John Patrick, the adjunct faculty member and shop coordinator at Citrus College, spent decades helping bring productions at the Haugh Performing Arts Center to life, but his path into theater began long before Citrus College.
“When I was a small child, every year, my parents would take me to a theater production that did a children’s musical every summer,” Patrick said. “The production had children in the cast and every year they would ask me if I wanted to audition. But I was always too shy.”
Patrick spent much of his childhood reading and creating art.
“I was a very isolated child,” Patrick said. “My sisters were 10 years older, and there was no one my age to play with. So, I retreated into lots of reading and arts and crafts.”
He said he is still a shy person today.
That began to change when Patrick performed in his first production.
“Eventually I ended up doing drama in high school, and that broke through my barriers,” Patrick said. “I auditioned, and was cast in a show.”
Although acting was initially his focus, his artistic abilities slowly drew him behind the scenes.
“Because I had artistic talent, I would help paint the scenery and get to know the set designer Virginia Lindsley,” Patrick said. “She liked me, and I became her assistant.”
Patrick later worked with Lindsley at the San Bernardino Civic Light Opera before realizing his interests had shifted away from performing.
“After a few more years, I realized that I was happier behind the scenes than in front,” Patrick said. “And I started designing for community theaters.”
After Lindsley retired, Patrick took over her position before becoming a freelance designer when the company eventually shut down.
“When SBCLO went bankrupt a few years later I became a freelance designer,” Patrick said.
Patrick said several people helped shape both his career and personal growth throughout the years.
“There have been so many people that have influenced me,” Patrick said. “Virginia Lindsey was really my mentor in scenic design.”
He also credited others who encouraged his creativity from a young age.
“Mrs. Cole, the librarian at my local library, would go out of her way to order art, and puppetry books for me as a young child,” Patrick said. “There was no internet back then; the library was your only source of information.”
Patrick also reflected on the impact of designer Christa Bartles.
“Bartles was the designer who got me the job sculpting puppets for the Atlanta Olympics Opening Ceremony, and who also recommended me for my first design job here at Citrus,” Patrick said. “I owe so much to so many.”
His arrival at Citrus College came unexpectedly after a position opened while he was already working on campus as a painter.
“When I was working here as a painter, this position became vacant,” Patrick said. “As the position was written, it required a degree, and I didn’t have one.”
After the college struggled to find enough qualified applicants, the degree requirement was eventually removed, allowing Patrick to apply for the position.
“I have been very lucky to have achieved this position,” Patrick said. “I was always wanting to be an illustrator, or a painter, or a sculptor, or a puppeteer. I bounced back and forth for many years as to what I should focus on. Then one day the light bulb turned on, and I realized that this kind of job is where I belong.”
“I get to do all those things in the course of my regular work,” Patrick said. “I fell into the perfect job for me without actually meaning to.”
As the years passed, Patrick said the most rewarding part of his work became teaching and mentoring students.
“What kept me here for so long was that after a short period of time, they realized I could design, and suddenly they started allowing me to design everything,” Patrick said.
He said the opportunity allowed him to create projects he would never have had the resources to design elsewhere.
“It was cool for me as a designer because I had resources to design things I would never have had to design in the real world,” Patrick said.
But eventually, he said, the students became the reason he stayed.
“After a few years, I realized I really enjoyed working with students a lot and giving them something they didn’t know about,” Patrick said.
Patrick said theater also changed the way he approaches life.
“In the Theater Arts it has taught me to be much more collaborative,” Patrick said. “And it has allowed me to try new things in a way that more traditional jobs won’t allow.”
Because of that experience, he said he now views life differently.
“I have the expectation that life will always be an adventure,” Patrick said. “Some adventures are good, some less so. But you always learn something useful. And that makes me a happier person.”
Patrick also said people often underestimate how much work goes into theater productions.
“There are weeks, sometimes months of thinking, researching and planning, and weeks of building, and buying, and painting, and testing, that go into the two hours that people watching a show see,” Patrick said.
As he prepares to leave Citrus College, Patrick said he hopes the next person who steps into the role continues supporting students and technical theater education.
“Whoever gets the position after me, they won’t be me, and they’ll have their own way of running things,” Patrick said. “But I hope they are good communicators, know a lot of technical stuff, and keep students excited about learning new things.”
Even as he moves on from the Haugh, Patrick said he is confident the theater will continue evolving for future generations.
“The Haugh was being built when I was in middle school,” Patrick said. “It will still be here for students to learn, and patrons to enjoy for many years to come.”
For Patrick, theater has always been about growth, creativity and change.
“The next person should try their best to give their best, and all will be as it should be,” Patrick said. “And I am looking forward to seeing what that new adventure looks like.”
