Light Design Godspell

Stage Lighting

I enjoy nearly every aspect of the theatrical process and have discovered a love for light design. I have designed the lights exclusively for Centralia's Evergreen Playhouse since 2015 and helped bring in a new lighting system and LEDs over that next year to the facility. I have also worked with the local high school in balancing their aging fixtures to help tell the story the students are sharing as well as Centralia College and working in their black box space. Although I have no formal education in theatrical lighting, I have many years of experience both onstage and behind the scenes and credit others wiser than myself for teaching me everything I know about light design. I enjoy small, intimate spaces, and supplementing the story being told onstage with colors and light - I love to find the "magic" in every production and look for ways to bring it to the next level.

 The following posts are a selection of some of my favorite lighting designs. For a full list of all of the shows I have designed, check out my lighting resume.

Play, Drama Danielle Kays Play, Drama Danielle Kays

A Classic Five and Dime

“Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean” has two casts - a present and a past - and several times both eras were on stage at the same time. To help the audience follow the “Then” and “Now”, the teens were bathed in colors whenever their scene was happening, and the adults were in a stark light.

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Drama, Play Danielle Kays Drama, Play Danielle Kays

A Future in 1984

The look in 1984 was stark and white for the Ministry of Truth and for Room 101 - but warmth was utilized when the scene shifted to the interior of O'Brien's home - to show the difference between what the Ministry offered their underlings vs. what they offered those in the inner party. A solo spot was the only light for the scenes in Room 101, showing Winston alone and emphasizing shadows.

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Comedy, Play Danielle Kays Comedy, Play Danielle Kays

Running Barefoot in the Park

Barefoot in the Park was a single, interior set, so we used LEDs on the sky to help set the time of day. As the play progressed, the sky would reflect the mood of the characters - becoming dark and purple for when Paul and Corie were fighting and then moving to bright pink and red when they realized that they could indeed walk barefoot in the park.

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Drama, Play Danielle Kays Drama, Play Danielle Kays

A Courtroom Drama with A Few Good Men

Area zones were again utilized for this fast-paced courtroom drama. As a minimalist set was used, the lights in A Few Good Men helped tell the audience where on the stage the action was happening as well as the location in the story (Kaffee's office was lit in browns, greens, and blues, to give the feeling of florescent lights, whereas Jessup's was lit in red, orange, and yellow as his office was in the heat of Cuba).

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Play, Drama Danielle Kays Play, Drama Danielle Kays

Writing a Deathtrap

Deathtrap was another interior set, but with a view to the outside patio where we could again play with the time of day reflected through the window. A lightening storm was also created during the climax of the show with minimal lighting.

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Play, Drama Danielle Kays Play, Drama Danielle Kays

A Wild Prairie with Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Voice of the Prairie was a fast-paced telling of Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and with simple roll-away sets, we again had to use light to convey location and time of day. Blues were used during the snow storm and moody lighting for the times inside the cabin.

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Drama, Play Danielle Kays Drama, Play Danielle Kays

Setting the Room for A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol used zones to help the audience know the scenes and the locations. No colors, just a general wash but lit in a way to keep it dark and mysterious. Special effects (pyrotechnics) were used in the fireplace and LEDs in Marley's cloak to give him that other-worldly and ghostly look.

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 Photo Credits on the Stage Lighting Posts: Pete Caster, Aran Graham, Rebecca Lund, Danielle Kays, Carrina Stanton, Jared Wenzelburger