Wow. Time flies, right? As soon as Spring hit, I was super busy with traveling down to Atlanta for The Legacy Theatre's production of The 25th Annual Putnam Co. Spelling Bee and then back to the good old St. Louis for STAGES 25th Anniversary Season as their Master Electrician. What a whirl-wind ride. I also managed to book a couple extra shows for my Winter freelance season. I've had some much needed down time during December to take care of some home-improvement projects and to take care of myself. I've been able to update the portfolio and resume to better reflect my current status. I wonder how long it will last? Anyway, check out the photos in the portfolio section to see what I was up to in the Spring.

Loaded in electrics last night from 7p-11p. Four hours to hang and gel the whole plot. The guys in the Lexington, KY IATSE are good. And today, we busted out focus in another 4 hours. Incredible! I'm curious if I'm getting better in my planning, or if there are other factors at work. Either way, I'm going to start programming the show tonight. I'm very thrilled. I've worked with SCAPA on four previous shows, and this is by far the smoothest it has gone! It will also mark the first time I'm able to do any programming prior to the actors arriving. It's a miracle! Now if the the stupid weather would just warm back up. Seriously, Spring? Where did you go?

I'm east of the Mississippi for a little over three weeks working on two shows. The first one up is Hairspray at SCAPA in Lexingon, KY. All the paperwork is in. I have a couple rehearsals to watch before I get to dive into the tech process which begins with load-in on Sunday night at 8pm. Later, I travel further south to Atlanta, GA for The Legacy Theatre's production of 25th Annual Putnam Co. Spelling Bee. I'll keep you updated on how it's going. Or I'll de-brief you after the fact.

The updates keep rolling along. Hello, Dolly! shots have been selected and posted! Check them out in the gallery.

Update: Peter Pan photos have been posted!

Update: (2.14.11) Joseph photos have been posted!

Update: (2.15.11) Aladdin photos have been posted!

The past year has been a bit of a whirlwind and kind of busy. Here's what you might have missed:

• After Peter Pan, I had some down time, and did a bit of travelling to see friends and family.
• In March, I had the opportunity to design one of my favorite shows of all time, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I had so much fun with this design. This show is really like a giant lighting playground with fun songs to light and a variety of moods to enhance.
• While I was in Lexington for Joseph, I got a message from a Director and friend of mine to design a show in April down in Atlanta, GA (Baby). I jumped at the opportunity to work with him, again. He and his wife had started a small professional theatre a few years back and I had given him some consultation on the lighting system. Not only was Baby a great show to work on, it was great to see old friends!
• I was back at STAGES St. Louis in May of 2010. I had been promoted to AME from my two prior seasons as an electrician. It was quite a whirlwind summer getting used to the new position and new responsibilities. It really flew past.
• Toward the end of my STAGES contract, I decided to relocate to St. Louis, where it seemed I spent most of my past few years working. My lovely girlfriend took a chance on me and moved out here, too.
• Amidst moving in October, I was finishing up my contract at STAGES and working on a design for SCAPA's production of Aladdin that went into tech a week after my AME contract was up. Whoa!
• During November and December, I grabbed a couple of general tech calls and traveled to visit family.
• January picked up the pace, again, as I flew out to CO on a ski trip with some close friends. Upon return home, I packed up my bags and drove back to GA for Legacy Theatre's production of The Marvelous Wonderettes.
• Which brings us up to speed with February. It's a bit slow, but that's actually a good thing. I'm able to get my legs back underneath me, catch my breath, and enjoy some quality time with people that matter.

After some unforeseen stress and extra long hours programming a late-arrival Tinkerbell, SCAPA's production of Peter Pan is up and running at The Lexington Opera House. Look for portfolio shots of the show coming in the next couple weeks as I get the chance to weed through them.

A big thanks goes out to the guys of the Local IATSE 346 crew who always help make my job easier!

A giant high-five to Roger Benavides of zFx for taking parents and volunteers and making them into fly operators, and especially for the fun and interesting flight choreography!

Labels: design, lighting

I'm back in good old Lexington, KY, again. This time I'm working with SCAPA on their production of Peter Pan.

The real fun part about this show is the flying company that has been hired to make Pan and the kids fly! zFx is a Louisville-based company, and one of only two in the country that does flying effects for theatrical productions.

Did I mention that their riggers wear kilts? As company policy? No? Well they do.

Heading down to Lexington, KY, again. Working with Paragon Music Theatre on their production of Hello Dolly. I'm looking forward to seeing a rehearsal or two prior to Monday morning's load-in.

I'm fortunate that I have work so soon after finishing my season in St. Louis, but this week has been a lot of work. One or two days of down-time would have been nice. Well, I can look forward to December for a bit of rest.

My host must have experienced server problems this morning or afternoon, because the site reverted to an older look. Everything is back to normal now, I think. Thank goodness for backups.

Labels: update, web site

The finale of STAGES St. Louis 2009 season, Guys and Dolls, is officially open, which means 8- and 9-show weeks running a follow spot, and a bit more free time. This is good since I need to start work on my next design (Hello Dolly) coming up in October for Paragon Music Theatre.

Labels: design, electrics, lighting

Now, on the sidebar of the main page is a small photo gallery of what I'm up to in my freelance / contract / electrics life. Most of these photos are going to be process shots during the build phase of shows, and most will probably be uploaded from my phone.

Thanks to Alan Edwardes [link] for the scripts [link] and support!

Labels: lighting, update, web site

I've been working on the site fairly hardcore to get it ship-shape so that when I give out my business card to potential employers, everything works.

>> Added - an rss feed to the navigation bar (should you want to keep track of what's going on in my professional life).

>> Added - twitter updates to the sidebar for more regular updates. Follow me @ http://twitter.com/sglight.

>> Updated - the lightbox feature for the galleries. Now you don't have to click on a photo, close the photo, then open another. You can just click to view one, and then hover over either the left or right side of the photo and click to browse through the whole gallery.

>> Added - a working contact page. Send requests for hiring or feedback using this feature.

Labels: update, web site

Did some rework on the site. Still not quite finished doing some tweaks and such to it, but it's working and doing what I want it to do. Check it out and enjoy.

Labels: update, web site

Portfolio photos are up (goto gallery) for the show I designed back in April '09 for Paragon in Lexington, KY.

Labels: portfolio, update

Heading down to Lexington, KY on Wednesday to get ready for Paragon's production of The King and I at The Lexington Opera House. The show runs April 23 - 26.

Labels: design, lighting