The podcast is back from a long hiatus for (hopefully!) an all new batch of episodes. This week, we are sitting down with Lighting Designer and recent Obie Award winner Isabella Byrd. Isabella discuses with us the genesis of her design for ‘The Light Shining in Buckinghamshire’ and how that show helped catapult her into greater visibility. She also shares insights into her work on ‘The Thanksgiving Play’, ‘Seascape’ and ‘The Tale of Despereaux’  and if she feels a paradigm shifting in regards to gender parity on creative teams. Isabella and Cory also discuss her time at Chance Magazine and the Prague Quadrennial, how to make theatre marketing photos reflect the shows better, how she learned restraint working with designers like Jane Cox and Tyler Micoleau, and the challenge for young designers to separate the drafting process from the design process. And, MONTHS later (sorry!), Corry announces the winner of the giveaway contest for Clifton Taylor’s book.

This week we are sitting down with Lighting Designer Clifton Taylor to discuss he new book, Color & Light: Navigating Color Mixing in the Midst of an LED Revolution. He tells us where the idea for the book came from, the process of writing about a technology that is rapidly evolving and what he hopes readers will get out of it. Clifton and Cory dive into various color topics including using saturation to convey darkness, why certain colors can appear onstage just because of how our eyes work, and using an audience’s preconceived relationship with colors to a designer’s advantage. They also spend a great deal of time talking about the transition from gel based color to LED sources and how that affects the documenting and recreating of shows, how designers communicate with their programmers, and managing a wealth of fixture types and possible colors while time in the theatre remains as limited as always. It’s the wild wild west of color right now with an ever shifting landscape of available options and Clifton is here to make sense of it all. And BONUS…listen for your chance to win an autographed copy of the book!

Lumos Maxima! It’s opening weekend for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ on Broadway so we’re sitting down with a true lighting wizard, Neil Austin! He’s tight lipped about the secrets of the show but he does share with us how it has felt to be working on such a cultural phenomenon and when he realized this was to be no ordinary show. He’s also telling us about squeezing light into Christopher Oram’s beautiful yet boxed in set for ‘Hughie’ and how he created both the Sun and the Moon in the Park Avenue Armory for ‘Macbeth.’ Cory and Neil also spend a great deal of time discussing the design industry in the UK and how social programs like the NHS make it easier for younger designers to develop careers as well as the difference between United Scenic Artists, the Association of Lighting Designers, and British Equity. There’s talk about strong British backlight, why good haze is so important, and an important discussion about the #savestagelighting campaign and how the new EU 2020 Lighting Regulations could have a devastating impact on theatrical lighting. Grab a pint of butterbeer and enjoy this brand new episode!

It’s Episode #79 and we are seizing the day and sitting down with Tony Award winning Lighting Designer Jeff Croiter. Jeff has a wide ranging career and we’re talking about all sorts of projects. Cory and Jeff discuss his recent design of the Big Apple Circus and how one goes about lighting jugglers, horses and the Flying Wallendas as well as his new relationship with Penn & Teller and what goes into lighting two of the most famous magicians in the world. He also discusses the prominent role lighting played in “Bandstand” and how he got 75 old fresnels to change color all night long and of course we’re talking about the genesis of his design for “Peter and the Starcatcher” and how it has become a genre of design in itself. Other topics include how smaller gigs led to his Broadway career, how he cues quickly and efficiently in the theatre, and we get a surprise appearance from Willa the dog and the lovely and talented Kate Wetherhead!

We are rounding out 2017 with episode #76 and a fantastic chat with two-time Tony Nominee, Jane Cox! Jane has exploded a lot in the past couple years with her lighting designs for such diverse shows as ‘The Color Purple’, ‘Jitney’, ‘Amélie’, and ‘Machinal’ and she’s chatting about all of them. She tells us about her long-standing relationship with John Doyle and their collaboration on shows like ‘Color Purple’, ‘Road Show’, and ‘Allegro’ as well as her projects with Sam Gold like ‘The Flick’ and the recent ‘Othello’, which saw her trying to light an enclosed army bunker with zero conventional theatre lights. Cory and Jane also chat about her new role as the head of the Princeton theatre department, how she’s using that position to help create more diverse creative teams, and her path from Dublin to New York. And stick around till the end to hear how she ended up touring with Bob Dylan!

For our 75th Episode we present a very special group of designers. In 1989, a panel was held at the Museum of the City of New York as part of their “Direct from Broadway” series featuring some of the most influential lighting designers of the 20th century: Tharon Musser, Peggy Clark, Abe Feder and Jeff Davis, moderated by the man who followed the leads set by these pioneers and continued their legacies…Ken Billington. For the first time in nearly 30 years, hear these luminaries (pun intended) discuss their work, their process and what is was like paving the way in a design field that was just in it’s infancy. Thanks for listening for 75 episodes and enjoy this special holiday treat!

The podcast is back and we’re not pulling any punches. Today we sit down with recent Tony Award winner Bradley King to discuss his lighting design for ‘Natasha Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812.’ He traces the journey of the design from Ars Nova, where the plot was hardly more than chandeliers and lightbulbs, all the way to his massive, immersive design at the Imperial Theatre. Hear how he and director Rachel Chavkin developed the look of the show over 4 different iterations, how he ushered in the role of “Automated Light Bulb Winch Programmer” and what it’s like winning a Tony for your Broadway debut. Bradley is also very active in the 829 union negotiations and he and Cory discuss the recently updated LORT contract and review the various expenses for which designers on the road can be reimbursed. And he discusses being a young designer with a growing family and how that impacts his life and work decisions. Heat up the dumplings, pour yourself some Borsht, and join us for a great chat!