Well...this could take a while. Cause I can talk about this part of me all day.
Everyone has at least one thing they do extremely well. For me, I love lighting.
So for all of you non-theatrical people out there, I'll spend a few minutes talking about what that really means (theatre friends, bear with me).
So most people understand the basic structure of theatre. There's a stage, a set, sounds or music, some makeup and costumes, things that people use on stage (we call those props), and the lights turn on and off and sometimes do other things. Well, as I tell people, I do lights. Now let's be real, you probably don't really notice the lights until something really dramatic happens and that's ok.
Putting lights onstage requires a lot of work. You can't just hang them anywhere. One false move and that light is going to end up in a place you don't want it to be. And definitely not doing what you want it to do. You have to evaluate the scenery and determine what areas you want to highlight differently. You have to research the show and determine if you need any special lighting effects. And then you have to arrange all those lights in an effective way to accomplish all of that. You have to understand what the optimal position and height for those lights are in order to get what you need out of them.
Whew.
Like I said. A lot of work.
So when and why did I fall in love with lighting? I get asked that a lot. I actually fell into lighting in college when my advisor said, hey you don't have enough credits this semester, why don't you take this class Stagecraft. I was like, sure. And the rest is history. I jumped immediately into lighting and eventually adding on sound as well. But I loved the consoles. Programming boards was my heart and soul--still is. I pride myself on my programming knowledge and how I can make those consoles SING! By the summer of my junior year I had landed my first theatre job, Stage II Electrician at Barter Theatre, which meant I was programming and I had the opportunity to design my first shows!
And then I was hooked for sure.
So fast forward, I did complete my senior year with a great deal of experience in lighting (programming and design). Then I eventually got work with Virginia Opera in 2004 and started off as a spot operator. From spot op, to board op, to Production Electrician, to Master Electrician, to Lighting Supervisor, to Assistant Lighting Designer. All in the span of 13 years. Now that's growth! Throughout each of those transitions I made it my point to continue to enhance my knowledge in lighting equipment, consoles, design methods--anything that could and would make me better at my job. It wasn't like work though. Programming is like playing music on a piano to me. And since I have a musical background, it's almost the same to me. Lighting design is art. One of the most emotion invoking art forms there is. Because you as the designer can make a scene daytime or night time with just a change in intensity. You can make a love scene turn into a murder scene with just a spectral shift. You can conjure fear with the intermittent flash of lights or invite laughter with a comedic light chase. Lighting sets the atmosphere for all of these things.
Now as the Lighting Supervisor for the opera my job dealing with lighting was a bit different. My biggest and most important task was to take the lighting designers original design and pick it up and put it in two other theatres, exactly the way he or she left it. No pressure.
But I loved it. I loved taking the puzzle apart and putting it back together (I write about my love for puzzles in an earlier blog post). It was always an adventure. Will this fit there? How do I hang this without that? Because each space was very different, it required a lot of me paying attention to the show, taking notes, and photos even. I was always proud when I got to opening night and I could look at the stage and say, wow. Each show was a learning experience for the next one.
So as a freelance designer, I love doing anything musical. Straight plays bore me to tears. But dance is my favorite. I enjoy really allowing myself to allow the music to guide me in my design. And I like to program it myself because as I said earlier, to me it's no different than playing a piano. The console keys are just like piano keys, and the music that comes out is the beautiful lighting produced from the numerous keystrokes.
Lighting wasn't something that I chose, it chose me. And I couldn't feel happier about it.
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