LITEPANELS' APOLLO BRIDGE DEMO

Cinematographers, Gaffers and Pop Up Theater friends! The new Apollo Bridge from Litepanels is quite awesome and will and your life easy! I am not being paid to say these things!.

Over this last year I have been working on the lighting rig design for Little Giant Ladder’s Broadcast Studios, I utilized Litepanels gear left & right (More on this later). Recently The peeps there sent me their new wireless DMX bridge system to test out, and boy does it make things simple. This guys will bridge your 2.4 or 5GHz networks with your wireless DMX as well as link to your Gemini units directly. AND this will connect to your lumen radio to control your existing networks!

All of this is controlled through the free Lighticians App. The easy to use interface kept me from running from unit to unit to dial in. Instead I could sit behind the monitor and control each individual light. There are couple things I wanted from the app, like a cue stack system and a couple other nuances but I have been told these are in the pipeline! I found Lightician made patching a breeze. And saving my custom color swatches made unifying the custom color in each of my lights throughout all of my systems, and quick. And of course being able to bounce between HSI and Color temp right in the unit control page is amazing for switching any given unit between Key light and my creative fill!

Between the Lightician App & the Apollo Bridge I can see a ton of applications. Of course the original purpose: film sets! In the broadcast studios we had an existing network, so we plugged it in and attached it to our lumen radios and hooked up a few additional lights. On location this gear is a game changer, making it easier and quicker to control your lights AS you shoot. AND if you know me, you know I do A LOT of live theater and events. This is a perfect application if you don’t have the traditional infrastructure for a full light rig (looking at you storefront and pop up pandemic theater groups).

Check out the Apollo bridge on the LITEPANELS site below: let me know your thoughts!

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Les Mis- Elegant, Moving, Nuanced, Eye-popping.

Img (31 of 69).jpg — Les Mis

“A Stained Glass Spectacle.”

All eyes are on this production of Les Misérables, as it’s the only one currently playing in the world. Hale Center Theater’s Les Mis has been one of my favorite works to be involved with. The creative team is of another caliber, and the reviews agree!

We opend the show a little over a week ago now, and the reviews have begun to come in. One reviewer recognized the work that the Set Designer Kacey Udy and myself put in to collaborate on how to utilize both lights and the set to tell the story. Remember that Tinder Box from Tale of Two Cities? Well it made a comeback in this production, as well as all the inlaid plexiglass windows. Rather than the lighting of the tinderbox and scenic elements following the arch of one character, this time around I expanded the use of lighting in each piece to reflect setting and immediate action. The design heightened the emotion of the moment and interpreted the story through color as it was played out on stage. Here’s what the BWW reviewer had to say:

The lighting by Jaron Hermansen is elegant, moving, nuanced, eye-popping, and any number of other adjectives anyone could come up with to attempt to describe something so stunning, pleasurable, and meaningful. The stage is constantly awash in color and light that generates the feeling of a large and intricate stained glass window, befitting the epic size and spiritual overtones of the story.
From exquisite floating candles to a heart-stopping suicide to an awe-inspiring starry sky, this is quite possibly one of the most spectacular productions of LES MISERABLES ever staged.
-BWW

What a generous review. Thank you for the kind words and attention to the detailed thought we put into creating our world of Les Misérables. Of course my element of design was not the only thing reviewed, you can access the full Broadway World Review from the link below. I can’t wait for you all to see what we are cooking up next!

BWW Review

Photo by Gage Peterson

The Tinder Box

The Tinderbox from A Tale of Two Cities is a character in and of itself. Set designer Kacey Udy came to me with his vision of a Slated Ramp that we could light from the inside. We immediately began collaborating on how we could make this work. I took this idea and developed it into a character for the story. Using the element of color & effects The Ramp became known as the Tinder box, as it appears to be burning from the inside from time to time, It follows the over arching journey of the story’s protagonist. It takes 28 Chauvet Baton Quads equalling 336 individually controlled pixels and just under 3 DMX universes to make this scenic element shine.

Scenic design by Kacey Udy, Lighting Design by Jaron Kent Hermansen, Production Electrician work by Danna Barney & Michael Gray. Photo by Gage Peterson

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MDQ at HCT

“Jaron Hermansen's exciting lighting design nearly single-handedly does the job of filling the space, as each musical number elevates the purposefully drab record studio to a fantasy concert sequence.”
-BWW

This show was originally set to play in the @halecentretheatre proscenium space. This last spring, we had the show ready to go for its May open date. The set was drafted and ready for construction. The light plot completed and I was on to the cueing process. Then COVID-19 swept the nation and everything was put on hold. We received some good news though, this show, even though postponed, would still open. However, the show would open in the Center Stage Space at The Hale. This meant we would be in the round and that it was time to go back to the drawing boards.

In the re-design Set Designer @jenntaylor8 and I decided to have fully exposed lights on our beautiful new lighting truss. We needed some efficient and effective units to rock out with. Naturally I went with @chauvet_pro. Utilizing the SlimPar Pro H on our outer ring to give that “flash and trash” feel of a we all love to see in a rock concert. This also gave me some dynamic color range, and responsive effects. Doing this show in the round also meant we needed to have 360 degrees of awesome, so I loaded the inner truss with Batten Quads for effects and audience blinders. Then topped it off with R1 fx-B’s to get some individual pixel and pan/tilt control. Combining this with the plexiglass floors under lit by Batten Quads and Rogue Spots tucked away in the corners, we had one fantastical rock concert! When that truss starts moving, and the lights start spinning there is no way you can keep yourself from dancing.

Read the Full Broadway World Review

U.S. Premiere of Baz Lurman's Strictly Ballroom!

Last week I opened the U.S. Premiere of Strictly Ballroom at Hale Center Theater in Salt Lake UT! Previouslyt eh production Played in Austria, and then on the West End in London. There it was Produced by the same company, Global Creatures, that produced Moulin Rouge and King Kong on broadway. Here in the U.S. the Hale Center Theater caught wind of such a great production and decided they would like to produce the premiere. Working directly with Baz and the foundation we put on a spectacle!

What a great venue to work at! The production team was astounding, very collaborative, and visionary! You can find out what Broadway World thought of the show below, but as far as what they thought of the lighting, well here it is:

“The incredible lighting design by Jaron Hermansen elevates the experience to an even higher level. The use of intensely saturated colors along with artistic timing, a strong sense of story, and pure entertainment value is Broadway caliber.”
-BroadwayWorld

Thanks Broadway World! Such kind words and review! To all of you be sure to check out the full review! The full production deserves all the praises! If you find yourself in Utah be sure to get tickets! it plays till April 11th!

See you at the theater!

Full Review

The Importance of Being Earnest at The Cape Playhouse

The Importance of Being Earnest

Light Design By Jaron Kent

Kicking off the 93d season at The Cape Playhouse is the cunning comedy The Importance of Being Earnest. This show is nothing but wit, and under the direction of Matt Lenz these actors deliver. Working with Scenic Designer Rob Ordoisio was a delight. Creating a world with three very different locations using the same elements by flying a beautiful ceiling in and out and using it as gorgeous wall for the an outdoor patio made this show charming and extravagant.

Creating an elegant London Flat, a charming countryside patio, and a crisp study proved to be a fantastic and very rewarding. I am pleased to have joined The Playhouse for a lot charm and many laughs.

People Are Eating Up The Cake!

You need a slice of this!

“[Jaron Kent] Hermansen gives both the here and the now with a bit of fantasy.”

Audiences and Reviewers alike are loving The Cake at Salt Lake Acting Company! This show is full of laughs, heart ache and amazing messages. The best part about this show is what it stands for. I love that this slice of life tells both sides of what can be a very dividing subject. Though politics are mentioned this show is about the personal struggle we all face of can we support something we do not believe in? Check out what people are saying about this tear jerking, gut busting story. I have loved this designing this show, and I know you will love seeing it!

Front Row Reviewers

Utah Theatre Bloggers

There is still time for you to get a sweet slice of this beautiful show!

SLAC's Website

credit dav.d photography

The Cake at SLAC

Hey There! 2018 was great year for me, I designed all over and all different genres. This year I want to keep you more informed on where you can check out my works. My first show this year is a lighting design of The Cake at Salt Lake Acting Company.

What is The Cake?

“Della is the best baker in her politically red town, but now she’s faced with a decision that pits her faith against family. Will she bake a wedding cake for two women – one of whom is as close as a daughter? The culture wars have never been so delicious.
CONTENT ADVISORY: This play contains adult themes.”

This play deals with themes that hit very close to home for me, so I am quite excited to be working on it, I hope to see you all there!

Playwright Bekah Brunstetter

Director Justin Ivie

Play Dates February 6 - March 10, 2019

Show Type Utah Premiere

Cast Latoya Cameron, Joe Crnich, Carianne H. Jones, Betsy West

Other Notes "The Cake" is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

Tickets Buy Tickets

Source: https://www.saltlakeactingcompany.org/this-season/item/1395-the-cake#description

The Bridge

Utah Presents and SALT Contemporary Dance brings us ‘The Bridge’! This production is based on the story of An Occurrence of Owl Creek Bridge and is scored by The Fictionist’s Stuart Maxfield. This tells the story of Payton, a man who defies the army during the civil war and has to pay for his actions.

This is actually the second time I have design this show, though it is very different from the first. This time is through and through a dance show. In 2016 The production was put on and was closer to a rock opera, including elements of movement, projections and a full orchestrations. NYC based choreographer Brendan Duggan has made this production a moving, and emotional story that will captivate you leave you to interpret at your own will.

Accenting what Brendan has done I created many environments, from calm and compelling to dangerous, angular and sharp to tell Payton’s story in a very abstract way.