CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 43 Book and Music by Joe Kinosian Book and Lyrics by Kellen Blair Directed by Laura Josepher design also will help CFRT catch up with the technology that has advanced in the years since the sound system was installed. "What he's doing is setting the institution up for success for the next decade," said Burke, a longtime friend of Kaplowitz's. "We are so lucky he could come." Kaplowitz's first experience in live theater was in high school when he was enlisted to play a young King Richard in "Richard III." "I hated it," he said. "I was so nervous." His high school, however, offered a class in technical theater, allowing him to realize he had a passion for sound design. "I loved the people but didn't love acting," he said. "I'm very happy being me in the theater. I just don't want to be someone else. In essence, the sound designer is trying not to be noticed." He went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater from New York University with a focus on production and design. Based in Philadelphia since 2010, he has worked for a wide range of theater companies. "Broadway," he said, "is the heart of commercial theater, but it's not the heart of American theater." He is the composer of two musical works – "Minors," an exploration of the Luzerne County "Kids for Cash" judicial scandal, and "Leviathan." "I look back and feel very lucky that I had a couple of wonderful mentors," he said. "People who do sound for musicals as well as plays." Kaplowitz already has craed a legacy in theater and now he'll be leaving a legacy at Cape Fear Regional eatre for generations to come. "In every city," he said, "there is a beating heart of art. It's important to me that artists get the best toolbox so that they can express the heart of the community. Mary Kate invited me to help make a space that would allow this community to sing out."

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