Scene Spotlight: Producer of ‘Valley’s Got Talent’ talks about her experience in entertainment

This week we have a special Scene Spotlight, focusing on this weekend’s “Valley’s Got Talent” show.

Name: Sarah Guadalupe Hosner

Home base: Born and raised in Anaheim and moved in Modesto in 2010.

What you do: Production coordinator for the Gallo Center for the Arts’ “Valley’s Got Talent.” I have specialized in professional theatrical production and special events management for more than 30 years.

How you knew: I guess I was programmed to do what I do. My father was the musical director, arranger and accompanist to another era of performers (Kay Starr, Rosemary Clooney, The Mills Brothers, to name just a few) as well as a prominent recording artist and TV/film composer. I spent the majority of my life backstage, sleeping on recording studio couches and doing my homework on coffee tables in hotel rooms around the country. I had traveled in 43 states and been to hundreds of venues before I was 18. So, when a stage manager missed a flight, the road manager asked my dad if he thought I could call the show since I had sat in the booth most of the time. He said yes. I was 14. The joke is that I became completely addicted to headsets and office supplies after that.

Go ahead, brag: One of my first jobs was working on the official Olympic balloon art design crew, which created balloon designs for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It was truly one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. I returned to college when I was 32 to fulfill a promise I made to my father (he dropped out of school in 10th grade to go to work). I earned three degrees, including two scholarships and a fellowship in my field. I produced and directed the prestigious Fullerton College High School Theatre Festival featuring more than 2,500 students, the largest of its kind on the West Coast, three years in a row. As an AEA union stage manager, I’ve worked at the Geffen Playhouse, the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum and with Shakespeare Festival L.A. as well as toured the country with the American Indian Dance Theatre. Performers are all I’ve ever really known. Sharing my experiences and knowledge with performers, nurturing their talents, helping them reach their true performance potential, it’s what I’m privileged to do with VGT. I am very blessed.

Check you out: The sixth annual “Valley’s Got Talent” will have two shows starting at 7 p.m. at the Gallo Center for the Arts on Friday, Aug. 28 (audience voting show) and Saturday, Aug. 29 (awards show). Tickets are $10-$25. This year’s competition will have 26 acts in five categories: vocal, dance, instrumental, band and specialty.

Online: www.galloarts.org

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Scene Spotlight: Producer of ‘Valley’s Got Talent’ talks about her experience in entertainment."