Purchase College to Honor Technical Theatre Legend Michael Wyatt

Purchase College, State University of New York's Broadway Technical Theatre History Project will present the Eleventh Backstage Legends and Masters Award to Michael Wyatt on April 28 at The Performing Arts Center, Recital Hall Theatre. "This free event is open to the public and will be streamed live via Zoom webinar (www.purchase.edu/btthp). It will also be recorded for future viewing.

After working on a range of non-Broadway productions in NYC, around the US, and internationally, Wyatt started his Broadway career in 1978 as the assistant carpenter for automation on the musical production of Whoopee! and then spent the next four-and-a half decades helping to shape and support a host of Broadway productions.

Wyatt joins previous Backstage Legends and Masters honorees Artie Siccardi (2012), Arnold Abramson (2013), Fred Gallo (2014), Gene O'Donovan (2015), Pete Feller, Sr. (2016), Joseph B. Forbes (2017), Alyce Gilbert (2018), David Rosenberg (2019), William M. (Michael) Mensching (2023), and Bill Gorlin (2024).

With experience working at Hart Scenic Studios and the Radio City Music Hall scene shop, Waytt was hired as the second employee at the newly formed Broadway scene shop Hudson Scenic Studios. After working at Hudson on several productions, he moved to the legendary Broadway scene shop Feller Precision. At the time, the use of computer-controlled automation on Broadway was unheard of, but he was directly involved in developing the first such system while at Feller. The Tap Dance Kid, which opened in December 1983, was the first Broadway production to use this new system and was a threshold moment for the use of computer-controlled automation. A few years later, Wyatt moved to Scenic Technologies and helped create the computer-controlled automation system for Phantom of the Opera which was used for the entire 35-year run.

The list of Broadway productions Wyatt worked on include Cats, Sunday in the Park with George, 42nd Street, Miss Saigon, Titanic, Ragtime, Fosse, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, The Who's Tommy Pippin, Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Come From Away, King Kong, Bad Cinderella, Hell's Kitchen, and many more. In addition to having worked on well over 100 productions, Wyatt is a coholder of three patents related to automation.

"Michael is one of those people who has been directly involved in advances related to Broadway theatre and the technology that makes todays productions possible," says Dan Hanessian, associate professor at Purchase, who launched the Broadway Technical Theatre History Project in 2011. "Like so many of the people who have been critical to the success of Broadway, Michael is a perfect example of the unsung hero who worked tirelessly in our industry without the level of recognition -- and thanks -- his work deserves," Hanessian concludes. Currently the director of the Broadway Technical Theatre History Project and an associate professor in the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Purchase College, Hanessian has been training up-and-coming technical directors and production managers in the design/technology program for over 30 years.

"Backstage Legends and Masters" -- founded by Hanessian -- is an annual public presentation spotlighting individuals who have been central to the realization of Broadway productions for many years, but are not typically provided recognition through the Tony or Drama Desk awards. Each year, an individual is selected by a panel of distinguished professionals who represent a variety of Broadway production specialties.

"The goal of the Broadway Technical Theatre History Project is to create a living history of the shops and technical personnel who have played a role in the realization of Broadway productions," Hanessian explains.

This information will be available to the public in a centralized database. The project will also include a visual history and timeline of the shops. For more information, contact Hanessian at dan.hanessian@purchase.edu or (914) 251-6854.