NEW YORK – Designed by the acclaimed Frank Gehry, the architect responsible for the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan and Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, among other celebrated structures, the Pershing Square Signature Center is a theatrical jewel. Comprised of three performance spaces, it affords every advantage to directors, performers, and other creatives… including lighting designers. […]

BLACKPOOL, UK – Ollie Wilkinson could have been forgiven if, at times, he felt as if he were being pulled in as many directions as “Doc,” leader of the Seven Dwarfs when he was putting together the lighting rig for the Panto performance of this Brothers Grimm fairytale turned Disney classic at the iconic Grand […]

NOVI SAD, SERBIA – “Migration” comes from the Latin word Migrare, which means to move to a new place. Many are hoping that, despite all the obstacles put in its way, the world today is indeed moving to a new and better place through the migration of different cultures, ideas, and forms of artistic expression. […]

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – A scan of the uniformly positive social media comments on the Slow Burn Theatre Company’s production of Kinky Boots at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts reveals that more than a few people in the audience had seen the Cindy Lauper-Harvey Fierstein musical before… sometimes quite a few times before. […]

ANTWERP, BELGIUM – Everyone has the ambition to become a jester at some point in life. Famed Belgian TV star Ingeborg Sergeant, called forth this quote from Ben Johnson when announcing online that she would be hosting Winterrevue Made in Belgium at the Theater Elckerlyc. The good doctor’s British ancestry notwithstanding, his words capture the […]

CHICAGO- The 380-seat McLaughlin Theatre at St. Ignatius Prep is long on charm and character. With an interior modeled after the legendary Chicago theatres of the late 19th century, it provides an evocative setting for audiences. All that being said, however, its iconic “Bob Newhart Stage” isn’t the most capacious in the city, measuring only […]

ST. LOUIS– Optimism is always a sign of courage, never more so than when expressed during challenging times. Such was the case on October 21, 2020, when, in the depths of the pandemic, a group of backers unveiled their plans for a new state-of-the-art live entertainment center. “It’s time to put a positive spin out […]

MOLD, FLINTSHIRE, WALES – The joys of lighting panto are many. High on that list is the opportunity it affords a designer to unfurl a rainbow of colors and transform the stage into a playland that delights actors and audiences alike. Johanna Town, award-winning designer and Chair for ALPD, will readily attest to that. “Panto […]

NAGANO, JAPAN – With its flowing, curving, abstract form, the Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre presents a fitting architectural testimony to the poetic beauty of the Japanese theatrical tradition. Widely regarded as the masterpieces of internationally renowned architect, Toyo Ito, the inherent beauty of the 18-year old structure, is characterized by a speckled pattern of 20,000 […]

GHENT– (For Immediate Release)  —  Primordial and powerful, essential to life, but merciless in its destructive wrath, fire holds a relentless grip on the human imagination. Who hasn’t been transfixed in awe, admiration, and more than a little fear by the sight of dancing flames?   Perhaps this is why “The Big Fire That Never […]

FLANDERS, BELGIUM – (For Immediate Release)  —  The sounds of growling guitars and drum solos have resonated throughout Muziekodroom ever since the industrial-style venue opened in 2007. That was until the pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt over a year ago.   Happily, now artists are once again performing inside the 850-capacity venue. Before […]

BARCELONA – The Elton John- Lee Hall coming of age musical Billy Elliot is the stuff of dreams, not just how they uplift, inspire and define an individual, but also how they run up against (and sometimes prevail over) harsh realities. Winner of multiple Tony and Olivier Awards, the story brilliantly juxtaposes divergent forces, such […]