Gèneva B. Conaway Bennison
Gèneva is currently living in the New York area. She grew up in Oxford, Ohio with her parents, two siblings, a grandmother, and whatever animal we could talk mom and dad into. With a director as a father and a costume designer and choreographer as a mother (both Professor Emeriti at Miami University) she was often found playing make believe in a doorway at rehearsals in the Gates-Abegglen Theater. At the age of five she found herself on stage but soon left the spotlight for the blacks and all the excitement. It was a family tradition, everybody worked Miami University Summer Theater, MUST – a fitting name for it all. Gèneva was no exceptions, she spend 13+ seasons working MUST she spent most of her time in the costume shop but you could have also caught her at a light hang, painting a drop, installing the pit extension, running props, and more.
One would have thought that this would have spelled out a career for her early on but she wanted to carve her own path and pursued a degree in music at Miami U. with focuses in Percussion and World Music. Her undergraduate adventures didn’t stop in the Center for Performing Arts but she also pursued other avenues in business, psychology and arts management.
Her parents’ influence didn’t stop there. She has traveled to Ghana, Trinidad, most of the Caribbean Island, South America, Europe, Mexico, Canada and 49 states at her parents’ encouragement. She lives by the motto her mother taught her “have cell phone and passport will travel”. They also instilled a passion for not only the arts, and humanity but also for the water. Gèneva is happiest when she is able to smell and feel a lake, river, or ocean.
After graduating from Miami University she moved to New York City where she put her arts management education to work at Manhattan Theatre Club and in the Development Office in the Special Events Department. Here she was part of organizing a million dollar gala, 3 Broadway Openings, multiple Off-Broadway Openings, over 20 other events, and the private phase of their Capital Campaign to acquire a Broadway Theatre.
She soon found her time at MTC up, as it was only a year contract, and headed uptown to work in the Development Office at Ballet Hispanico where she eventually became the Development Manager for Fiscal Responsibilities. She worked at Ballet Hispanico through their capital campaign and enjoyed being in the heart of professional dance company and a dance school. The music, children, and dedication called her. All this time she was going to every show, concert, and event she could get her hands on but it wasn’t the same. The performer and technician were struggling to get out and make a statement again. She took classes at The New School University and fell in love with an art that could combine both, engineering (recording).
In 2006 she left Ballet Hispanico to continue her education and started at the North Carolina School of the Arts where she pursued her MFA in Sound Design. At School of the Arts not only was she working with great technicians and designers but she also had the opportunity to work with a killer faculty. It was here that she was exposed to the world of Folley with David Lewis Yewdall, M.P.S.E.. Her mother always told her that there are few places you can go in life where you are challenged to screw up. This was one of them. At School of the Arts she was pushed outside of her comfort zone and pushed to work on an average of 10 productions in a 9-month period. She would not trade this for anything in the world. She is now writing her Thesis on “Understanding a Score” specifically aimed at the young sound designer.
In 2008-2009 she was the resident Sound Supervisor at Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC where she also designed 4 shows and worked on 3 others. One of those designs recently made an appearance at Merrimack Theater in Lowell, MA.
While MUST has long since closed its doors she has found a new Summer Theater home in Maine at Maine State Music Theater. There she was the Sound Designer and Sound Supervisor doing what she calls 4 “small” musicals a summer. The 2010 season was the first time that small was the truth with a production of ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE. Her past “small” shows have included LES MISERABLES, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, CHICAGO, SPAMALOT, THE PRODUCERS, DROWSY CHAPERONE, MY FAIR LADY, and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRALS. She has had the pleasure of mixing all of the mainstage productions as well as several other events each year. In addition to her duties and designer and engineer she supervised a sound intern and apprentice as they got their “feet wet” at designing and mixing.
While she still plays her vibraphone weekly she has traded her musical instrument of choice in for a sound console and computer. Gèneva loves “making music” at the console and bringing the magic of theater to the audiences (what is musical theater if you can’t hear?).
Gèneva is still passionate about music, theater, and the idea that the arts should be accessible to everybody. She hopes she can always bring those passions to others by her work at the console and her computer. She enjoys working with not only professionals but also with the passionate non-professional and as a result you can find her helping the cause by working with community theaters and working as a consultant for sound system renovations and installations when she has time.
She is always looking for the next challenge in life and hopes to see you at the theater some day soon.
Her Design Philosophy
Know your audience
Excite yourself and others
Do only what the production needs
Think outside the box and your comfort zone
Support your teammates
Challenge yourself
Make your director’s dreams come true (within reason)
And make sure you have some fun doing it.
