ASTC New Members, Fall 2024

	(l-r) Laura Wagner and Cathleen Bachman

The American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) announces two new members and one associate member. The Board of Directors determined that the new members met the professional qualifications for membership in the ASTC. The new members were announced during the ASTC's Fall Forum meeting in Lubbock, Texas where the members attended discussed trends, reviewed upcoming building code proposals, exchanged industry information, and toured theatres.

With a comprehensive background in architecture and particularly theatre architecture, Cathleen Bachman has worked with high profile architects and clients on a wide variety of complex theatre projects. Her project work has ranged from the newly opened Prior Center for the Arts and Creativity at College of the Holy Cross, to cruise ship theatres and nightclubs, to the upcoming Delacorte Theater Restoration in New York City. Bachman is a principal with Fischer Dachs Associates and is the room planning and layout lead for the firm. Bachman has been accepted as a regular member of the ASTC.

After earning her Master of Architecture degree at Yale, Laura Wagner started her career at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects before joining Fisher Dachs Associates where she is currently a senior consultant. She specializes in auditorium layouts, sightlines, front- and back-of-house planning, and chair design selection. Recent projects include the recent renovation of the Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall, and in budget-conscious projects such as TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT. She has led the digital design process for the company over the last few years, developing new workflows and visualization tools. Wagner has been named a regular membership of the ASTC.

Bob Jenista is a theatre consultant at Stages Consultants. His project work has varied from seating layout an 8,000-seat amphitheatre, to planning motorized rigging and performance lighting systems at various new and renovated high school venues. As an adjunct faculty, he teaches Revit software to theatre students at University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Jenista has been named an associate member of ASTC.