PRODUCTION TEAM
DIRECTOR: ANDREW BARRATT LEWIS
STAGE MANAGER: ADAM HELLEWELL
SCENIC DESIGNER: PORTER LANCE
PROPS DESIGNER: TICHELLE BLAYLOCK
SOUND DESIGNER: KOREY LAMB
COSTUME DESIGNER: CATHERINE ZUBLIN
PHOTOGRAPHER: DAVID DANIELS
Embedded Files
A BRIEF SUMMARY AND THE DIRECTOR'S VISION
This musical is about a barber, Sweeney Todd, that was wrongly convicted of a crime by a spiteful judge who is interested in Sweeney’s wife, and is sent away to serve a long sentence. Once that sentence is over, he returns from exile and is hell bent on getting revenge on the judge, going mad and committing violent acts against clientele, and ultimately, feeding them to an unknowing group of Londoners along the way.
When talking to the director about his vision he was really interested in this aesthetic of an abandoned theater, set in London in the late 1800s. He wanted to integrate a “play within a play” convention, and, in terms of lighting, was interested in ideas of juxtaposition and contrast. Both he and the scenic designer were interested in ideas of fire and destruction, creating a space that had been lived in and abandoned, decaying and left to degrade.
MY INITIAL IDEAS
As I began to think about my own concept, I took in the directors ideas of contrast and aesthetic, and I thought about what stood out to me in the show, and what I wanted to bring into my design. The things that stood out to me the most were the moments of angry and passionate murder or epiphany of Sweeney’s determination for revenge. Fire became an important part of my vision as well. While there was a real fire in the director and scenic designer’s visions, Sweeney’s passion for revenge was the fire in my own. Those fiery moments of murder, passion and rage that Sweeney experiences, are an exposition of that passion.
When we’re not in those moments with Sweeney, we get a brief escape. It’s cooler, not full of rage and heat. There is still that shadow of Sweeney’s need for revenge, it’s looming presence, but we are living somewhere else, if only for some brief moments. I wanted to bring out this contrast between those hot and vengeful moments and the cooler parts that moved the plot along but still served as an escape.
LIGHTING DESIGN CONCEPT
The lighting for this production of Sweeney Todd is a story of revenge, passion, and loss
shown through an illuminating display of juxtaposition between the exposition of harsh and fiery
swells of fervor and cold and empty moments of escape.
RESEARCH AND IMAGES
After deciding on a concept based around contrast and juxtaposition, I started my research process by searching for art from the time period that displayed both lighting qualities that I wanted to utilize to support the team's vision, as well as my own concept. My main piece of image research was the perfect metaphor, had a relevant name, prevalent juxtaposition, and had these great lighting qualities that I wanted to bring out in my design.
MAIN IMAGE
"JUSTICE AND DIVINE VENGEANCE PURSUING CRIME"
"JUSTICE AND DIVINE VENGEANCE PURSUING CRIME"
PIERRE PAUL PRUD'HON 1808
HEAT
The fire from the torch brings a heat to the situation. It gives the crime an exposition, and an intensity, lighting the face of the wrongdoer, as well as Justice and Divine Vengeance from below, giving it a more eerie quality as well.
COLD
The moonlight is illuminating the body, the wrongdoing, it is eerie, shadowy, and loomy. However that heat and intense exposition isn’t as prevalent. That moonlight is almost an escape. It is less an intense exposition, and more a cold illumination.
OTHER QUALITIES
The qualities of the contrast between hot and cool, as well as the isolation, shadow, and streaming light from the moon, were all qualities that I felt would help further the eerie beauty that is inherent within the show, as well as the scenic elements, and my own design and concept.
OTHER SUPPLEMENTARY RESEARCH IMAGES
HEAT
ISOLATION
SCENIC INTEGRATION
COLD
SHADOW
BRAINSTORMING
Following a lot of research and discussion with the team, the next part of my process involved brainstorming all of my ideas and creating a concrete plan for my plot that would bring the design together and make it come to life. I created a lighting key to help me visualize my ideas and help me start that planning process.
LIGHTING KEY
CREATING THE PAPERWORK
After brainstorming and coming up with a solid plan for how I wanted to achieve my ideas and create systems using my key, I started on my paperwork. I worked very closely with the Scenic Designer to make all of these ideas come to life, as the set involved many moving drops and pieces. It was not only a collaboration on integrating my lights onto the set as a physical part of the space, but also on where I could hang everything on the electrics due to all of those moving pieces.
I started with my area light, neutral front light with LED high-sides and downlight. I continued the process by thinking about how to achieve the other qualities, and I was able to incorporate things like moving lights into my design for shadows, isolation, and any texture I may want. We added a hazer and fogger as well for those qualities.
Regarding the realized scenic integration, I had a system of LED strip lights in our orchestra pit, as well as the fog machine. I had lightbulbs that we wired into bases to create the footlights, and I had 6 8 inch fresnels hanging on the makeshift pin rails that were used to light drops, and create a beautiful shadowy backlight. All of this was effective in creating the world and used to further the qualities I mentioned before.
We also had two fresnels on rolling dollies that were used for shadow effects by the ensemble. I also used my high-side LED and downlight systems to light the set as well, leaning into the shadowy eery, and abandoned qualities that the set was giving. All of these being highly effective in allowing me to control contrast and supporting the eerie abandoned otherworldly conventions of the team.
SWEENEY MAGIC SHEET FINAL.pdfMAGIC SHEET
cl section final.pngCENTERLINE SECTION
SWEENEY 2022 LW JG 3.33.23 (1).pdfCHANNEL HOOKUP
front elevation 11.pngFRONT ELEVATION
Sweeney 2022 VW 2.8 KCACTF.pdfLIGHT PLOT
PAPERWORK TO STAGE
When the paperwork was complete, we did our hang and our focus. All elements of my design were now in the physical space, and my calculations served me well. All of the pieces I'd put together highlighted the set and the actors even better than I'd thought they would have. Here are some photos of the process after paperwork, moving into programming:
ROLLING FRESNELS
FOCUS
SETTING PALETTES
COLOR PALETTE
REALIZED PHOTOS
After creating all of my paperwork, hanging and focusing all of the instruments, and setting some palettes, it was finally time to make the ideas come to life. These photos illustrate all of the pieces and ideas as a realized design. The juxtaposition, and other core elements all being apparent and coming together to create a really comprehensive piece.
The design turned out better than I ever imagined, and allowed me so many learning opportunities, not only in art of design, electrics work, and programming, but in things like the art of collaboration and teamwork as well. The show gave me the most challenging, collaborative, and beautiful experience I’ve ever had in a production setting. I was immensely proud of this production and the team, and am so appreciative that I had the opportunity to tell this incredible story.
WARMER MOMENTS OF INTENSITY AND PASSION
COOLER MOMENTS OF ESCAPE
EXAMPLES OF SHADOW, ISOLATION, AND SCENIC INTEGRATION
OTHER NOTABLE MOMENTS
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