Three outstanding high school seniors were awarded the 2023 Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarships, which are presented annually in partnership with TSDCA and USITT.
Alyssa Gil-Pujols, a sound design student at Rider University, talked to Live Design about the scholarship, her career ambitions, and her thoughts on diversity in the industry.
Live Design: Why made you apply for the scholarship?
Alyssa Gil-Pujols: I applied to the Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarship because there are so few sound designers who are a people of color or women. I am striving to become one of the few women of color in the sound industry. I felt like this scholarship would help me achieve that goal.
LD: What made you interested in this field?
Alyssa Gil-Pujols: I am interested in sound design because I can tell a story and make people feel things using only sounds. I can help a story progress, or make a play more engaging, by using the right sound effects, and help the audience hear the actors better by giving them microphones. It's an amazing feeling when you see the audience respond well to the play that you've worked so hard to help create.
LD: What are your career goals?
Alyssa Gil-Pujols: One of my career goals is to work in different areas. I want to work in sportscasting to get more of an understanding of other forms of live sound and I would also love to work for concerts. But my ultimate goal is to become a professional sound designer and work on various Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
LD: How can the industry better serve underrepresented communities?
Alyssa Gil-Pujols: The industry could reach out to minority groups and host events to make those groups feel seen. Also, the industry can boost smaller, minority-run theaters to help their voices and stories be heard. (Pregones Theater in the Bronx is a good example.)
LD: Who or what are your influences?
Alyssa Gil-Pujols: My influences would be my teachers. My 8th-grade teacher introduced me to theater design and helped me realize that I'm actually good at it. My drama and technical theater teacher from high school taught me how to better my design and helped me reach out to internships to learn more about sound design. Two mentors from the Roundabout Youth Ensemble also helped a great deal with my learning and enjoyment of sound design.
LD: Can you talk about the challenges you have faced?
Alyssa Gil-Pujols: Balancing school work, social life, and work. Even though I graduated school with a high GPA and still have friends from high school, it was hard to not burn out when you have a lot of weight on your shoulders. I had to do all the sound design for my school while being enrolled in more than one AP course and still make time to hang out with friends.
LD: Do you have a bucket list?
Alyssa Gil-Pujols: My number one bucket list item would be a house, only because it has been my grandfather's and mother's dream to have. My grandparents moved from Guatemala to the U.S. but didn't have money for a house so the next best thing was an apartment in the Bronx. They have lived in that apartment for over 40 years and I want to be able to support them.
LD: Has the pandemic changed how you view your work or the industry?
Alyssa Gil-Pujols: Yes, it has. It made me see that theater can live on even through the roughest of times. If there is a will there's a way! I was lucky enough to continue doing theater remotely, my school was chosen for a production called RANKED where I was chosen to be one of the main editors. That play was then a part of the HBO documentary My So-Called High School Rank where many schools were featured (including my high school, Fordham High School for the Arts).
The 2023 Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarships are named for Pat MacKay, former publisher of Theatre Crafts International (TCI) and Lighting Dimensions and founder of the LDI trade show. She is a USITT Fellow and has mentored multiple generations of industry professionals. The Diversity In Design Scholarships were introduced in 2019 to support the diverse and unique voices in the field of entertainment design. They are presented to undergraduate students.