Scene changes: from St Andrews to the States
Marshall Bissett (MA 1970) pursued his passion for theatre from his home in Perth to St Andrews, and beyond to the stages and stadiums of London and the US. He shares fond memories of his student days and career highlights touring with the stars, which inspired him to leave a gift in his will to the University in support of theatre arts.
Formative years
It’s 1967 and the ‘Summer of Love’ is about to become the ‘Winter of my Discontent’. Arriving in St Andrews from my hometown of Perth, I checked into St Salvator’s (then an all-male residence), met my roommate from Long Island NY, then realised that my choice of English, French and Latin came with a seemingly impossible prescribed reading schedule. On top of which my Scottish Highers, passed with pride, left me woefully far behind my English contemporaries. To deepen my academic woes, I accepted an invitation to direct a play (Intermezzo by Jean Genet) for the French society.
The theatre seed had been planted at Perth Theatre: their youth programme set the course for my chosen career. In my second year I directed an ambitious production of Joan Littlewood’s Oh! What A Lovely War followed by a Hamlet (co-directed by Professor John Steer) that toured to Spain and Portugal. To this day, I stay in touch with cast members from both shows, many of whom have had successful theatrical careers.
Life after St Andrews
I graduated in 1970 with a General MA in English and Scottish History and the following day started a summer season at Harrogate Theatre as an Assistant Stage Manager, before enrolling in the first year of a Director’s Course at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Stints then followed with Northern Dance Theatre, the Connaught Theatre in Worthing, the Mermaid Theatre, and finally as Production Manager at the Young Vic in London, working under Frank Dunlop who later went on to run the Edinburgh Festival. It was an exciting time at the Young Vic with the premier of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Scapino, a West End production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and a tour of Mexico with a production of Macbeth in 1974.
Meeting a colleague at the Bristol Old Vic led to a change in the direction of my career. The nascent rock and roll concert touring business needed trained theatre technicians and I was ‘head hunted’ by ESP Lighting, at the time the only company in London able to supply lighting systems for touring American artists. By coincidence the company was founded by Rolling Stones production manager, Brian Croft, whose career also started at Perth Theatre. At ESP I worked on a Wembley Stadium concert with the Beach Boys, Elton John and a new act from the States called The Eagles. In the same year I was on the production team for Pink Floyd’s historic Knebworth House outdoor show.
The following years were a blur of European tours with Chicago, Diana Ross, The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, The Rolling Stones, and finally the 1978 Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton tour ending with an estimated 50,000 crowd at Blackbushe Airfield in Hampshire. ESP Lighting was acquired that year, and I was moved from road crew into management, where I coordinated personnel and equipment for a growing number of clients, many based in the US.
In 1980, with a wife and newborn child, I was transferred to our US office in Los Angeles. I was to be there for three months to run their lighting division. In 1983 I coordinated the lighting for my first feature film This is Spinal Tap. Now, 45 years later, I am still here, a citizen of the USA.
Starting a business
Another career turn came in 1983, when I saw an opportunity to start a company that supplied English-made lighting equipment for the American concert touring market. I formed TMB Associates (later changed to just TMB) and, with a partner I met in my touring days, created a production supply operation with offices in Los Angeles, London, New Jersey and Canada. The company is still operating today, although I sold my interest and retired in 2014.
In 2003, I directed a revival of Oh! What A Lovely War at the Knightsbridge Theatre in Los Angeles. The production was nominated for an Ovation award.
Today I work as a freelance writer for the concert industry, am the producer of the annual Parnelli Awards in Los Angeles, honouring the designers and production staff of that industry. I am also an active Board member of the Shakespeare Centre of Los Angeles, involved in the re-design of a theatre that will open in 2026.
I look back with great fondness to my very formative St Andrews years and am proud to be a member of the Chancellor’s Circle. I hope that my legacy gift will support theatre arts at the University for future generations.
By leaving a gift to St Andrews, you can become part of the University’s story and create a lasting impact for generations to come. Learn more about legacy giving and the Chancellor’s Circle.