This month, the American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) welcomed Michael Nishball as its newest full member. Membership into the ASTC, the country’s foremost mutual benefit organization for professional theatre consultants, follows a highly selective process that considers a candidate’s range of capability and experience, their past industry achievements, and the quality of service they provide to clients.
“I can think of no person more deserving of full membership,” offered Scott Crossfield, Theatre Projects principal and fellow with the ASTC. “Michael’s experience in equipment and systems design is unparalleled, and he is the type of person we want in the ASTC: committed to the industry, dogged about the appropriate use of technology in the design of performance spaces, and invested in safety for audience and performer as his number one priority.”
Michael is our principal theatre equipment designer and one of the industry’s leading voices on structural systems, rigging equipment, and specialty stage machinery. He makes the eighth Theatre Projects employee currently on the ASTC membership roster and brings over 40 years of experience to the elite organization.
Theatre Projects has been Michael’s professional home since 1995. Prior to joining us, he worked with Pook Diemont & Ohl, Inc. as a rigging contractor, and earlier on, he was a stagehand, production designer, and rigger with a variety of theatre companies. He supervised lighting and rigging for the Wooster Group all over the world and worked with the Boston Shakespeare Company, the American Repertory Theater, and several modern dance companies in Boston.
Michael shared, “With the ASTC about to celebrate their 50th anniversary, I am especially excited and honored to be recognized. I have received and respect the society’s Code of Ethics, and it is something professionals and American society in general should aspire too, especially in these times of ours.”
Presently, Michael is a lecturer, a design mentor, and a highly sought-after theatre equipment expert. A principal here at Theatre Projects, he helps guide our practice team and has been attached to over 300 projects during his time with the company. Michael is a member of the Construction Specifications Institute with a certificate in Construction Document Technology and is a member of the ESTA Technical Standards Program – Stage Machinery Working Group. The ASTC full membership marks a significant achievement in a career of significant achievements for Michael, and we join the rest of the industry in applauding him on this milestone.
