Who is Eric Seeley ’26?
Seeley is a mathematics and theatre double major from Portland, Ore. He is the technical director of Untitled@Large, Hamilton’s student theatre club, and on the e-board of the Board Game Club. During the summers, he works in IT for a textbook distribution company.
Since arriving at Hamilton, he has run lights and sound, stage managed, and occasionally acted in performances staged by the Theatre Department, Dance Department, Untitled@Large, and Student Dance Association (SDA).
On getting into tech:
“It was due to a scheduling conflict. In middle school, I had to take four electives, but since I played an instrument, that took up three slots. I only had one space for another elective. I put cultural exploration as the one I wanted to be in, and art as my alternate. But I couldn’t get into either, so I got shoved into drama exploration.
I thought, ‘this is going to be stupid.’ But it wasn’t stupid. I had a lot of fun. But I didn’t really like the being on stage part.
When signing up for the musical, a few feet over from the paper for audition sign-ups was the sign-up for the crew, and I thought, “I’ll give it a shot” and went from there.
In high school, I was a freshman when the previous stage manager was a senior, and they asked if I wanted to take over. As part of learning how to be stage manager, you also had to learn how to do lights and sounds since it was your responsibility to train everyone.”
On theatre and math:
“Technical theatre is more of a STEM discipline … like engineering skills and even computer science skills.
“What I’m doing in real analysis right now has no bearing on what I’m doing in theatre, but the skills that I’ve gotten through going through a math program and being a math guy my entire life are incredibly helpful.”
On his role on campus:
“There are not a whole bunch of lights and sound people at this college. So, I ended up filling the niche that was needed. I do so many performances and get to meet and interact with other people and make friends with them because I do so much and have a role so integral to the performance.
“You meet crazy, wacky, wild people who are incredibly smart and incredibly creative, and you’re like, wow, I love working with these people”
What are people saying?
Although only a sophomore, Eric has learned so much about technical theatre that he has become a great resource for students and faculty alike. Over the past 2 years, Eric has dove into the world of technical theatre and has become an irreplaceable resource for all things lighting and sound. I love working with Eric because he brings such a sense of joy and humor to technical theatre! – Emma Bowman ’24, technical theatre student assistant
Meet people taking Hamilton’s motto to heart as they discover and explore their passions in an effort to make valuable contributions on College Hill and beyond.
What’s in the future?:
Experimenting with acting; taking classes in dance, geosciences, and whatever else catches his eye; and playing board games and Dungeons and Dragons with friends.
What are the takeaways?
The technical crew play an essential role in all performances, even if the results of their efforts are not always noticeable.
“I think a lot more people should get into technical theatre,” he said, “especially STEM people. It’s a really neat STEM-adjacent subject and we need more tech people.”
“The community is absolutely great,” Seeley emphasized.
