By Christin Siems, Dramaturgy/Literary Management Fellow
Everything in Washington is named for somebody important. The buildings, the turnpikes, the bridges... pretty much anything impressive or useful in this city is named for someone whose importance and influence exceeded their lifetime. Because usually these people are dead. Not always. But usually. Sometimes I feel like DC is this giant mausoleum of important people, and my morbid side kinda likes it.
I came to DC last August for an Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship at Arena Stage, but have only recently gained understanding of the eponym that employs me. I was, first of all, surprised to learn that Allen Lee Hughes is alive and well. In fact, Allen Lee Hughes is more alive and well than most people I have met, and his importance is found in a history richly connected with Arena's own.
Last week, my fellow fellows and I had coffee and doughnuts with the namesake of our fellowship and found that, despite his importance, Allen Lee Hughes is a self-made man. Allen first found employment at Arena Stage years and years ago (he wouldn't say how old he was, but hinted that "two dollars and fifty cents" was an exciting wage back in his day). Contrary to the belief of Arena's founder, Zelda Fichandler, Allen was not an intern. He worked his way up from the "scrub jobs" (his description of the various tasks such as theatre changeovers) and eventually became a Tony-nominated lighting designer, and one of Arena's very best. In fact, he most recently designed the lights for Stick Fly which opened to a delighted audience last week.
My favorite part of our time with Allen was listening to him describe how he designed a sunrise for K2, Arena's 1982 production for which he won a Tony nomination. He also demonstrated his mentorship skills by encouraging us to set high-achieving, but realistic, goals. He told us how he gave himself ten years to become a professional lighting designer, and then he did it in three. I'm telling ya, the man is impressive.
Arena's 1982 production of K2
The Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship was originally created to give opportunity to minorities in the theatre and now seeks to "cultivate the next generation of theatre professionals by providing the highest standard of training through immersion in the art and business of producing theatre." Allen Lee Hughes exemplifies the artistic drive, strong work ethic, curiosity, and perseverance that Arena Stage is looking to foster in the next generation. And for that, he's the perfect eponym.
(The application deadline is April 1st for the season fellowships, and March 1st for the summer internships.)
