Harpur student spotlight: Gabrielle Button

Binghamton University senior Gabrielle Button is working to light up the world one stage at a time.

“Sometimes I get exhausted and I’m like, ‘Why do I do this? I should do something else,’” the theatre major said. “Then opening night happens and I hear the audience’s reactions and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s why I’m doing this’. Being able to bring art to people and see their reaction live: I think that’s what draws me into theater specifically.”

Button is originally from Hallstead, Pa., a place she considers to be small in more ways than one.

“Coming to Binghamton helped me see all the ways people live and how it’s OK and I can choose how I how I want to live too, which has been so eye- opening,” she said.

Button initially spent her time invested in fine arts such as painting, drawing and illustration. Her journey into theater happened because of a high school director in need.

“My older sister was a senior at the time and I was a sophomore,” Button said. “She was playing the lead in ‘The Sound of Music’ and the director was like, ‘We need someone to turn the lights off and on during the show.’ I loved it for some reason.”

This newfound love turned into a career path for Button. She currently works as a lightning tech within Binghamton University’s Anderson Center for the Performing Arts. She also spent the past summer interning at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts.

The festival has been around since 1955. Each year it gathers actors, directors, designers and playwrights to the Berkshires to put on various plays and bring together the theater community.

“The whole festival was exhausting,” Button said. “I worked 8 a.m. to midnight every day, but it was a really awesome experience and I made a lot of good contacts.”

Networking is crucial within the lighting tech industry. Button noted that there are many opportunities if you know where to look. One of her major connections also happens to be her role model.

“I met someone who’s a Binghamton alumnus. His name is Aaron Copp and he is a lightning designer in New York,” Button said. “He came last semester — we did ‘The Liar’ in Watters Theater. I was the assistant lighting designer and he was the guest lighting designer, so I assisted him and we worked super well together.”

From there, Button went on tour with Copp working for The Silk Road ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma. She also helped assist him on a show he did in New York City.

“He’s so talented and willing to work with anyone, especially the younger generation,” Button said. “I look up to him because of how he’s able to work with other people. He’s chill and laid-back and smart and willing to help. I want to be him when I grow up!”

Button sees theater as a way of life. She admires the collaboration that takes place and the stories that are told. For her, it’s more than just that the show must go on.

“I’ve found such a great community in theater,” she said. “There’s a lot of on the spot problem solving and it’s a huge collaborative effort to get something on stage. The nice thing about theater is it’s someone else’s story and you’re showing it in a new and interesting way. I love it.”

For now, Button is focusing her post-graduation plans on continuing training and learning the craft of theatrical lighting. Throughout her time learning and at work, she sticks to the goal of being happy in all she does.

“If you can live your life doing whatever it is that makes you happy, if it feels right to you, that’s fine,” she said. “As long as you’re not hurting yourself or anyone else. Do what makes you happy.”