The IMPORTANCE of a LIGHTING DESIGNER

As the SENSE tech has moved on, I've been particularly impressed by how the lighting designer, Brian Lillienthal has managed to eke out such distinctive and meaningful looks and feelings for the multitude of locations. As stated previously, there are over 50 scenes in this adaptation, and a number of them involve people walking out of doors. Brian has been quite masterful as giving such an array of colors and feelings to the world, here are a few of my favorite shots that explicate his arsenal...

The necessity for flexibility of time/mood/location with lighting is one of the reasons that we worked hard to create a set that had a degree of subtlety to the color... the grays and ecrus, and lavenders that make up the rather subtle paint treatment. Had we gone with bolder color choices, Brian would have been hard-pressed to create such an array. I try really hard to think about how a lighting designer's needs fit into the equation. In this project it was difficult, as Actors Theatre wanted me to simply adapt my Northlight design for their space, which cut out a lot of the process conversation that normally happens. Brian was constantly playing catch-up to the rest of us who had done the show together before... in many ways it put him in a difficult spot, but I'm so glad and impressed that he came through with such stunning work.

Coming back to ATL has been a pleasure and an honor. I'd NEVER thought that I'd ever really design on the mainstage here, much less be designing for Jon Jory doing the first big show of the season. I'm a lucky designer (and even luckier that my wife puts up with the insanity that has been my professional world this summer)! I'll let the final image of SENSE end this post....