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Broadway Technical Theatre History Project
The Broadway Technical Theatre History Project creates a living history of the shops and technical personnel who have played a role in the realization of Broadway productions.
Website: https://www.purchase.edu/broadway-technical-theatre-history-project/
“Backstage Legends and Masters” -- founded by Dan Hanessian -- is an annual public presentation spotlighting individuals who have been central to the realization of Broadway productions for many years, but are not typically provided recognition through the Tony or Drama Desk awards.
Each year, an individual is selected by a panel of distinguished professionals who represent a variety of Broadway production specialties.
“The goal of the Broadway Technical Theatre History Project is to create a living history of the shops and technical personnel who have played a role in the realization of Broadway productions,” Hanessian explained.
2012: Artie Siccardi
2013: Arnold Abramson
2014: Fred Gallo
2015: Gene O'Donovan
2016: Pete Feller Sr.
2017: Joseph B Forbes
2018: Alyce Gilbert
2019: David Rosenberg
2023: William M. (Bill) Mensching
2024: Bill Gorlin
2025: Michael Wyatt
From Live Design article, January 2025:
After working on a range of non-Broadway productions in NYC, around the United States, and internationally, Wyatt started his Broadway career in 1978 as the assistant carpenter for automation on the musical production of Whoopee! and then spent the next four and a half decades helping to shape and support a host of Broadway productions.
With experience working at Hart Scenic Studios and the Radio City Music Hall scene shop, Wyatt was hired as the second employee at the newly formed Broadway scene shop Hudson Scenic Studios. After working at Hudson on several productions, he moved to the legendary Broadway scene shop Feller Precision. At the time, the use of computer-controlled automation on Broadway was unheard of, but Wyatt was directly involved in developing the first such system while at Feller. The Tap Dance Kid, which opened in December 1983, was the first Broadway production to use this new system and was a threshold moment for the use of computer-controlled automation. A few years later, Michael moved to Scenic Technologies and helped create the computer-controlled automation system for Phantom of the Opera which was used for the entire 35-year run.
The list of Broadway productions Wyatt worked on include Cats, Sunday in the Park with George, 42nd Street, Miss Saigon, Titanic, Ragtime, Fosse, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Tommy, Pippin, Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Come From Away, King Kong, Bad Cinderella, Hell’s Kitchen, and many more. In addition to having worked on well over 100 productions, Wyatt is a co-holder of three patents related to automation.
“Michael is one of those people who has been directly involved in advances related to Broadway theatre and the technology that makes todays productions possible,” said Dan Hanessian, Associate Professor at Purchase, who launched the Broadway Technical Theatre History Project in 2011. “Like so many of the people who have been critical to the success of Broadway, Michael is a perfect example of the unsung hero who worked tirelessly in our industry without the level of recognition – and thanks – his work deserves,” Hanessian concluded.
