The Mondavi Center staff is a diverse team with many interests, but all of us share a passion for the performing arts. As we look forward to the 2019-20 season, we'll be posting videos featuring staff members talking about the three shows they are most looking forward to seeing next season.
Below, Christopher Oca, Head Stage Manager and Crew Chief, shares his top three picks and why he chose them.
As the Head Stage Manager and Crew Chief for the Mondavi Center, I get to see our performances from a very unique perspective: behind the scenes. Here are my three picks for the 2019-2020 season.
The Mondavi Center has opened the door for me to other opportunities in the world of production, including being the stage manager for the GastroMagic stage at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival and the Culinary Stage at Napa’s Bottlerock Music Festival. Both stages are dedicated to the combination of food and performance. I’m excited to bring that experience home to the Mondavi Center and listen to Nosrat speak about her approach to food.
For most of Circa’s performances and the Mondavi Center, I have worked with their technical staff to “fit” their performances into our spaces. Their shows are always fun to watch and a welcome challenge to myself and our crew to demonstrate what the Mondavi Center is fully capable of achieving. This year is no different and I’m looking forward to learning from the technical challenges they present us.
The film, Napoleon Dynamite, was released at the end of my final year at UC Davis. At that time, I was pursuing a career in film and it was one of many independent films I saw on my way toward that goal. Fast forward 15 years later and, while I’m not a filmmaker anymore, the film has still had a profound impact how I view filmmaking and screenwriting. It’ll be exciting to see the film again at the Mondavi Center with an audience and hear the cast’s thoughts on the film.