Live Design Online: Running through August 31, 2024 at The Pershing Square Signature Theatre (Irene Diamond Stage) Ain't Done Bad is a dance-theatre experience set to the music of Country star Orville Peck. Since its critically acclaimed premiere at the Orlando International Fringe Festival in 2021, Ain't Done Bad has been seen in an extended workshop in Orlando and in select cities in North Carolina. This engaging story of coming out and growing up was lit by LD Philip Lupo, who shares his plot, gear list, and thoughts about the lighting.
2 comments:
Sara = I love learning about lighting so this article brought up a LOT of questions for me. What are dance towers and what are tail-downs? Lupo also discussed how he had hoped for more advanced fixtures to light the show but had to settle for Vipers due to time constraints. I wonder what the difference is between Vipers and Encores and Diablo S LEDs. Why would you use one instead of the other? I wonder what the price difference between those fixtures is and whether it is worth it. Is the reason why one is better than the other their ease of use, or their reliability, or maybe they are more streamlined, or have a nicer beam? Ain’t Done Bad also has a very minimal set which made lighting super important to tell the story. Lupo mentions how lighting became almost another character onstage—however he also mentions that, despite having many LEDs in the rig, his design for the show relied more heavily on intense, warm colors and deep purples. I looked up pictures of Ain’t Done Bad, and all of the lighting designs look very similar in terms of color. I thought that was interesting because, at school, I had often wished to have LED fixtures so that I could play with many different colors, however Lupo decided that, stylistically, it made more sense to use a minimalistic color palette. I guess that goes to show that you can make an appropriate and meaningful design even within the constraints of two or three colored gels. (255 words)
Having worked with Philip Lupo in the past and seeing some of his other work, including "From Here" which also opened off-Broadway this summer, helps me to envision the work he would've done with this plot and what the final design may have looked like. I have seen clips of this production and specific lighting cues which were beautiful, and super precise with musical cues. I do wish I could have seen this production, but I'm glad I still get to read and hear about it. Philip does a great job with his use of high-sides and side-lighting, as well as depth and color to enrich the movements of dance onstage. Between that and the precision of cues with great attention to detail, I am sure this production came together beautifully.
In a world of progressing and ever-changing technology, we are beginning to close the gap between LEDs and gel'd conventionals. The ETC Lustrs do a pretty good job of it. However, there is still something about a gel in a light that cannot be completely mimicked (or has yet to be). Especially when you are working with deep saturation and purples, the color that you get from a gel is really beautiful, and can be very helpful to highlight movement (especially in a show such as this which is a dance piece). It creates a very unique contrast when you have large moments that are mostly lit without the use of LEDs, and then you transition into using many colors from different LED lights. It is definitely a fun thing to play around with, but you also have to be careful that you don't catch the audience off-guard with the transition between using different kinds of lights. (Unless that's what you're going for, of course).
Post a Comment