www.livedesignonline.com: “When you leave this show, I don't want you to leave loving the show and me,” says singer-songwriter Lady Gaga during her Enigma + Jazz & Piano Las Vegas Residency in the Park Theatre at MGM Resorts where she promotes a message of finding yourself through healing. “I want you to leave loving yourself.” The nine-time Grammy Award-winner snagged her first Academy Award and second Golden Globe with Best Original Song for “Shallow” in the film A Star Is Born, which was released around the same time that the superstar was collaborating with production and lighting designer LeRoy Bennett on the show design for the residency.
11 comments:
I love seeing major celebrities like Lady Gaga who are still doing good in this world. It is cool to see someone who can put on a huge show like this and still want the message of it be about loving yourself. She is not consumed with fame and people fanning over her, but rather she is focused on those people who adore her. I think she is a great example of what it really means to be doing good with a position of power. She could totally have a huge ego and be a major diva, but that is not what she is about. She is about love and goodness at the same time as she puts on crazy big shows. It is a hard thing to do and a fine line to walk, but she manages to do it pretty effortlessly it would seem. She really is a celebrity worth looking up to.
I clicked on this article so fast (Lady Gaga is a QUEEN). It’s really interesting to see design production in other fields outside of theatre. I sometimes forget how the same concepts can be transferred to design other stages. I haven’t been to Lady Gaga’s shows but I can imagine the experience from just looking at the photos. She’s always in these crazy costumes and the set is right on her level. The show looks immersive, in the sense that the audience not only enjoys her performance. They enjoy the feeling created by the designs put into the show. It really struck me when the article quoted her saying “when you leave this show, I don't want you to leave loving the show and me.” Thinking back at all the concerts and shows I’ve been to, a truly engaging and fun performance indeed needs to be amazing on all fronts, not just the performer (although that does contribute quite a lot). I’m really excited to read more about people behind the productions.
I’ve always admired Lady Gaga’s boldness and it is definitely reflected in her live concerts! Just wow! It’s amazing to see such elaborate sets, costumes, and lighting in a concert setting!! You can tell Gaga really put a lot of thought into what she wants her audience to experience just as we do in theater. I think it’s easy as drama students to forget that there are so many fun and exciting design and production opportunities outside of just live theater. As someone who is interested in costume design, I think it would be amazing to design outrageous costumes for performers such as Lady Gaga! The set pieces for her performances are so impressive!! I love the spider apparatus that she is sitting inside in one of the photos and the giant suspended egg that she is sitting inside! It must have taken so much hard work to safely pull off the crazy stunts. The lighting design for Gaga’s shows are also super impressive! The purple space age-looking light in the one photo is SO cool.
When I think of Lady Gaga, the term avant-garde comes to mind. She is a total rockstar who puts her art before her reputation, and that's what I admire most about her. I grew up as her career started to grow, and I can say that my opinion about her has definitely evolved. I remember when my only means of hearing about her were through her songs on the radio and magazine headlines. Both her lyrics and appearances in the news included messages that no one was really talking about to such an extreme level of honesty, but what I wasn't really able to appreciate at the time was how many of those messages were communicated without using any words. She pushed boundaries for women's fashion by wearing inventive outfits (please see her 2019 MET Gala look(s) that involved her elaborately removing layers of her clothing as she processed up the grand staircase).
Judging by the images in this article, she and her design team push boundaries with their incredible lighting and scenic designs. I love when her stage turned into the interior of a jazz club, showing her wide repertoire of music genres. So far in her career, Gaga seems to have done it all, yet I feel like this is still only the beginning. She is someone who is not afraid to act on her creative impulses, and I think that kind of fearlessness is broadening the need for designers and technicians in the entertainment industry. In other words, her desire for shows saturated with creativity gives designers more power and responsibility.
Lady Gaga is constantly pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an artist, in every sense of the word. Every time she steps on stage or onto a red carpet, she puts herself out there. She knows that she can take risks and that they will pay off, and she is not afraid to shock her audiences and go one step further than the last time. In all of her shows- and this one in particular- she and her design team continue to push the boundaries of both art and technology, incorporating the two so tightly that they cannot be taken apart and examined separately.
On a more specific note, I absolutely love the scaffolding. Something about the industrial and unattractive being used for such an aesthetic and intentional purpose delights me. Scaffolding is usually ugly on the street, blocking the view to the structure behind it, but Gaga and her production designers used it for both an aesthetic purpose and a functional one, ultimately to great effect.
I think it's important to appreciate how incredible Lady Gaga is in her artistry. Not only is she a professionally-trained singer, she is a performer through-and-through, constantly finding ways to push the boundaries of her art. I think it's safe to say that she is one of the most iconic artists of our generation, and I find her work akin to Cher in a lot of ways. I mean, how memorable is that 2010 meat dress?!
Regarding this event in particular, I am particularly in awe of how elaborate and striking the lighting, set, and costume design are! I wouldn't expect anything less from Lady Gaga in the costume department, and the lighting is so eye-catching and flashy (which is my favorite style of lighting). My favorite picture from the slideshow is the one with the purple wash. I think that moment is especially breathtaking.
I truly cannot wait to see all of Lady Gaga's upcoming works throughout the next however many years. I have a feeling she can really create positive change on the creativity and passion needed in the entertainment industry.
Whenever I hear about Lady Gaga, it is about her boldness, her pushing the boundaries of artistry, and for good reason, for her rich voice and avant-garde outfits speak for themselves; it is rarer that the media reports on her message not to just love her or her shows, but to love oneself. She seems to be more dedicated to her art and her fans than her reputation and fame, and I greatly admire that, because the same cannot be said for the vast majority of celebrities we hear about nowadays. Even rarer is to see such a detailed report about the technical aspects of a major concert with such vivid photos. For the most part, tech is an underrepresented aspect of performance art, and articles like these educate the general public about these technical aspects and maybe even spark interest in what we do, just like the rock stars these aspects were made to highlight.
When I’ve heard of “Las Vegas residency shows”, I’ve always pictured an artist standing on a stage with a stand mic in front of a crowd of onlookers sitting around round tables with white tablecloths. A very specific image, I know, but it is a calm intimate setting that always came to mind with these shows. Seeing these images of Lady Gaga’s residency definitely impressed me, but I’m not shocked by the grand scale of the production due to Gaga’s eclectic and avant-garde persona. The use of projections in design always blows my mind, because the space becomes a blank canvas entirely. I feel like a Gaga show is the perfect opportunity for a scenic, costume, and even lighting designer to collaborate with very few boundaries or limits to create an astounding combination of designs to highlight an artist such as Gaga. I constantly forget that concert/solo performance events are an opportunity in the industry for a designer, and I’m excited about this fierce production from both performance and behind the scenes parts.
Lady Gaga is such a powerful person. She has built up her reputation for so many years, and now that her reputation is so huge she is using it for good. Her activism and her dedication to change are so present in all of her productions and I think that that is truly amazing. A lot of performers perform to perform and that’s it. When she performs, she’s looking to make a difference as a human being. One thing that stood out to me was how involved she is in her production design. She knew exactly what she wanted and her production teams and creative teams made this happen. She is really an artist with a vision and I think that this is really refreshing in this industry to have someone that’s interested in more than just herself and her image. Lady Gaga wants to make a difference. She does an amazing job on and off of the stage.
Lady Gaga is one of those celebrities that everyone is in awe of, yet feels a personal connection to. Her performances are so masterfully crafted, and then she as a performer manages to capture the audiences attention, as she creates this stunning live show of singing, dancing, lights, and extravagance. I think it is so important and interesting that she gets involved with her designers, and gives them ideas for what her intent behind the show is. I think this gives her shows the opportunity to be less of a basic concert lighting show, and actually help the lighting designer tell the story she wants out there in a more effective way. I have always loved Lady Gaga's extravagance and avant-garde personna, and this article makes me respect her as a hardworking individual even more.
I am very curious as to how you can leave this show without loving it and loving Lady Gaga. From the pictures alone...just wow. I know Lady Gaga is on another level when it comes to putting on shows and amusing audiences, which is reflected in the images. The way her and her team uses the stage and the areas around it is just brilliant. Always very cutting edge- giving us something new to look at, which is greatly appreciated. It seems as though lighting played a big role in helping to define the space and create those interesting shapes, along with the stage effects. I would love to see how all of this came together and touched the audience, and helped to convey her message of self love, without all of the attention being on Gaga.
-Apriah
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