If first impressions are right, Morgan Cornett is enthusiastic without bubbling over. She is adventurous, but contains her journeys within small spaces. Decisive by nature, she is also given to laborious deliberation.

So it is fitting that the second time Cornett traveled to Missouri she was towing a U-Haul trailer. Her return was a direct result of a first visit just weeks earlier, when she interviewed for the vacant technical director position at Presser Arts Center.

"I fell in love with the theater and the people," Cornett explained. "You normally have to drive to a big city for a facility like this."

She refers to Presser's Black Box stage, which will soon host a production of The Odd Couple, as state of the art. The main stage can easily be brought to the cutting edge.

Another thing to know about Presser's new technical director is that she is young -- a 2020 graduate of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio -- but brings a wealth of experience.

While attending college she also taught high school theater. At the same time she held a part time position with Tim's National Lighting and Sound, working on everything from concerts to plays and events.

Cornett directed performances in college and has been acting since she was a child. On the side -- again while in school -- Cornett ran a swimming school. She's industrious without resorting to busy work.

"I don't know what to do with free time," is how she puts it. "I've lived in theater."

As technical director, Cornett is responsible for lighting and sound for all Presser productions. While she will work behind the scenes, her understanding of how both elements create a mood, direct attention and develop a character.

An audience celebrates the actors. But everyone involved in a production shares an equal load in its success.

"Actors create a story, the technical director creates the setting and the director binds the book together," Cornett explained.

So Cornett is part of almost every rehearsal. She measures where to register lighting for each actor and notes changes, which can be subtle on stage but cause a dramatic ripple effect. She also watches for how actors and the director react to the unexpected.

Once she was in the booth when a picture on the set dropped from its mount. Glass shattered, littering the stage with shrapnel. To make matters worse, the next scene was a dance number.

Cornett lowered the lights to pause the show while a crew cleaned up the mess.

"In live theater you have to roll with the punches," she pointed out. "When you're working with a show it's like dealing with Play-Doh."

Cornett will assist with The Odd Couple. Her first production at the helm of the technical team will be December's staging of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

"It's big, I don't know how else to put it," she said of the set and costuming for Rudolph. "It's a big production."

In the meantime, Cornett is teaching theater and film classes for Missouri Military Academy students. Keep in mind that only one year out of college, she already has five years as a high school instructor.

Cornett wasn't on the market for a new position when Presser's director, Lois Brace, contacted her about the opening. But the opportunity she recognized in the facility and the talent in and around Mexico made the decision to move easy.

Brace is enthusiastic about the new hire, saying simply that "she's brilliant."

"Lois likes to hype me up," Cornett said with a laugh.