About Emily Stanton
Emily Stanton is an undergraduate student and The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she is studying to receive a BFA in Lighting. Her greatest accomplishments include winning Broadway Worlds Best Lighting Design for a Musical in Charlotte for her work on Legally Blonde, receiving the Gordon Hay Scholarship for her work in technical theatre, and being nominated for MTA's best lighting Design of a Play for her work on Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors.
By the time she was a Senior at North Lincoln High School, she had established herself as a talented lighting designer both at the High School and in the local community. What separated Emily from other High School Lighting Designers is that she had truly built the program from the ground up, and was the first (and only) student lighting designer/programmer/technician in the history of the school. In the 20 years of North Lincoln High School's existence, it has established itself as one of the best Arts schools for performance with numerous awards in both Drama and Music. The one area that was lacking, however, was theatrical lighting production and design. North Lincoln High School has not had a theatrical production (lighting and sound) program. Although the drama department has been staging award winning productions, the lighting had been reduced to a simple “all lights on/all lights off” type of design.
Over the years, the lighting system had fallen into disrepair and the school was left with just over a dozen working lighting fixtures, no inventory of cable or accessories, and numerous dimming channels that were out of service. For a stage that is considered quite large (boasting a nearly 60’ Proscenium), there simply were not enough fixtures to even begin to light the stage.
Emily decided to make the restoration of the lighting systems her goal. She sought the help of local technicians that agreed to volunteer at the High School to repair the system. She contacted theaters, churches, and parent donors and has worked to acquire additional lighting equipment for the school. Receiving donations of pallets of used and broken lighting fixtures from other venues, Emily learned how to disassemble and repair many types of conventional lighting fixtures, assembling an inventory of well maintained instruments that any designer would be proud to use. The current inventory that Emily has been able to acquire consists of more than 60 ETC Source Four Pars, 48 ETC Source Four Ellipsoidals, 16 6” and 8” fresnels, a large collection of lenses and accessories, and over 100 pieces of cable. Once this was finished, she started working on modernizing the system, and has installed the first LED lighting at the school.
Along with working at North Lincoln High School, Emily is the Lighting Designer at The Green Room Community Theater, where she has designed shows such Legally Blonde and Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, both of which she has been recognized locally for excellence in Lighting Design. Along with The Green Room, she has been employed at a wide array of Theatres including Theatre Charlotte (The Play That Goes Wrong, Catch Me if You Can), Belk Theatre (The Blumey Awards), Booth Playhouse (Charlotte Squawks), and many more. She has gained a lot of real world experience and loves working with the other designer!
She is now continuing her lighting career at The University of North Carolina School of The Arts and cannot wait to learn so much more about her craft.
Skills
Experience
Student Lighting Designer - North Lincoln High School
2022-2024
- First student lighting designer in school history, building a technical theatre lighting program.
- Served as Lighting Designer, Programmer, and Master Electrician for 6 full stage performances and numerous smaller events.
- Recognized for outstanding achievements
Lighting Intern - Blumey Awards, Belk Theatre
2023-2024
- Selected as lighting intern/assistant for 2 years.
- Worked with designer and crew for the entire production process.
- Called lighting cues during the performance.
- Individually recognized multiple times for hard work and advanced skill.
Lighting Designer - The Green Room Theatre
2024
- Lighting Designer for community theatre productions
- Trained Light Board Operator
- Served as Master Electrician to trouble shoot and fix issues
Education
2022-2025
High School, with Honors
- GPA of 4.586 and ranked in the top 25 of her graduating class
- Member of Beta Club and Honor Society.
- Completed 8 AP courses.
2024
ETC EOS Programming Course
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Completed Levels 1,2, and 3 of ETC Eos Programming class with Electronic Theatre Controls in Orlando Florida.
Level 1 - Essentials
Level 2 - Enhanced
Level 3 - Intermediate
