Lighting Design

The concept for The Drowsy Chaperone lighting design came from the idea that this show is a love letter to musical theatre. Stemming from that concept, I created the lighting to encapsulate what comes to mind when you think of broadway: big, bold, and memorable. At the same time, there are the nuances of a man trying to find joy and healing in music, of a woman trying to figure out what love means to her, and of everyone trying to decide whether to live or to leave; all of these ideas existing together harmoniously within the show. To create that tension, I decided to use a variety of moods and looks, sometimes within the same scene, but always keeping in mind the base idea of a love letter to theatre.

One of the greatest challenges of the design was simultaneously creating the world of Man In Chair and also the world of the show within the show. Not only do they have to coexist, but they have to interact with one another. I chose to use color as the main differentiation between those two worlds. The world of the show is colorful and vibrant, while the world of the Man is more realistically drab. At the same time, some of the color from the show’s world bleeds into the Man’s world as his perspective is tinted by the show’s characters and story. For example, when the record is stopped and the show “freezes,” the colors of the show are still visible even as the Man gives commentary from his world. 

The name Frozen Jr. contains the greatest challenge I faced in designing lights for this show: bringing Elsa's magic to life and making the stage look frozen without projections. Throughout the show, Elsa's magic takes many forms. Sometimes it's beautiful and freeing, sometimes dangerous and sharp, and sometimes chaotic and uncontrollable. As these change occur, mirroring Elsa's character, I varied the shade of blue used on the stage, from purple-blue to pure blue to grey. In addition to this, I used moving lights and effects on the cyc to create that sense of chaos on the stage. Finally, to highlight the key dramatic points of the story, I used specific lighting patterns to bring focus to the characters and actions in those moments.

One of the challenges of designing for Clue was to balance the mysterious, murder mystery side of the show with a comedic style to match the script. I found ways to punctuate comedic moments with lighting, such as with lightning strikes and so forth, while at the same time representing the basic ideas of a murder mystery, such as with dim lighting and colors reminiscent of blood.

My design for the show was greatly influenced by the original board game, and especially by the characters. I looked at the original game board and often went back to those colors in my design. Furthermore, as each character arrived at Boddy Manor and was introduced, the stage and cyc became their namesake color (Col. Mustard was yellow, Miss Scarlet was deep red, etc.). I used these same colors in scenes throughout the show to call attention to that character’s actions, and then again later as each character was being accused.

My lighting design for Bye Bye Birdie was heavily influenced by the societal atmosphere of the late 1950s and early 1960s. I looked extensively at images and advertisements from the time period, seeing a constant fixation on the ideas of the "perfect" something. In order to incorporate this into my design, I decided to keep certain elements of the light the same in almost every scene and location. The teenagers of Sweet Apple, Ohio see Conrad Birdie as their "ideal." For their parents, however, that ideal comes in the form of Ed Sullivan. Both of these characters are idolized, admired, and put in the spotlight — quite literally as I chose to specially highlight Conrad and Ed whenever they were on stage in order to further contribute to the story's exploration of celebrity.

During my design process, I found that I did not want the lighting to be static. Rather, I wanted the lighting to move and dance to mimic the fast pace of both the script and of Conrad’s rock-and-roll, which was a new phenomenon in the 1950s/60s. The lively, constant motion helped create the tension between the parents and the kids in the show as the teens push past their parents and into the modern era. To achieve that movement, I figured out how to use effects on the cyc to make the light scroll and throb with the beat of the songs. 

To design the lights for Costa Mesa Middle School's production of Willy Wonka Jr., I started by reading through the script several times and listening to the music. I realized that Act 1 and Act 2 of the show exist in such different environments that I felt they needed separate mood boards. Act 1 takes place in the "real world," specifically Charlie's world. His lives in a very bleak reality and yet he manages to have a sunny outlook and disposition. I tried to capture this persistent optimism despite disparaged circumstances in the lighting, specifically by creating contrast in lighting changes. In Act 2, we move from Charlie's world to Wonka's world, eccentric and whimsical, where the rules don't apply and the world can be what he wants it to be. Each of the rooms we visit in his factory represent something about the five contestants and also reveal something about Wonka. I decided to take this idea and run with it, to make each room different but also include some of what makes Wonka, Wonka: a resolute dismissal of expectations.

On the equipment side of things, this show was the first time I encountered moving lights. I researched online and asked questions of my school's theatre manager about how to operate and program them, but during my initial designing I did not know precisely what the lights could and could not do and how they would look. I could imagine, but I did not know. When I started programming in the theatre and began figuring out the capabilities of the moving lights, I found ways to adapt and amend my design to work with the lights while staying true to my ideas.

The Costa Mesa Middle School production of Matilda Jr. was the first time I designed lights. After reading through the script several times, I started by imagining what each of the locations in the story would mean to Matilda and writing that down in what I called my "Inspiration Board." To visualize each of the locations, I made a basic silhouette of the stage with the set on a Google Slide, printed out several copies, and used colored pencils to draw what I wanted. I used these drawings to expand on my Inspiration Board ideas. Then, with the ideas that I had, I made a mood board for the show. After showing all of this the the director and getting feedback from others, I compiled all my ideas into a cue sheet containing 65 cues.