Light Up The Sky

Light Up The Sky was the both premier production for the Emerson Stage 2010/2011 season as well as the first production to take the stage of the recently restored Paramount Mainstage in Boston, Massachusetts. The play, by Moss Hart, focuses on members of a production team, including the director, producer, playwright, lead actress, and her family, before and after a premier show in the Colonial Theatre of Boston. The show’s comedic take on theatre, and its members, truly does light up the sky.

The show was particularly challenging with regards to the Paramount being a brand new theatrical venue. There were many nuances and quirks that we were lucky enough to be the ones to find and overcome. I worked closely with my designer to derive solutions for the limited FOH shots, as well as the less-than-ideal sightlines of the space. I was the draftsperson of the show, and was the designer responsible for all discussions with the Master Electricians, Carl Skovgaard and Henry Tracz. This production was also interesting on account of the involvement of projection. We worked closely with our projection designer, Seághan McKay, to facilitate the projection, laid ontop of a scenic drop, in a way that wouldn’t interfere with the lighting of the production. One of my larger contributions to the production aesthetically was the upstage star drop. The director, Melia Bensussen, along with the scenic designer, Tim Jozwick, were looking for something that could punch through the scenic cloud drop that served as the back wall. I weighed the options between fiber and LED and ultimately chose the LED drop.