By Tracy Gallinghouse
The stage lighting designer is
traditionally responsible for the design and supervision of all aspects of
lighting for a typical stage production and collaborates with the director to
ensure that all aspects of the production are properly – and suitably – illuminated.
As professional stage lighting designer Bill Williams says, everyone fully
expects the lighting designer to “perform magic, miracles and to make the sets,
costumes and actors...'look fabulous.’”
 |
Carlos Nine
(Paul Wood Photography) |
Ginny Award-winning Lighting Designer
Carlos Nine recently returned to Slidell Little Theatre after a stint as
lighting designer at King’s Dominion Amusement Park in VA and was recruited to
design the lights for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His first exposure to theatre
was shortly after Hurricane Katrina with the 2005 production of The Gifts of
the Magi. Eager to learn more, he was hooked when he worked backstage during
the Young Actors Theatre of Slidell (YATS) production of Seussical.
Carlos has a B.A. in Theatre from the
University of Southern Mississippi, with an emphasis in Lighting Design, and he
plans to pursue a Masters in Lighting Design.
Carlos recently agreed to a Q & A
session for insight into his work and the art of light design.
Q: How did you get involved with
theatre, and what made you want to become a lighting designer?
NINE: I became involved in theatre in
2005 right after Katrina. The first show that I saw was The Gifts of the Magi.
The show was so much fun to watch, and after that moment I knew that I wanted
to be involved in theatre in some form. I was asked to do backstage for the YATS
show Seussical. This was the first thing I ever did. After that I went from
backstage to spotlight, to light board operator. Something about being on
a light board was really fun to me, and I knew that I wanted to learn more
about that aspect of theatre. In college, the Dean of the Theatre Department
asked me what I wanted to do. At that moment I was still unsure of my decision,
but I knew that I had to take a shot, and learn more about lighting. He
directed me to the lighting and sound professor, and he put me in his intro to lights
and sound class. I never looked back from that moment. Everything I learned
about lighting was all due to a risk I took, and something I knew would be fun
to try, now I am making a living out of it and still happy with it.
Q: I love how the right lighting can
make a set come to life. My personal favorite examples of your lighting
design were the primary colors for the TYA show, “Goodnight, Moon” and last
year’s show, “Arsenic and Old Lace.” What is/are your personal favorites?
NINE: Wow, tough question, only
because I love a lot of my shows. I know that a couple of my favorite moments
were in three shows, and funny enough they were all showcase pieces. One
director’s qualifying piece for the department was Eleemosynary. She had taped
out three squares that were used as specific places, and each one of the ladies’
moments of the play. I ended up putting one light on each square, and making
the light shine inside each square one at a time. Those created some nice
moments in the show, and created some great moments between the actors. Another
show is Exit the King, this show was another directing piece. At the end of the
show, I had three lights on the king’s platform: one to hit his face, one
straight above him to create the shadows of death on his face, and one under
the platform to show his soul dying. Coming up with that was not something that
I thought would work, but ended up making the death seem so much heartfelt than
it actually would have been if I just took all lights down. The third and final
show was The Last 5 Years, The Musical. The scene was with Cathy singing her
audition song in front of the curtain, and as soon as the song was ending,
Jamie was pounding on the door behind the curtain. The second the curtain
opens, all you saw was a reddish-orange color spilling on the stage, and
hitting Jamie in the back, and his shadow on the door. The moment of him
slamming on the door, and that color hitting him was a powerful moment in the
show, and I loved how I was able to make that moment become really powerful.
Q: If you could design lights for
any show, what would it be and why?
NINE: There are so many shows
that I wish I could design. I think if I had to pick one show, for a musical, I
would love to design You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. For a straight play, I
would love to design Death of a Salesman.
Q: What are the challenges of
designing light for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream?”
NINE: Designing Midsummer versus
designing any other show is so hard to do. With Midsummer you have such a free
range to design with. The description is not like "A suburban house with a
bay window." It's a fantasy feel, and a free range with colors, and looks.
It's not an easy piece to design sometimes. It all depends on what the director
is looking for, and how they are planning to style the show. I like it, only
because I love a good challenge.
Q: I know you just finished working
for King’s Dominion Amusement Park in Virginia. How did that differ from
designing lighting for a theatrical show?
NINE: Working at an amusement park
versus a theatre are two complete different spectrum. At a theatre you have
months to prepare for a show, at Kings Dominion, we don't have that much time.
Also, the shows range from a BMX style stunt show, to an outdoor show, to a
singing show. During Haunt in October, we got an acrobat show, and a show that
is the same style as "Stomp." So dealing with all these shows can get
pretty crazy when something goes wrong in each one, but it is a really fun
challenge to have. The best part is all the people I have met through each
show, and in the entertainment department alone.
Q: Do you approach each job the same?
NINE: I do not approach each
one the same way. Lighting an amusement park show is designing with music, not
scenes in a script. You don't deal with settings or emotions, you deal with
the beat of the music, and how crazy you can make it be. I like both
aspects, because it's nice to be able to do both in lighting, but
sometimes I do miss sitting down, and dissecting a script for looks, and
cues.
Q: Musicals or Plays?
NINE: I love to design musicals. You
can do a lot more fun lighting with musicals.
Q: What is next for Carlos Nine?
NINE: I will be going back to Kings
Dominion for a second season. I love my work up there, and I feel like I still
have so much more to learn, and a lot more growing to do as a designer. The
park is really helping me with that. Keep posted on my Facebook page,
"Carlos Nine Lighting and Sound Designer" Or my website Carlosninedesigns.com.
Examples of Carlos Nine's Lighting Design
1.) Above is from a
production of Arsenic and Old Lace at Slidell Little Theatre. This is
the pre-show look.
2.) One of my
favorite looks is from The Importance of Being Earnest. This was in the
second act. I love the way the LED’s fell on the white cyclorama. I won a Ginny
for Best Lighting for this production.
3.) This is from a
production of Exit the King at the University of Southern Mississippi.
It was a special directing project by Kristopher Kuss. This look is so strong
to the show, because it created an alley for the actor to follow. I called the
look a “death stroll.” He was walking to his death, so it made sense to create
an alley for him to walk through.
4.) The Last 5
Years is a show about beautiful moments, and lots of heartbreak. This is
the moment when Jamie (Darren Hayes) is trying to get Cathy to listen to him.
The curtain opened up to this look of one orange light coming from behind him.
It made the scene and the feel of the moment so powerful. This was also a
special Directing project at the University of Southern Mississippi.
5.) This is from a
production of Legally Blonde the Musical with Theatre 13 at Rivertown.
The Greek chorus is doing the Delta Nu pose while Emmit (Sam Dudley) sings his
final note in the song. I love how the Greek chorus is the pop of purple, with
the spotlight on Emmit only.
