Staff Profile: Steve Proctor
By Omar Forbes

If you have ever seen a program at Augusta State’s Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre, then you can thank Steve Proctor for helping to make it happen. Mr. Proctor has been the technical production coordinator for the Maxwell Theatre for the past 24 years.

“I live 24-7 with a phone in one hand and a pencil in the other,” Mr. Proctor says. “I spend a lot of time talking to the person running the program, trying to figure out how we can adapt it to our theatre without renting equipment from the outside to make it work.”

The Maxwell Theatre isn’t his only venue. He also has worked with productions all over the Southeast as well as the Bell Auditorium and the James Brown Arena in Augusta.

“I first started in the business in 1979 working for John Mortez. At that time he was in the process of restoring the Imperial Theatre downtown. Working with him gave me the experience of learning the theatre business from the ground up,” he says.

Mr. Proctor currently serves as the president of the local International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. “We supply help to all of the neighboring major cities on many productions—everything from Van Halen to Clinton to great Broadway shows, movie production, and even the Charlotte race way,” he adds.

When he isn’t busy working, Mr. Proctor likes to fish for bass and bream from his backyard, which is located on the Savannah River. His love of fishing goes back to when he was a teenager. He grew up in Florida, and his backyard was the Florida Everglades. That was an ideal spot for a bass fisherman, he says.

“In the Everglades, the weeds were up to your neck, so you were walking at the same level as the water; you could see the snakes at eye level, ” he says. “You could hear the wild boars running through the woods on the islands. You were always on the lookout for alligators; but they never bothered you,” he adds.

When Mr. Proctor looks back at his younger days, he says he can’t believe everything he did then—particularly wading in the Everglades to fish.

“I was young and stupid,” he says. “I wouldn’t fish in the Everglades now. I’d be too afraid because the alligator population has increased about three or four times over. I wasn’t afraid of them then, but I guess when you get older in age, you think a little more seriously about such things. Age changes everything,” says Mr. Proctor.

Even though the conditions were hazardous, Mr. Proctor says that he had a lot of fun. He saw things that most people would not be able to see, such as the bass in the water as they hit his lure. “It was unique. I was thrilled,” he says.

Now when Mr. Proctor is able to find time during his busy schedule, he occasionally takes trips to the Florida Keys to do a little swimming and deep-sea fishing. He likes to fish out of anything from small johnboats to 50-foot boats, but he likes the 50-foot boats the best, he says.

Name: Steve Proctor

Position: Technical Production Coordinator

Time at ASU: 24 years

What he likes about ASU: “In the past 20 years of service here at ASU, the changes have been incredible. All of our new buildings have really made a change for our students, and the campus looks great. The faculty and staff really work together to make things happen. That sure makes life easy for everyone.”

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June 2008
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