City College student Patrick Lownes-Santos, stage manager for “Communicating Doors,” is working towards his dreams as he calls places in the Garvin Theater for show time.

Santos is in his last semester at City College and has hopes to attend CalArts for theatrical design and production for the Fall semester.

“There are so many elements to theater such as music, lighting, and set design,” Santos said. “Its ability to draw people to it from a storytelling perspective is amazing.”

Santos got his first taste of theater in eighth grade, but it really piqued his interest after his first year at City College.

After unsuccessfully auditioning for roles in City College productions, he began to delve into the technical aspects of theater such as light board operating, assistant stage managing, and assistant light designing.

Santos began by becoming assistant manager for “One Man, Two Guvnors” and assistant lighting designer for “High Society” before getting his current job as stage manager for “Communicating Doors.”

Santos said his interest in theater tech was sparked specifically in light and set design.

“Lighting has this amazing ability to be this intangible thing that we are able to control,” Santos said. “It’s amazing that I can have so much control over that aspect of the storytelling.”

Director of “Communicating Doors” Katie Laris has been working with Santos throughout the semester and said she has enjoyed working on such a complicated technical production with him.  

“He gives countless hours of time to create the scenic pieces you see on the stage of the Garvin. Laris said. “When I heard that he was going to be available to stage manage ‘Communicating Doors,’ I was absolutely delighted. Every day working with him has been a delight for all of us in the company.”

As a stage manager his responsibilities include making sure that the crew and all actors are at the theatre at call time and making sure everything is working properly.

He also makes sure the actors go through fight call where they perform physically dangerous maneuvers, such as falling and dragging other actors, and practicing with pseudo weapons to make sure they are comfortable using them.

“I make sure that the audience isn’t just walking into a theater, but into an experience, with the help of lights and music,” Santos said.

Santos said he wants to continue creating these experiences by creating things such as escape rooms or even working for companies such as Disney that create those sort of immersive experiences for people.

“He is one of the most recognized and respected students in our department,” Laris said of Santos. “He has developed a reputation for unfailing kindness, clear headedness, calm authority and trustworthiness.”