DESPITE JOB, NOT A LIFE OF CONVENTION FOR PRODUCER, STAGE IS ALL THE WORLD.Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer CANYON COUNTRY -- He started out a stagehand stage·hand n. A worker who shifts scenery, adjusts lighting, and performs other tasks required in a theatrical production. stagehand Noun a person who sets the stage and moves props in a theatre , working small cast shows in little theaters on Broadway. Now he's produced the last four Republican National Conventions and says he's ready for anything -- as long as it's fun. ``I think I have one more convention in me,'' David Nash David Nash is the name of:
It's not about the politics, he said. ``I don't control who's speaking,'' he said. ``I just control how long. My job is to make it look good.'' An autograph from Babe Ruth encased en·case tr.v. en·cased, en·cas·ing, en·cas·es To enclose in or as if in a case. en·case  ment n. in glass is just part of a
floor-to-ceiling memorabilia wall in his Sand Canyon office. He
remembers getting it, albeit second-handedly.
``My father was a stagehand in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and the theater was doing a fundraiser for bonds during the war (World War II),'' he said. ``Babe and my dad sat around backstage talking baseball for three hours, but I was more interested in seeing the Western movie, so I went back for the show.'' He got his first real job at age 16 as a board electrician and spot operator on ``Jamaica,'' starring Lena Horne Noun 1. Lena Horne - United States singer and actress (born in 1917) Lena Calhoun Horne, Horne . Eventually his resume would include more than 200 Broadway shows, including ``No, No, Nanette,'' ``I Never Sang for My Father,'' ``Funny Girl'' and ``Uncle Vanya Uncle Vanya is a tragicomedy by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov published in 1899. Its first major performance was in 1900 under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski. .'' ``I worked on `Becket' with Sir Laurence Olivier. He had a death scene where we turned all the lights in the theater out except the spot on him. The problem was I never knew exactly where he was going to die. We had to work on that.'' Twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. later, Nash was at a production meeting for the Academy Awards, where Olivier was being given a special award. When the actor walked into the room, he approached Nash and the two talked about old times, much to the shock and awe Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming decisive force, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of power to paralyze an adversary's perception of the battlefield and of the young Hollywood types. ``They couldn't believe he came and spoke to me,'' Nash said. ``That's the difference between theater and movie people.'' After attending Penn State University on a track scholarship, Nash taught history during the day, worked stage crew at night (paying someone to cover him on Wednesday matinees) and polished floors in an office building to support his parents. He married Trudi, a fellow teacher, in 1961 and started freelancing in the theater, producing shows at Long Island's Jones Beach amphitheater and learning props and set decoration Noun 1. set decoration - a decoration used as part of the set of a theatrical or movie production decoration, ornament, ornamentation - something used to beautify . Landing a job as technical director for the Kennedy Center in 1975, he coordinated incoming productions, including a two-year succession of visiting ballet and opera companies to commemorate the nation's bicentennial bi·cen·ten·ni·al adj. 1. Happening once every 200 years. 2. Lasting for 200 years. 3. Relating to a 200th anniversary. n. A 200th anniversary or its celebration. Also called bicentenary. . ``That was an enormous task,'' he said. ``The Bolshoi Opera had 48 trucks and that was just for the scenery, props and costumes. It took another 10 trucks for the technical equipment.'' ``As La Scala was loading out, the trucks from Paris Opera were waiting down the street,'' he said. ``We had a chandelier for one show that was so big, we had to store it in the truck outside and bring it in during intermission. We had 400 people on stage, 100 people in the crew and 40 people on the night gang.'' The siren call from Hollywood proved too strong to resist and the Nash family moved to California in the the late '70s. ``That's when I learned what `trust me' meant in Hollywood,'' he said, grinning. ``My first year out here, I earned what I paid in tips in New York. My second year here, I earned what I paid in taxes.'' He produced the Barbara Mandrell and Dolly Parton par·ton n. Any of the point particles believed to be a constituent of hadrons, now known as quarks. No longer in technical use. [part(icle) + -on1.] shows as well as the sitcoms ``Off the Wall'' and ``The Dave Thomas Show.'' But it seemed he never really left the East Coast, continuing to produce the Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are held to be the highlight event in the cultural life of the United States. The idea was the brainchild of George Stevens, Jr. (who remains involved), and he and his partner, the late Nick Vanoff, put together the first event, launching it in 1978. . In 1986, he served as executive in charge of production for the opening ceremonies for the refurbished Statue of Liberty Statue of Liberty great symbolic structure in New York harbor. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : America Statue of Liberty perhaps the most famous monument to independence. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : Freedom . A picture high above his desk shows a smiling Nash in a precarious spot -- on the outside of Liberty's crown. ``I guess I'm proudest of that one,'' he said. ``Originally we were going to do this on the deck of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in . We were going to build the sets as we sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, but then we bombed Libya and found out that the ship could be called into active duty. They would bring out a bulldozer to push our sets off the deck while we jumped off and swam for shore.'' More than 12 million people either watched or participated in the three-day event three-day event a competition in the pleasure horse sport comprising usually one day each for dressage, cross country and show jumping. , which featured five swearing-in ceremonies for new Americans -- including performer Mikhail Baryshnikov -- and President Ronald Reagan triggering a laser light show to illuminate the statue. After producing one of the inaugural balls for President George H. W. Bush  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. in 1989, Nash got the nod to produce a dedication ceremony for
Mt. Rushmore in 1991.
``I planned this great photo op -- I was going to put the podium just to the right of the four heads and fly the biggest flag that had ever flown right behind them. What I needed was a hook to get the president to come. ``I knew there was some good fishing at this nearby lake so I pitched fishing for him and a photo op for his people. Then I told National Park Service that the president was coming to the dedication and he wanted to do some fishing. The next day, I saw all these trucks going to the lake, dumping in hundreds of fish.'' Nash has a picture from the event -- not of the monument, but of the former president cooking him a hamburger on the lake shore. ``He said he enjoyed getting to fish by himself,'' Nash said. ``And he said he'd never caught so many fish.'' After three heart attacks and a shoulder replacement, he and Trudi are taking it a little slower, traveling in an RV that Nash recently purchased and enjoying their four children and eight grandchildren. ``I think I'm perfect and she knows better,'' he said, looking across the office at Trudi, who returned a smile. ``In my business, it's a rarity to be in the same place with the same person for 45 years.'' carol.rock(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5252 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) - Producer David Nash on bringing the last four GOP national conventions to life (2) David J. Nash has produced everything from Broadway shows to Republican National Conventions. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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