Patrick McEvoy has been "master carpenter " at MPC since 1985 when drama department head Peter DeBono and technical director Dan Beck created the full-time position with him in mind. He is responsible for building the sets for each of the half-dozen main-stage productions staged each year, one or two of which he also designs. When Patrick was a student at Carmel High, drama teacher Diane Hardy noticed his interest in the technical aspects of theater and encouraged him to become involved. After graduating from high school, he began doing lights and other tech work at the theater in the Carmel Barnyard. He was awarded a CETA arts grant in 1979, enabling him to spend the year building scenery for Hidden Valley in Carmel Valley. In 1981 Patrick was hired for the first time by MPC but left the college to accept an offer to be the master carpenter at the newly created California Repertory Theater. During Cal Rep's two-and-a-half-year existence, he built the sets for such notable works as THE GLASS MENAGERIE, TALLEY'S FOLLY and MAN AND SUPERMAN, as well as for some cutting-edge theater.

When Cal Rep closed, he returned to MPC and has been its master carpenter ever since. Although he enjoys the challenges presented by each production, he especially likes to build realistic sets. For last year's production of DANCING AT LUGHNASA, Patrick spent a day and a half placing stalks of wheat, one strand at a time, into a set to create the illusion of a field. When one of the actors accidentally bumped into the set and caused a domino-effect, all of the wheat stalks toppled unto the stage. Undaunted, Patrick replaced each stalk, this time securing them with glue. The tank that he built from Styrofoam, plastic and canvas for the 1987 production THE PRIVATE LIFE OF THE MASTER RACE was so authentic that some army veterans in the audience wondered how he had gotten a "real" tank on stage. As Patrick had often built model airplanes as a child, he decided that he would first assemble a small, plastic model of a German tank and then use an architect's ruler to build the tank to scale. For the 1991 production of WHAT THE BUTLER SAW, he determined that each of the semi-circular set's doors would be different, so he built a closet door, two pocket doors, a French door that opened onto the stage and a Dutch door that opened away from the stage. MPC's large collection of props and furniture is now stored in the former East Garrison section of Fort Ord, and it is from this collection that Patrick constructed the set for last month's production of Neil Simon's THE SUNSHINE BOYS.

When Patrick constructs a set for MPC's smaller SRO (Standing Room Only) Theater, he must be especially realistic, as the small space puts the audience in close proximity to the stage. For the SRO's 1992 production of TALLEY'S FOLLY, which he also directed, Patrick built a Victorian boathouse, covered it with vines and created a ceiling-high turret. Although his work at MPC is full time, he has managed to build a few sets at other theaters, especially for Nick Zanides, for whom he constructed WINGS at Cherry Hall in Carmel and HAPPY DAYS at York School.

On occasion he also steps from behind the scenes to stand in front of the footlights. In fact he was an actor before he began building sets; from 1975 to 1979, he was part of Children's Experimental Theater. One of his first roles was Brick in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, the same character that Paul Newman played in the movie. More recently Patrick played dual roles in OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD: a flamboyant prisoner and a gentle officer. In M BUTTERFLY he gave one of his favorite performances, that of a man in love with his own illusions of the female, and his most recent role was that of the bigoted employer in BROKEN GLASS.

Patrick occasionally acts as stage manager, as he did for the 1996 production of TARTUFFE. His versatility has enabled him to appreciate the total creative process that goes into a production. Patrick's creativity is a family trait. His grandmother, Wilma Basset McKay, acted at the Forest Theater in the 1920's when Carmel was literally "in a forest." Wilma's grandfather had come to San Franciso in 1850 to become a newspaper man. His son, W. K. Basset, founded The Carmel Cymbal, one of the first newspapers in Carmel. He was a local muckraker championing the little man against the railroad and the likes of Stanford and Crocker. Patrick's great grandfather, Ted McKay and Ted's brother owned a tobacco shop on Alvarado Street which Patrick's grandfather converted into McKay's Camera Shop. Two of the patrons of the camera shop were Ansel Adams and Cole Weston. The often-seen aerial photographs of the 1930's Monterey Peninsula (now part of the Pat Hathaway collection) were taken by Ted McKay.

Patrick McEvoy grew up in Monterey in the house built by his grandfather. About the time that Patrick entered high school, his family moved to Carmel Valley. When he started working at Cal Rep in 1982, he moved to Pacific Grove. In June of 1996, he and his designer/decorator wife Britta, (whom he met when she volunteered to help build a set) purchased a home in Pacific Grove. Currently, Patrick is building the set for BYE BYE BIRDIE which plays next month, and he will design the set for the October production of SLEUTH. When Patrick is not constructing or designing, acting, directing, or stage managing, he enjoys riding his Harley, restoring his bright yellow MGB and, of course, building model airplanes.