In a Sunday, May 24 article entitled Setting The Stage With Shadows, J.D. Biersdorfer in The New York Times examines the work of the celebrated stage designer Robert Edmond Jones (1887-1954). The article examines Jones’ designs for a 1930 production of the Schoenberg Opera, Die Glückliche Hand, (The Hand of Fate), in which lighting casts shadows on the expressionistic set of craggy peaks. The drawing pictured in the Times more…

I’ll say one thing about this industry: it’s certainly plugged in. Ever since word broke on Tuesday about this nasty bit of Texas legislation (Texas House Bill 2649, or THB2649) that would prohibit lighting designers who work in Texas to work on projects without being licensed as either an electrician, architect, engineer, landscape architect or interior designer, blogs, social networks, and other online media lit up like Super more…

In light of all of the ridiculous news coming out of Texas today surrounding House Bill 2649, I thought I’d share some information brought to my attention by Jim Hutchison of the blog JimOnLight. Jim’s done a fantastic job all day of keeping a whole bunch of twitterers in the lighting industry apprised of the latest news. More importantly, Jim has done all of the leg work more…

LD Rick Fisher was back in town this week, and his schedule included the Tony nominee lunch on May 21. His visit comes hot on the heels of the Showlight conference that took place in Glasgow, Scotland, May 16-19, which means he missed picking up his Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting for his work on the hit musical, Billy Elliot. Fisher’s Drama Desk honor came right after his Outer more…

We just wrapped the panel discussion on choosing projectors, playback, and surfaces with Adam Dunaway (Digital Stage Chicago), Loren Barton (TMB), Rene Berhorst (MA Lighting), and designers Zak Borovay and Elaine McCarthy. An hour and a half to cover a lifetime’s worth of material—but a very engaging discussion. I’m always torn at these things by trying to skirt the line between communicating practically useful information and presenting entertaining anecdotes.

All more…