WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 10 recently held a rigging class at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, located just outside Buffalo in Genesee County, to which WNYLaborToday.com was invited to observe.  Nearly 10 Members of the Buffalo-headquartered Local participated in the training, which Local 10 Member Harold Kopp likened to a “big jungle gym.”  (WNYLaborToday.com Photos, Unless Otherwise Noted)

(DARIEN LAKE, NEW YORK) – I was recently invited out to observe a rigging class conducted by International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 10 at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, located just outside Buffalo in Genesee County.

While I stood on a stage where so many major and notable artists and bands have played over the years, I was transfixed on an area high above me - about 55 to 60 feet straight up in fact, to watch a group of Local 10 Members learn how to navigate the ironwork - properly and safely. 

While speaking with a couple of the male Local 10ers down on the ground, I immediately looked up after hearing the distinctive voices of two others, who happened to be female.

Now, I myself am not a fan of heights and stood there in amazement as these young and petite Women listened to certified IATSE Trainer Greg Robertson and followed his instructions before slowly making their way from beam to beam, properly and safely. 

And before you knew it, Mia Berdine (23) and Christina Constantino (27) were back on the ground - thanks to a system of safety vests, tie-offs, ropes and pulleys (Berdine is on the left, Constantino on the right).

You really had to marvel at how they seemed to easily master the lesson - at least it looked that way to me as I watched them operating above.

“My Dad and a cousin ‘were both long-time’ Riggers,” said Berdine (pictured below, checking her safety harness) who got the chance to learn the ropes of what she was getting into from those who have.

And the former Biology Major at Buffalo State College also added that she was drawn to the job because “it ‘pays really well for what you work.’”

Berdine and Constantino are among a group of 15 Women who are Members of Local 10, which represents 125 overall who perform a variety of Stagehand duties – from loading to unloading to sound and lighting, at a number of Buffalo area venues, including Darien Lake.

Crews of anywhere from 60 to 80 Local 10 Members are employed at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center (pictured below/combo photo provided by IATSE Local 10 and WNYLaborToday.com), which is run by Live Nation, depending on the performer.

For basic shows, like Buffalo’s Goo Goo Dolls, there’s as many as 65 employed to do the job of unloading, setting up and then - at the end, taking it all down and putting it back on trucks.  

For bigger shows, like County Singer Blake Shelton or Rapper Lil Wayne, the IATSE Stagehand Crew can swell to as many as 90 Members on site.

They work the day, but if a show, say, ends at 11 p.m., the IATSE Crew does its job quickly so everyone’s done and out by 1 a.m. 

And they do everything, including power-washing the bird crap off the stage before a band’s equipment, sound and all, can be set up.

“It’s a ‘good’ opportunity.  (More Women) ‘should try it.’  I can pick up a couple of jobs, say three to five in a month, be in and out and make ($600) for two hours,” Berdine, who stands five-foot-high and weighs all about 120 pounds, told WNYLaborToday.com. 

“You’re a ‘Pusher’ (moving sound and speaker systems), you work with electric and video.  ‘It’s gotten easier’ (over the course of time).  And ‘Working Union - I appreciate the security’ (it provides on the job),” she said.

Constantino (pictured below, on the ground), who’s five-foot-two and weighs 108 pounds, had “passionately” studied Architecture and Urban Planning at Syracuse University and worked at Cradle Beach Camp as a Program Director before becoming a Union Stagehand.

She made the decision to join a “Union full of Men,” but now admits she’s “gotten my voice back” when it comes to potentially designing performance stages down the line.

“During a Metallica concert ‘I worked forty hours straight,’” said Constantino, who adds she had an interesting experience taking a break in hammock that was set up under the stage “with the band blasting right above me.”

Constantino, who is in her sixth year with IATSE, also decided to get involved in her Union, becoming Local 10’s Women Committee Chair.

“I ‘love it,’” she tells WNYLaborToday.com.  “(The Union) ‘provides me with a quality of life and deeply impacts people’s lives.’  ‘If you want to continue with this Union you have to show up and keep showing up and do your part.’  ‘I’ll be here for the long run.’  ‘This is definitely a great’ workplace.”

“There ‘are a lot of friendly people’ (in Local 10),” adds Berdine. “It ‘opens the door - to anyone’ (interesting in getting into the Union).  ‘Knowing what I know, (Women) should take that first step’ (and find out about IATSE and what it offers).”

Trainer Robertson (pictured below), who grew up in Youngstown in Niagara County, has been with IATSE for 13 years now.  He has several training certifications, including one from New York State, and he’s worked in venues around the world, including Tokyo.  He also worked for the New York State Parks Department in the Niagara Gorge, where he scaled the Gorge to “knock down rocks.”

“We’re ‘building our program up - training the trainer,’” he told WNYLaborToday.com of the IATSE Rigging Training.  “The training is funded out of the Union’s Training Trust Fund.”

Harold Kopp, 63, was another Local 10 Member on-site whom WNYLaborToday.com spoke with during the training exercise. 

He’s worked as a Union Stagehands for a long time, starting in a part-time effort that he “fell in love with.” 

He also told WNYLaborToday.com that he “loves walking the beams.”

“This is our ‘big jungle gym.’  You put on your harness (pictured above) and you go to work,” he said.  “Safety ‘is huge.’  ‘You have to make sure you’re hooked in because you’re (55 to 60 feet) up in the air.’  The ‘highest point’ (of the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center) is (130) feet ‘and in the Winter, we’re here - clearing snow (pictured below, combo photo provided by IATSE Local 10) off the roofs.’”

Asked what he thought of Berdine and Constantino being IATSE Members and taking the rigging class, Kopp answered: “‘We’ll take Women’ (in Local 10).  ‘We’re proud to have them.’”