The field of lighting design spans from trade show events and weddings to sporting competitions and architecture, but nowhere does the industry have more visibility than in theater. Lighting designers in this area are like celebrities, and every year they are recognized with Tony Awards for their work in stage.
This year, the Tony Award for Best Lighting in a Play went to an industry veteran, for whom Tony nominations have become a routine occurrence.
The award was given to Natasha Katz, the designer for the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie," and for whom it was her fourth win and tenth nomination. Katz has also worked on "Sister Act," "The Addams Family," and "The Little Mermaid."
Katz recently spoke to Live Design to talk about her work on "Menagerie," which required a different lighting setup to distinguish between two different narratives in the play – one that takes in the present and the other in the past.
"There is a strong color motif," Katz said. "[The main character] Tom, whenever he is narrating, is in a cool blue. When he is talking about his family, they are always in an incandescent warm glow. We knew we had to separate the two worlds in terms of narration and when he is in his own memory."
Lighting for theater requires many years of training and practice, but to be successful you also need to make sure that you're using the right equipment. Employing a mix of par cans, spot lights and custom gobos from Gobosource.com can help take your productions to another level and give you more versatility in terms of how you present your subjects and staging.
