May 27, 2010

By Rick Winterson

Jim Callanan is the founder, owner, and president of JCALPRO, Inc.  His company does rigging, lighting, video, and sound.  He also works behind the scenes supporting some of South Boston’s most worthwhile causes and community projects.

  Jim Callanan is a born-and-brought-up South Bostonian.  Southie has always been his hometown, even though his work has taken him to 20 countries as well as all across the U.S. 

  He and his wife Margaret (Wasilewski), who comes from Boston Street in Dorchester, live in the Callanan family home on Terrace Place just off G.  Margaret is a Medical Assistant at Liberty Mutual.  Their daughter Olivia (14) attends Boston Latin.  Olivia’s not sure of her college plans yet, but they may well include undergraduate studies at one of the Ivy League universities.

  Jim went to Boston Technical High School, and then to Northeastern University where he earned a Liberal Arts degree.  While he was in college, he began working part-time as a stagehand in places like the Colonial Theater on Boylston Street near Tremont.  The theater bug bit him, as it does to so many, so he took a number of engineering courses to support the work he was doing with rigging, lights, and so on.

  After graduating from Northeastern, Jim went to work full-time in the local theaters.  He rose quickly, soon becoming a Master Rigger at Boston Gardens (yes, he had a hand in hanging all those Celtics championship banners).  He worked as the Head Carpenter with the Boston Ballet.  Jim’s work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops took him to 20 countries around the world.  When asked how many rock shows he has worked on, he replies “Oh, about a thousand.”

  Nowadays, Jim is the President of his own firm, JCALPRO, an acronym for Jim CALlanan PROductions.  His main office is at the Design Center (Suite 718); he has a subsidiary office at the Convention Center, because so much of his work these days is with the exhibitions and shows it attracts.  With those 100-foot ceilings, JCALPRO has its rigging work cut out for it.  And that’s not all.  JCALPRO is handling backstage work for Cirque du Soleil at Fan Pier and this summer’s concerts at Gillette Stadium, which includes sound systems along with lights and rigging.  TV work such as the “Spenser for Hire” series and very extensive film credits have been parts of his busy career.  But Jim hasn’t forgotten his roots – he still does small press conferences and the like, because that’s how JCALPRO got its start.

  Jim and JCALPRO have become familiar around South Boston.  He has donated and set up the light, sound and video systems at the South Boston Citizens’ Association’s Annual Evacuation Day Banquet in the Convention Center.  The next time you’re at the Fourth Presbyterian Church look for Jim’s stage lights on the side walls.  He has lit the Laboure Fashion Show.  In April, he created a dance and program space for the Neighborhood House Reception in the Seaport Hotel’s Plaza Ballroom.  It’s not just equipment he brings to these events.  He pays his professional technicians to work on these events as well.

  Two weeks ago, Jim received a 501(c)3 tax exempt certificate for a new program he has founded, called “South Boston Scholarships for the Arts”.  This is a source of scholarships for art education for the South Boston community, which will be administered by an independent Board.  Jim put in $25,000 seed money to get it off the ground.

  He also runs an informal school for young people interested in the theater, which he calls “Lighting 101 for Beginners”.  Young students can decide if this might be a career for them.  Some 300 have taken the class; a few have pursued stagecraft as a profession and have gone to work for JCALPRO.

  When asked what stands out in his mind, Jim replies, “It’s all been good memories.”  He tells of filming “Good Will Hunting” at the Courthouse one late evening.  Robin Williams rented the Bowl-A-Rama for the film crews from midnight on, and was menaced by some local wise guys when they all left at 4 a.m.  Williams started his famous routines and had them on the sidewalk laughing before he had finished.  Another time, Jim recalled constructing an entire house on a lot in Lexington for Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin in “Housesitters.”  At the end of filming, they pulled the whole house down and trucked it away.

  And despite so many challenges, Jim Callanan and JCALPRO find time to give back to the South Boston community – to youth, to education, and to non-profit fundraisers.