Dan Birchett
Theatre Technical Director
dbirchett@americanleadership.net
801-794-2226
About Mr. Birchett
Dan Birchett teaches Technical Theater and Stage Craft at ALA. He is a professional entertainer, film actor, Dj and singer, who's background is a menagerie of valuable skills and experiences picked up through several trades and adventures experienced throughout his life. Dan is a married father with a wonderful wife and 4 great kids.
Dan started working in theatre on the technical side at a young age, building props and scenery for youth singing groups, later he became heavily involved in High School technical Theater, before going on to work at the SCERA shell out door theatre in the scene shop as a volunteer. Before long, Dan was the assistant shop foreman, later transitioning away from scenic work into lighting and sound. Dan left the SCERA after several years of service as the Assistant Technical Director, to join the United States Marine Corps where Dan Served in the Marine Corps Reserve for 8 years, where Dan completed 2 back to back combat deployments to Iraq in 2007-2008. During the last half of his reserve enlistment, he worked as a carpenter and welder as a foreman on a steel crew before hiring on at the Utah Country Sheriff's department where he served as a Deputy Sheriff for several years before starting his own business in 2010.
After being honorably discharged from the military, Dan returned to the performing arts working for several local AV companies, such as Mountain View Staging Services, Cornerstone Audio Visual and Show Gear Partners, before starting his own company Black Ops AV with a partner. Eventually the partners split to focus in different directions of production, and Dan Started Black Out Entertainment, a full service AV company providing professional tech services for concerts, film, and theatre.
Dan Studied Criminal justice, Psychology, and Philosophy at the University of Phoenix and Utah Valley State College where he is currently pursuing his bachelor's degree, but his first love has always been technical theatre. Dan has a desire to share his knowledge and experience with new generations of techies who want to create excellent entertainment, and is eager and grateful for the opportunity to work with the great staff and fine arts department at ALA.
