Best of 2000: Best Theater Production Manager

Mark Maltby

A production manager coordinates all aspects of a production -- the budget included -- from inception to execution. Forty-year-old Mark Maltby, UCSD Theatre's production manager, worked for Disney (on the Main Street Parade) and was PM for the La Jolla Playhouse. He joined UCSD in 1989. He chairs production meetings, coordinates the "load in" of the set and the "strike," is present at technical rehearsals, and works most closely with heads of props, costumes, sets, and lighting. During a typical, 90-hour workweek, Maltby also pitches in when needed. "He's the best PM I have ever worked with in the hundred or so theaters I have worked for," says Walt Jones, drama department chairman at UCSD. "A skilled craftsman, Mark's the kindest person I have ever met, with a wonderful, nurturing way with students. Mark makes everything work. Plus, he can see trouble before it becomes trouble and solves it without it ever even coming up."