The Great Pig Heist: The Musical!

Building a digital stage

Since I couldn’t join a local community theatre that summer, I built my own digital stage instead. I co-wrote the script and lyrics with a team of student learners and composed the full score using GarageBand, AudioMass and Pixabay.

I engineered the automation for Cyn the computer using Network Cues in QLab 5, with ZoomOSC bridging the data directly into the Zoom chat panel. When the software’s free mode blocked those network triggers, I adapted instantly: Cyn’s lines moved into a master Google Doc for manual copy-paste macros, before the role was ultimately reassigned to an actor.

Re-engineering the company

The production faced a wave of actor dropouts, forcing me to continually restructure the company. I deployed pre-planned understudy accounts, took on Owie the Owl myself, promoted crew members into acting roles, and double-cast Charlie and Cyn. When another actor faced account restrictions, I took over her role and handed Owie the Owl to our costume designer — a dedicated technician who had attended every rehearsal and knew the lines by heart.

Fifteen minutes to showtime

The ultimate test came fifteen minutes before the show, when two lead actors didn’t show up. I executed an emergency script rewrite in a quarter of an hour, using my improv training to fill the narrative gaps live during the broadcast. This project pushed my coordination, crisis management, and real-time adaptation to their limits — and proved I can hold a company steady and deliver a show through pure resourcefulness.