34 PL & P
In Focus
By Manus Hopkins
Mike Kapler
Growing up in Alberta , Mike Kapler was mostly interested in outdoor activities like backcountry camping , hiking , and rock and ice climbing in the mountains near Edmonton . But in 1994 , by helping his best friend build the set for a high school drama production , Kapler discovered a whole new area of interest in the backstage world of theatre .
After his first experience building a set , Kapler immediately searched and found a “ Behind the Scenes ” class for teenagers at the Arden Theatre in St . Albert , AB . The weekly class taught him and his classmates practically everything they needed to know about theatre production . At the end of the course , they finished the curriculum by helping build and execute the technical production requirements of the annual St . Albert Children ’ s Theatre musical production .
“ I was hooked , and I spent most of my time at the theatre after school and on the weekends learning everything I could ,” Kapler recalls .
During this time , Kapler would hang lights , cut gels , and do whatever else he could to help out , and he learned how to program cues in the ETC console . He also joined the student union and drama club at his high school , which he convinced to raise some money to buy a small PA for events . He then approached Gary Meiklejohn , who was the GM at Production Lighting in Edmonton at the time , for some lights for the high school ’ s annual air bands concert .
“ Gary was amazing ,” Kapler says .“ He let me load up my parents ’ minivan with some Mac 600s , 500s , and a Jands 500 . I think he rented the package for next to nothing . I was ecstatic and decided that lighting was going to be my focus from that point forward .”
Shortly thereafter , Kapler went to see The Tragically Hip in concert in Edmonton and was blown away by the production value .“ I knew for sure that I wanted to do that someday !” he adds .
After graduating high school , Kapler attended the theatre production program at Grant MacEwan College , but found his interest leaning closer to live events . He occasionally skipped classes to work on any events he could . Eventually , Kapler decided not to continue in the program . He soon flew to Los Angeles to take a job working for Carnival Cruise Lines as a lighting technician .
“ I ended up working on a smaller ship that only had myself and an audio tech so I was immediately in charge of all the lighting , pyro , lasers , set , and special FX ,” he says . “ It was a dream to be able to manage all this highend equipment at 19 years old !”
After Kapler ’ s six-month contract ended , he moved to Edmonton , where Meiklejohn immediately offered him a full-time job with Production Lighting . Kapler started by working in the shop , prepping shows , keeping the warehouse clean , and delivering gear to events .
“ I worked my way up from working on the shows to eventually designing , operating , and being the ME on most of the shows ,” he says . “ I knew that I always wanted to tour and was looking for any opportunity .”
Over the next stage of his career , that ’ s exactly what Kapler did . He started doing small tours of western Canada with Production Lighting , and eventually trekked around the country with a Queen tribute act , before going global as the production ’ s LD in countries including Australia and Turkey .
“ Touring was now in my blood , and I wanted more ,” says Kapler . “ I ended back in Canada in 2007 when I got a call from Christie Lites to fly out the next day and replace a lighting tech on the Tragically Hip . It was my first proper tour with multiple trucks and busses . I remember my first night on the bus asking if I could bum a beer from someone and pay them back not knowing that everything on the bus was free .”
On a tour stop in Toronto , Kapler met another Christie Lites rep , Martin Kelley . Little did he know at the time that meeting Kelley would change everything .
“ As soon as the Hip were done , Martin trusted me to go out with The Killers as the dimmer tech for their North American tour ,” Kapler recounts . “ After two months I wanted more and Martin kept me busy ! I ended up immediately going on tour with Linkin Park then jumping from tour to tour . Along the way I started to get the itch to be behind the console and looked for opportunities . Thankfully , I was given my first opportunity to operate while on tour with Linkin Park as the LD at the time , AJ Pen , left for a week for the birth of his second child . It was an amazing experience and I looked for more options . It didn ’ t take long … while at pre-pro for Sigur Ros , the LD had to take a leave due to illness and I was asked to take over before the tour even started .”
Kapler toured the world extensively with The Killers for many years , and ended up moving to Toronto to be closer to his family and girlfriend ( now wife ) and seek a more stable home life . He continued to work closely with Martin Kelley advancing tours and managing local shows for him . Kapler also continued working events but slowly picked up more roles as a technical production manager . In 2017 , he started to work more consistently in that role with InFrame Designs . Eventually , he ended up working for InFrame so often that they brought him on as their director of operations in early 2020 .
“ Since then I have been the technical production manager for the majority of their shows such as the Juno Awards , CCMA Awards , Canada ’ s Got Talent , and Elevate Festival to name a few ,” says Kapler . “ I love that the lighting industry is such a well-rounded element of the show that involves every department .”
Manus Hopkins is the Assistant Editor of Professional Lighting & Production .