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!
Photo by Gage Peterson