The idea of being a concert lighting designer wasn’t on Alex Kay’s mind when he showed up for work one night in late 2010 at a Cleveland nightclub. Kay was a DJ, and a spot-on good one at that, with a flair for mixing music and handling house lighting rigs. His path for rising in […]
Carts are powering down the fast lane when it comes to lighting live music venue tours. The development of more compact, but powerful, LED fixtures and other advances in lighting technology have made it possible to put together a bright, flexible and endlessly interesting lightshow on four or five pre-cabled carts. Now that cart-based shows […]
When planning for their current tour in support of their sixth studio album, Attention Attention, hard rock masters Shinedown told their lighting designer Carter Fulghum that they wanted more saturated colors and darker looks than they’ve had in the past. It’s easy to see why. With its raw gut-wrenching songs about struggle and redemption, the […]
When discussing his acclaimed work in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with us, this Olivier Award winner jokingly referred to himself as a “Darkness Designer.” Indeed, it would have been impossible for anyone who saw Pyant’s lighting design for the 2013 Sam Mendes-directed musical not to marvel at how he wielded dark space like some […]
How did Richard “Nook” Schoenfeld get his trademark nickname? The answer remains shrouded in mystery, even after our extensive interview with the Parnelli Award winning designer. Without sharing too many details, though, he did allow that growing up he had two friends named Richard, and not wanting to “be like anyone else,” he adopted his […]
Frank Sinatra was once described as “the best friend a songwriter ever had.” It wasn’t just Old Blue Eyes’ vocal qualities that stood out, it was also his uncanny ability to go beyond singing a song, and actually extract the meaning out of its lyrics as he turned them into music. We don’t know if […]
When describing his lighting design for the second leg of superstar Romeo Santos’ Golden Tour, Bruce Rodgers of Tribe, Inc. says, “It’s all about scale and simplicity.” The “scale” part is readily apparent to anyone who catches a show on the 18-city tour that began in September. Dominating the area over center stage is a […]
Joseph Bingham has more than the audience and choreographer in mind when he lights a dance production. Aside from creating an architecture of light that enhances choreographed performances, his work is intended for the dancers themselves, not just to sculpt their physical forms, but nourish their spirit as well. Going beyond its aesthetic effect, lighting […]
The nearest airport is located in Louisville almost 90 miles away. No professional sports team is closer than 100 miles to the north in Indianapolis. If you get the feeling that French Lick, Indiana (pop. 1769) is a remote small town, you’re absolutely right. Yet, celebrities as diverse as Willie Nelson, Joan Jett, Styx and […]
At the end of our discussions with lighting designers, we often ask them how they would like to be remembered. When we posed that question to this French-born designer, she deadpanned “as an uncompromising artistic LD,” before breaking out with a wink and a smile, to talk about being fun-loving and tasteful. In truth, Pedron […]
Every evening visitors flock to the Singapore Zoo. They aren’t coming to see the facility’s animals, who by then have been safely tucked away in their sleeping quarters. The attraction that draws them is a winding one-kilometer magical path that immerses the senses with the sights and sounds of simulated rainforest landscapes, complete with a […]
As a lighting designer who’s done WYSIWYG modeling and video mapping for major global events like the Formula 1 Grand Prix Concert in Abu Dhabi, Luke Bonner is accustomed to rolling out massive levels of technology. When it comes to theatrical productions, however, Bonner takes a step back, preferring to minimize virtual set technologies like […]