Aida

This years spring musical at Lynden Christian High School is Aida. This is a relatively new Broadway musical, opening on the stage of Broadway in 2000, with the rights becoming available in the year 2004. This is a new musical built around new theater technology. As Lynden Christian’s Master Theater Electrician I met this challenge head on.

Right away I knew that we would have to add to our rigging and circuiting before we could start thinking about starting a design. So

with the help of my crew we wired in 8 new dimmer lines to the back of the auditorium. Next we purchased four new cycloramic (cyc) fixtures to up date the existing units. We then took every fixture we own down for maintenance.

The lighting design for this show started six months before auditions were held. I took the music, video, and script and started to sketch out what some of the scenes would look like. This was then handed off to the director who brought the plan to out set designers to work with. This allowed me some time to watch the rehearsals to get a idea of what the blocking for some of the choreography would look like.The real work for this kind of show does not start until the few weeks before dress rehearsals. My crew and I often spent time working into the night getting things reading before the curtain

opens. Because this kind of show requires several individual fixtures, means that we must spend a lot of time rigging and preparing the fixtures before they can be programmed into the control consol. This is a long joint effort with the choreographers to give us a layout of their dances, the stage crew to give us exact locations of different pieces of the set, and the paint crew so we know exactly what colors we are working with.
Once this is done I could then start the task of programming the control consol. This involves stripping every scene down and adding elements of light until it provides the effect and

emotion necessary to bring the audience into the show. This takes a lot of time sitting in a dark auditorium, with just you and the lights. I spent over 17 hours one day programming cues into the consol. The final result is always worth the time.Going into this show I knew it would be the biggest challenge yet. It has taken everything I have learned over the years. But with the help of my crew, and Mike Vos we got it done! This is the biggest and best show I have ever done, and I think its safe to say that it’s this biggest show that Lynden Christian has ever done. This is defiantly the show to end on!

Good to Come

We are all faced with times when you known something is going to go wrong. When it comes time to confront this you are surprised to find it going quite well. I have had a lot of stress and deadlines lately. I cannot remember the last time I have been able to take a break from one of these deadlines. The work and time is now at the point where progress can be seen. I am now able to wrap my mind around what the final element will look like.
I have gotten used to things falling apart, when I want them to become stronger. I am surprised and overjoyed to find that now things are going smoothly and in the right direction. I can rest easy knowing that the decisions I have made are leading to a outcome of great potential. I look forward to what will become of these decisions; how will they affect the people around me?