That sealed it, and Cain soon abandoned her plan of going into communications. She became a theatre arts major<\/a> before her sophomore year, which, truth be told, is what she wanted to do all along.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where my passion was,\u201d she says. \u201cNot necessarily where the money is, but definitely where my passion is\u00a0. . .\u00a0I acted in a lot of shows in high school, and my aunt was actually an actress so she was an inspiration to me. I\u2019ve been wanting to be in theatre for a very, very long time\u2014since I was a little kid.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time Cain graduated last month she had acted in four shows and stage-managed five others. She knew she\u2019d like the former; the surprise was she may like the latter even more.<\/p>\n Caitlin Cain in the Furman Theatre production Durang\/Durang<\/p><\/div>\n While acting is all about being seen, being a stage manager is almost exactly the opposite.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really cool how you can be in charge of everything back stage. It\u2019s a really selfless job,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t really get a lot of recognition, but you get the opportunity to help everyone\u00a0. . .\u00a0It\u2019s kind of neat to have two passions in the theatre\u00a0that are very different, because most people have a specialized area.\u201d<\/p>\n As busy as Cain was with productions, she devoted nearly as much time and energy to a rapidly growing department thanks to a $2 million grant<\/a> from the Duke Endowment in 2011. She was integral in organizing a hugely successful \u201cSNL Skit Night,\u201d which played off the show Saturday Night Live<\/em>, and was vice president of the \u201cOrder of the Furman Theatre\u201d her senior year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a very, very small department, but we were given Duke funds\u00a0. . .\u00a0and we started a scholarship program so our program has been growing ever since,\u201d she said. \u201cWe went from having maybe 15 majors my freshman year to having 35 this year.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s still an intimate group, which Cain bargained for when she chose Furman. She ended up getting even more out of her experience, however.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been drawn to the passion and excitement of being on a stage and how awesome that is,\u201d she said. \u201cI had not been exposed to stage managing before I came to Furman, but I really, really love stage managing.\u201d<\/p>\n So much so that, with degree now in hand, Cain wouldn\u2019t mind making that her professional life. She attended the Southeastern Theatre Conference<\/a> in Greensboro, N.C., in March and is currently a technician intern at Actor\u2019s Express<\/a> in her hometown at night while working as a photo double during the day for the character Marcy in Tyler Perry’s television series If Loving You Is Wrong<\/em>.<\/p>\n She won\u2019t turn down a full-time job if it\u2019s offered, but the exposure to television has only shown Cain how much she loves theatre.<\/p>\n \u201cIn theatre, you are constantly working towards a final product, and the entire process is more fluid. Even during actual performances, it is still a learning process and each night is different based on the variety of audiences. In film, you maybe do a scene five times, and then it’s finished. The scenes are often filmed out of order, and you don’t get a sense of finality with your work. There’s no coherency,\u201d she said. \u201cMy honest opinion so far is that I prefer theatre\u2014acting and stage managing alike\u2014to film work.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"16449819021_64478c2c51_z\"](\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/16449819021_64478c2c51_z-e1434640539260.jpg\")
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