging Rescue Training at Colonial Life Arena in June 2023. Perry McLeod/Special to The Post and Courier
“I really like doing laundry,” she admitted. “I’ve got mad skills in stain removal.”
Like others, Legge made sure to “access the depth and breadth of education that is offered” by Local 347, such as OSHA 30, a course focusing on “keeping yourself and others safe.”
The union maintains a Training Trust Fund, from which 347 can obtain funding for specific training that can affect the type of shows that come; a production company is more likely to trust the level of local expertise to carry off a show with extensive flight effects or pyrotechnics if trainings have been offered.
Denise Simpson also began with a family connection. Her mother was a box office manager, so she was exposed to the business side of production at an early age. But she got her start by showing up to help with load-in for a 17-truck Brooks & Dunn show in 1997.
IATSE crewmembers work at Williams Brice Stadium on August 26, 2022. Perry McLeod/Special to The Post and Courier
“I dove in,” she recalled. “It just captured my interest. There are so many moving pieces and parts. It’s ever-evolving.”
Now specializing in lighting, she has worked on everything from a nine-month Jason Isbell tour and a Janet Jackson concert at the Colonial Life Arena to setting up at churches and political events for remote broadcasts.
“I’ve lit four presidents and their families,” she noted. Simpson predicted she will be “1,000 percent involved” with the upcoming presidential primary.
Simpson described the union as “actively searching for opportunities for members and making sure people are being treated properly."
She added, "Unions are in place to make sure that we’re protected, spoken for, and we have each other to lean on, to facilitate a safe and properly-waged working environment."
IATSE Rigging Rescue Training at Colonial Life Arena in June 2023. Perry McLeod/Special to The Post and Courier
Fasick summed up IATSE’s ethos with an allusion to a famous story of the band Van Halen’s contract rider that demanded refreshments backstage, except there could be no brown M&M candies present. It was a test to see if local concert promoters read the band's contract in its entirety, safety protocols included.
”A good, competent group of stagehands will make a performance better,” Fasick said. Visiting performers can relax and focus on their artistry, he added, knowing that there are unlikely to be stray cords to trip over or falling sandbags for which to look out.
“They are the unsung heroes of the live performance industry,” Koger Director Terracio concluded. “Quietly moving from production to production, and keeping the entire industry running.”
