Robert Cohen - Theatre, Brief Version-McGraw-Hill Education (2016)

Theatre 115
7. Holder’s exquisite lighting includes overhead “ceiling” lighting, table lamps, wall lamps, a dark blue sky overhead,
and of course spotlights on Annaleigh Ashford, who is dancing on center stage, and Will Brill, peering over the
staircase balcony to see her. © Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux
and I didn’t have to lower my expectations
because of technical issues. And then
came automated lighting [AL]—motorized
moving lights that I first used when
I designed The Lion King. That show
was huge—with scenery constantly
flying in and out, an animal parade
through the audience to begin the show,
and a band that played in the theatre’s
boxes above the audience. [Director]
Julie [Taymor] had conceived the show
within a constantly changing skyscape,
a “lightscape” actually, that included
a whole spectrum of colors—not just
three or four—that were to continuously
cross-fade with each other. I needed to
have six colors on every single surface
of the setting! And since I simply didn’t
have enough space in the theatre to
hang all the lights I wanted, or to
provide the level of detail and specificity
the show required, or even to light the
environment—the “dance space on
steroids” as we called it—I simply had
to use AL. It was incredible—as, for
example, in the opening sequence,
when several luminous clouds were
to rise in sequence while at the same
time the sky was changing from twilight
to dawn to noon and everything was
in a constant state of motion. With AL,
one instrument can replace fifty, and so
that’s how I did it. And when the director
wanted to change something, I could
do it right from my seat—without ever
taking out a ladder or refocusing a light
or changing a gel [color agent]. This
became a revelation to me!”
Holder thinks of his lighting as
impressionistic “because the artists I’m
most inspired by are the impressionists;
they speak to me in a profound way.”
But his lighting is, at the same time,
specific: “my mantra is craft, sweating
the details, really controlling the
composition, which must be impeccably
crafted.” When these two elements are
brought together, the art of stage
lighting rises to luminous achievements.