Playbill: Illusions designer Chris Fisher is no stranger to the paranormal. The 2025 Special Tony Award recipient brought the Upside Down to the Marquis in Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Now, he is conjuring sinister spirits in the new stage play Paranormal Activity, which opens August 25 at the August Wilson Theatre. Though—for all his knowledge and ingenuity on creating spectacular, seemingly impossible, feats of monsters and magic—Fisher can still find himself spooked by the unexplainable.
4 comments:
The idea of a show that creates paranormal effects is extremely intriguing to me. Paranormal activity and the idea of ghosts and spirits for a long time has been a relevant topic. As people visit haunted homes or murder scenes there has always been the question of “is there a spirit here?” The curiosity and mystery behind whether or not spirits / ghosts are real continues to persist. To create a play that really dives deep into the belief of ghosts or spirits is such a cool concept to me and to rig a show to really make you believe they are real, really sparks a sense of curiosity in the audience. Walking into a show like people while all have their own expectations of what is to come and how these “spirits” will be portrayed. But the thing with theatre is there is always this unlimited well of creativity to create new never seen before spectacles. From the way Fisher described the show I am very excited to see what he created.
I have seen some of Chris Fisher's work. Both Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child were super great! They really make everything look so real and look like magic. I went to both shows at least twice and still cannot figure out how they did it. Truly magical.
I really love how the set and costume design are built around Chris Fisher's illusions. Being a TD working with designers like this would surely be challenging, but I can't imagine how much fun and joy it would be! I know I keep saying this, but I really hope I can work on some exciting shows like this, where they are literally performing magic onstage! If I am back in New York when Paranormal Activity is running, I will definitely grab a friend and go see it with them. I need a friend because I think it is going to be scary. I personally found the Stranger Things play scary the first time I watched it.
OK im not gunna lie, I didn't like it when he said lighting was not a big part of the cross-discipline collaboration of illusions. Anna Watson, the lighting designer for Paranormal, gave an interesting tidbit of information when she said that, in London, they used ETC S4 LED S3s, but found that even at 1 percent they were too bright. In order to make the illusions read better, they switched to S4 LED S2s for the Boston/Broadway production. aside from that, I wish this article had gone into more detail on the house itself. a major challenge with this production was sightlines. In London, they solved their sightline problem by putting monochrome CCTV screens around the theater that display the action of the parts of the house hard for some of the audience to see. However, for some reason, the Boston/Broadway production chose not to do this. I am really excited to see how this show does because it is the first show to open of the season and has been selling out well. With a small cast and low running costs, while still having a IP to build on top of, Paranormal Activity has the potential to be a hit. Now, it becomes a race against time to recoup and earn money before their 20 week run comes to a close.
I really appreciate that this article acknowledged how a stage illusion involves every department involved in the production, and how leaving out just one could be detrimental to the effect. For example, Chris states that a jump scare wouldn’t pack a punch without the sound behind it. I also love that Chris only wants to be a part of a project if he can be there from start to finish. I’ve had a few experiences where I’ve gotten involved in a project part of the way through (not of this scale of course), and it can be difficult to continue someone else’s work. Chris is clearly excited about his creation, and is eager to share it with the world. I think a show with fresh artists working to put together something unique is just what Broadway needs right now, and going to see a spooky show as fall looms closer would perfectly set the mood for Halloween.
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