In 2024, North Lincoln High School celebrated it’s 20th anniversary.  In celebration, the drama department staged a cabaret performance with 20 songs, one from each of the main productions that have been staged in the past 20 years.  Although different from a traditional musical, the Cabaret proved to be just as difficult to design and program, but probably the best show that I have designed. There was no set and no elaborate costumes.  Each scene was actors on the stage wearing a colorful shirt and black pants.  I was tasked to create the scene for each performance with lighting.

When designing I had to research 20 shows and 20 scenes with 20 different themes behind them. Cabaret was my first time using LEDs (2 ETC Lustr D-40s) and movers (2) which opened a lot of doors for designing along with allowing me to learn how to program LED fixtures and moving fixtures. Along with these four LED fixtures, the plot consisted of more than 120 ETC SourceFour Pars, Ellipsoidals, and Fresnels.

The biggest challenge that I faced during Cabaret was the number of different shows that were selected, along with the size of the cast and the lack of set. With an almost entirely conventional rig, I had to try to convey the theme, tone, atmosphere, and environment of each scene. The Cabaret had a cast of over 60 people, and at some points in the show, they were all on stage, requiring the director to use every inch of the 60-foot by 30-foot stage.  I learned to utilize every fixture to its fullest to make sure that everyone could be seen and the theme of each song was conveyed.  

The scenes that I am proudest of from Cabaret are “Rock Island” from Music Man and “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof. In Rock Island, I created a straight horizontal line downstage to mimic a train. I used the two movers to backlight whoever was speaking, giving a snappy and quick feel to the scene that reflected the themes that the actors portrayed. In Tradition, I highlighted the main character downstage center at the beginning of the song in an orange color, making him seem warm. When the cast began to walk out in their straight line, I switched to only top light, highlighting just their forms, making the actors all the same and putting focus on the whole group, rather than the individual. This was to symbolize their community and how they are one, which is a theme throughout the entire musical of Fiddler on the Roof.

Musicals selected from included:

Beauty and the Beast

Music Man

Fiddler on the Roof

Grease

Little Mermaid

Into The Woods

The Wizard of Oz

The Sound of Music

Guys and Dolls

Bye Bye Birdie

Annie

Oklahoma!

9-to-5

Once Upon A Mattress

Anastasia

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee