Cameron Bean is making the most of his job as recruiter for the Columbus State University fine arts division and advancement and marketing coordinator for department of theater.
Known as Capt. Cam by hundreds of middle school-aged students who enrolled in the Springer Opera House’s Theater Academy a few years ago, Bean is excited about several projects.
Reunion plans
One is the second annual Theater Alumni Reunion on July 23. He held the first one last summer with 25 former students, faculty and staff and theater board members. He did it in his apartment on Broadway.
Cameron had people donate wine, beer and food. And he managed to collect $1,400, which astounded him because most of the alumni are struggling actors.
This year, he’s way ahead of where he was in 2010. He received a list of alumni from Hazel Hall Brennan, who chaired the department for more than 30 years. He’s begun to call people on that list.
And since he’s expecting about 100 people to come to the reunion, Cameron’s definitely outgrown his apartment.
He knows the date and time of the event -- 6 p.m. July 23 -- but doesn’t have a venue yet. I’ll let you know as soon as he knows.
Helping alumni
The second project is one that’s very interesting and will be a boon to the young actors coming out of the program.
It’s called the Alumni Transition Program.
How does it work? Say Adam Archer is leaving Columbus to go to Second City in Chicago. Once he’s set up there, he becomes the contact for any CSU theater senior who is thinking of moving there. Adam will help with the move, recommending rentals in various parts of Chicago and making introductions to key theater folks in Chicago.
In fact, that is a realistic example. Adam is moving to Chicago in late May, and by the end of the summer, he’ll be an asset that CSU can call on.
Other alumni are Lena Thomas in Los Angeles; Gus Langley in Las Vegas; Anthony Jackson in Washington, D.C.; Casey Holloway and Jonathan Davis in Atlanta and Amber Dickerson in New York. Casey Pilkington will also be a Chicago contact.
Sandra Okamoto, sokamoto@ledger-enquirer.com, or 706-571-8580.
