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 Diary of Anne Frank - May, 2014, Centralia High School (dir: Kays)
A Christmas Carol - December 2015, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Kays)
Laura Ingalls Wilder; Voice of the Prairie - February 2016, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Wilcox)
Deathtrap - April 2016, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Roal)
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - June 2016, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Rivers)
Grease - October 2016, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Rivers)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - November 2016, Centralia High School (dir: Kays)
It's A Wonderful Life - December 2016, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Roal)
Moon Over Buffalo - February 2017, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Kingsbury)
A Few Good Men - March 2017, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Osborne)
Godspell - May 2017, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: R. Garrett)
Barefoot in the Park - June 2017, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Kays)
Clue, the musical - October 2017, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Rivers)
1984 - November 2017, Centralia College (dir: Kreilkamp)
Children of Eden - December 2017, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Kays)
Rebel Without A Cause - February 2018, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: R. Garrett)
Urinetown the Musical - March 2018, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Thornton)
Same Time, Next Year - April, 2018, TOAD, LLC (dir: Kingsbury)
And Then There Were None - May, 2018, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Hickey)
The Importance of Being Earnest - June, 2018, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Wilcox)
Mulan, Jr. - August, 2018, TOAD, LLC (dir: R. Garrett)
Guys and Dolls - October, 2018, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: R. Garrett)
Antigone - November, 2018, Centralia College (dir: Kreilkamp)
Scrooge, the Musical - December, 2018, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Marsh)
Blithe Spirit - February, 2019, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: McManus)
The Secret Garden - March, 2019, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Kays)
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean - May, 2019, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Caro)
Steel Magnolias - June, 2019, The Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Michael)
Just So - July, 2019, Tenino Young at Heart (dir: McKenzieSullivan)
Once Upon a Mattress - August, 2019, TOAD, LLC (dir: R. Garrett)
Play On! - October, 2019, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Roal)
You Can’t Take it With You - November, 2019, Centralia College (dir: Perkins)
Scrooge, the Musical - December, 2019, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Kays)
Don’t Dress for Dinner - January, 2020, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Marsh)
Fun Home - February, 2020, Centralia College (dir: Start)
Next to Normal - March, 2020/February, 2022, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Michael)
Beauty and the Beast, Jr. - July, 2021, TOAD, LLC (dir: R. Garrett)
The Hound of the Baskervilles - October, 2021, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Baker)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - March, 2022, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: R. Garrett)
Mamma Mia! - May, 2022, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Brown)
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Jr. - August, 2022, TOAD, LLC (dir: K. Garrett)
White Christmas - December, 2022, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Koenen)
The Diary of Anne Frank - February 2023, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Kays)
The Sound of Music - May 2023, Centralia College (dir: Kreilkamp)
Tuck Everlasting - May 2023, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Michael)
Sunday in the Park with George - May 2023, South Puget Sound Community College (dir: Love)
The Lightning Thief - October 2023, Olympia Family Theater (dir: Rogers)
Murder on the Orient Express - October 2023, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Crummett)
James and the Giant Peach - December 2023, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Gordon)
Almost, Maine - January 2024, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Manalastas)
Nunsense - March 2024, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Michael)
Noises Off - April 2024, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Brown)
The Addams Family - May/June 2024, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Koenen)
The Lightning Thief - August 2024, TOAD, LLC (dir: Garrett)
Arsenic and Old Lace - October 2024, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Fitzgerald)
A Christmas Story, the Musical - December 2024, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Donnell)
Charley’s Aunt - January 2025, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Brown)
Matilda, the Musical - March 2025, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Amador)
Into the Woods - June 2025, Evergreen Playhouse (dir: Slaughter)
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 above.
The Aurora Lights as a Practical Effect
Almost, Maine has been a lighting dream of mine for quite some time. I really wanted to figure out how to make the Aurora Borealis come to practical life without using projections. This took a bit of trial and error to create this look. I originally wanted something more “billowy” with fabric, but was having difficulty making that happen with our low ceilings and other lights in the way. Instead, I got a DMX-controlled laser and bundled fiber optics at each laser eye before separating the strands. We played with different settings on the laser to get the different colors going through the strands.
Lighting a Classic Train
The director for Murder on the Orient Express had a unique problem set design for this production; how to showcase several different compartments on a train? With a creative set design of folding walls and an upstage hallway, we were able to use light to help the audience understand each of the different areas. For the three sleeping compartments, we used zone lighting to separate each space and light each compartment when it was active. We also were able to light the hallway which then spilled into the compartments to create some sense of realism. The main area of the train that was used for large groups was lit brightly. For the final reveal of the mystery, we used solo spots to light each moment and then ended in a dramatic backlit tableau.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Photo Credits on the Stage Lighting Posts: Pete Caster, Aran Graham, Rebecca Lund, Danielle Kays, Carrina Stanton, Jared Wenzelburger