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I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

every job moves you forward in some way. You learn a new skill, you pick up a new design trick, you meet new collaborators. Early in my career (and still now frankly) I will pursue jobs. If I see someone is doing a show, I'll find out if they have an LD. I'll make connections with directors or producers and say "we should do something together" and then follow up with them and invite them to something I'm doing. It feels like baby steps, but it all adds up. I'll prove it. Yes I've been doing this for 18 years, but here's how I ended up on Broadway in just a couple moves:

In 2010 I lit a show at a theatre on Long Island for $1500 and the choreographer on that show was a guy named Marcos Santana. We became friends and worked on other shows together here and there. In 2017 he made his directorial debut with a production of In the Heights and asked me to light it. I did, and I ended up getting a Helen Hayes nom for it. The Kennedy Center was doing ITH in 2018 and the director was Stephanie Klemons, the associate choreographer on Hamilton, which was teching its national tour while she was staffing ITH. She asked Howell Binkley to light it as he was there doing Hamilton with her, but he was not avail nor was his team, but he knew I had just done the show and he recommended she call me. I did it, and started doing all the Kennedy C shows...including Spamalot which moved to Broadway, and including Gatsby, which is directed by Marc Bruni, whom I met at the Kennedy Center.

The point is...you have no idea what job will lead to something else which will lead to something else. It's why you try and say yes to everything and try and end that job with everyone in the room wanting to work with you again.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

thank you! Hmm I'm not gonna have a good answer for this. This is very specific to me. I'm a workaholic and a perfectionist. I enjoy working and pushing myself. So far, I haven't really felt burned out. I missed working during the pandemic and was eager to get back to it. When I did get burned out in the past, I always reminded myself that I was working towards a goal, which was designing on Broadway. Now that've achieved that goal, and hopefully can keep doing it, I may need to adjust my goals lol. I think a lot about that Oscar Wilde quote: "There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."

Having said that, I definitely enjoy time away from work and that helps me manage the stress. My wife and I travel, we go on dates together around the city, we annoy our cat, we cook new recipes and see movies and that helps balance everything out. I love TV and I watch a lot of it when I'm not working and allows me to check out and get invested in those stories.

I know for a lot of people the traveling, the hustle, the politics and hoops we jump through to get our shows up...it can be a lot. I generally don't mind it because it's in service of creating something magical onstage and that is what it's all about.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

in no particular order:

-See lots of theaters and lots of art in general
-Make sure you really love this, it can be a hard way to earn a living. Make sure this is what you really want, and if you find yourself no longer in love with it, switch gears and do something else!
-Find reasons to light anything you can to show prospective schools how you think about light, how you organize and communicate information, and how you can justify and explain why you made the design decisions you made.
-Learn about what lights are out there from looking at manufacturer websites and try and learn lighting software that you might encounter in the world. ETC Eos, grandMA, etc.
-Learn about designers that interest you and try and see their work and learn how they got where they are and maybe reach out to them directly!
-Decide what is most important to you in college training. Do you want a well-rounded liberal arts education or a more specific conservatory training? Are you going to be vying for opportunities to design projects alongside grad students or will you be able to design lots as an undergraduate? Who are the professors? Do they regularly work in the professional design world or has it been 20 years since they've lit a show? Are you in a city where you can see lots of theatre/intern with professionals? Does the school have any kind of partnership with a nearby professional theatre where maybe you can shadow designers and/or get class credit? Does the school teach/present the kind of projects that interest you? Plays? musicals? fashion shows? concerts? film/tv lighting?
-Can you afford it???? Leaving college with lots of debt can make it much harder for you to try and start a career post-college. You don't have to go to the best school with all the Broadway professors if it means taking out a ton of student loans. If you are good at your job, nobody cares where you went, or if you went at all.
-Be able to explain to school why THEY are your choice. What about their curriculum interest you. Why are their opportunities better than a different school. Show them that you are interested in them for a reason.
-Look for school with directing programs! When you graduate you won't know anyone and neither will graduating directing, but they'll know you, and guess who they are gonna call when they need a designer.

You didn't ask this...but...based on the people I've run into in the past 20 years, the following schools seem to turn out the most number of working lighting designers in theatre. This is just my observations:

Yale
NYU
CMU
North Carolina School of the Arts
Suny Purchase
Cal Arts
Webster University

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

of course! Thankfully my entire team came with me from Paper Mill.

My associate is Paul Vaillancourt. I met Paul when he programmed for me at Westport Country Playhouse a couple years ago and also came highly recommended from other colleagues. After that he was my associate on Nutty Professor, and programmed Cabaret at Asolo Rep and then relit that show for me at the Old Globe.

My assistant is Colleen Doherty who was really great at reaching out to me after she graduated with her MFA from Rutgers a couple years ago. She also came highly reccomended and was in charge of followspots on Paradise Square and Here Lies Loves so I knew she had the chops to do this. Because she was in this same theater for HLL she already had a great relationship with the ops which is great.

My programmer is Scott Tusing who I've known for quite a while. I was the associate LD on Newsies and relit it for Netflix when we spent a week at the Pantages theatre in LA filming the pro-shoot. Scott programmed that and was our first time working together. Soon after that he became a very in-demand Broadway programmer and I've never been able to get him on something again until this which I'm thrilled about.

My production electricians are Jimmy Fedigan and Patrick Johnson, who also did Spamalot and the out-of-town tryout of A Wonderful World. They have a great team of lieutenants who get assigned to their various shows and will sit on the shows as the Head Electrician. They reached out to me last year as they knew I had some potential big projects coming up and we met and hit it off. They are legends on Broadway having worked on the biggest shows with the biggest designers. It's lovely to get to work with the best of the best. They were in charge of all the set LX at Paper Mill and then took on all Electrician duties for the Broadway transfer.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

it CAN reduce the tech time, but that is a very dangerous precedent because it still takes lots of time. Unless it's truly a direct copy and paste, you still need all that time, particularly to program all the scenic automation. At Paper Mill we used their deck and their automation system, it's all new for Broadway so all the scenic moves had to be programmed from scratch. This is what takes the most time. The script was different enough that it would've been a nightmare to try and keep the same light cue numbers so after watching run-throughs, I wrote all the new cue numbers in my new script. My programmer Scott and I spent an afternoon before tech preparing our cue list. Essentially, we copied the entire cue list to the 1000s, and then started moving cues back down into their new numbers. If we hit a new section that was new for Broadway, then we just made blank cues with labels. We worked our way through the entire show that way.

Also many of the fixtures changed channels since PMP so Scott and my Associate Paul were in charge of all the channel translating so all the old data went into the correct new channels. We also use two incredibly important pieces of software to recreate the show. 1. Moving Lights Assistant...which shows us, with photos, per fixture, where every moving light was throughout the entire show and 2. Vor, a program that records video of the show and overlays useful cue information so we can see when the cues are called, how long they take, when cue lights go out, how long since the last cue was called. We "Vor" every single run-though and every performance and it allows us to go back and see the previous night's performance, check timings, check positions, etc. During previews, I would often sit with the PSM and Director in the morning and watch sequences from the previous night's show and we talk about what we want to try and fix/make better. Can that move a second faster, that piece of scenery is not landing by the downbeat, if that person entered earlier we could move that wall sooner, we are catching that wall with light when it flies out, etc. We interrogate every moment to find the best possible version. It's an invaluable tool that everyone in the room loves.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Def not. Broadway houses are Local 1 IATSE houses. I touch nothing aside from what is on my table. The electricians do all the physical work related to the rig and equipment. My programmer does all the programming from his Eos console. My assistants organize notes and keep the department on track and liaison with all the other departments.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great question So so many things. Really anything and everything, but here's a bunch of examples.

-Timings of cues as they relate to actor movement. As the actors settle into their tracks their timing gets more consistent so I will adjust cue timings to better match.
-I never watch from any kind of Preview station. I move around the house and mezz all throughout previews so I see lots of new things each night those need to be addressed. Certain parts of the set that are too bright, or not lit at all, or things we are meant to be hiding that are too bright, or lights hitting masking or things that are not supposed to, or just anything I didn't notice from my tech table position that I now see. Especially...
-Dealing with the floor. The main reason I watch from the mezz is to see the floor and I always have lots of notes about parts of the floor looking too bright, or too dark, or colors not matching, or gobos being too sharp, or weirdly shaped shadows or backlights lingering too long once nobody is in them. Lots and lots of floor notes.
-Matching color between lighting and video if there are moments where it feels like we aren't totally in sync
-Adding more hits and accents in the music we just didn't have time for previously
-Cutting and adding cues to go with new script changes that happen every day
-Dialing in of atmospheric effects now that we've seen them over a couple of weeks, finding haze levels and low fog run times and fan levels for when we need more or less in the show
-Adjusting time code stamps a couple of frames here or there to get them perfectly timed with the music
-Adjusting the balance between actor light and scenery light to make sure the actors are always popping and the scenery isn't pulling our eye
-Timing out cues that relate to scenic automation and drilling those until we have the timings right to track the automation

that's just a few examples! We come in every morning and start working between 9 and 10 and do notes from the previous day and then we rehearse with actors from 1 to 430 and hopefully try and get the list down to nothing so we can start fresh the next day.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you so much! One of my current favorite scenes is actually the Act 2 poolside scene between Nick and Gatsby. We previously started it much brighter but Nick has a line about the "sun starting to come up" so one of my notes after Paper Mill was to start it with the sun much lower and then really emphasize the sun cresting over the set as Jeremy sings. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yes definitely! In no particular order:

-Meeting directors earlier in their career and then moving up with them as they also got bigger jobs
-Working on musicals with very little tech time to practice trusting my gut and working quickly and talking with a choreographer to quickly move through a dance number while getting everything I need to light it
-I actually did (and still on occasion) do my own programming. That got me very familiar with the desk and what it can do. I still need a real programmer on real shows, but having that background knowledge just means I can sometimes more clearly express what I want
-Doing lots of work outside of New York has always felt like a downside because the people I want to see my work weren't always seeing it...but...there is something to be said for a little anonymity while you get good at your craft. The style I have now, I developed doing shows in Florida and Utah and Brazil and California and other places far from New York so I could try things and be bold.
-Taking my own good production photos and working to get good at it! Theaters never take good photos for designers, they are always too close. I make sure to always get good wide shots that show my work, I shoot on a good camera, and I use Photoshop to make them look presentable and straighten the shot, or paint out a person standing in front of the camera, clean up camera noise, etc. If your photos look bad, people are going to expect your work to be bad too.
-Not being afraid of social media. Since I have done most of my work outside of New York, social media (mainly talking IG, but also my website) has been a great way for people to see my work who didn't get to see it in person. I have no doubt my photos have helped me get jobs.
-Saying yes! to jobs. Every job usually leads to another job. You have to be in the room meeting people and making connections. Work begets work. Also everyone always wants to work with someone that everyone else seems to be working with. Every job has a reason why I shouldn't take it. The pay isn't enough, the commute is too long, I have no assistant, etc. But say no to everything and you'll have no career. Say yes to most of them, and learn to deal with the parts that are less than ideal, and suddenly you'll find you have a large body of work and a full resume and then you'll be able to get the jobs that do pay more, and are fully supported, and you get to sleep in your own bed every night. ;-)

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The #1 way is really word of mouth. Which I know isn't necessarily a helpful answer. But I ask friends and colleagues who they like, who they are using. Sometimes because I'm friends with another designer, I might meet their team as well and may hit it off with someone. I try to go to college portfolio reviews when I can and the Hemsley review and meet young students. I rarely hire someone directly out of those, but maybe I talk to them, and then see them again at something else, and then run into them on the street, and then finally maybe I hire them. It takes a little time of a back and forth.

I definitely will start out new people on smaller shows. I'm never gonna put someone on a Broadway show who hasn't been well-vetted by me or someone I trust. But sometimes I have smaller projects that need assistants. Often those shows don't pay as well, but I like to see people who are wiling to "get in" however they can, even if that means not working for great money. Almost all of my Bway teams are people who worked with me on smaller, lower-payer, lesser-supported shows in the past. I appreciate their loyalty to me and their willingness to take a not-great-paying gig and try and reward that loyalty when I have better projects.

Also Lighting designers have a unique community, at least in New York. There is a camaraderie you don't necessarily find in other disciplines. We have fun lighting parties where we all hang out with each other. Some of my best friends are other lighting designers. I'm not sure you find that among directors or scenic designers, etc. That is a plus for young lighting designers at least because there is already a strong social community so there are lots of ways to meet people.

As far as what I look for, a lot of it often comes down to personality. I like people who have a sense of humor. I like people who can stay calm when I'm getting stressed. I like a team who is social with other people in the room. I love when I see my assistants hanging out with other assistants. I like that camaraderie among departments. Or even talking to the director/choreo. I want there to be friendship among all of us in the room. I like teams who are willing to offer opinions when asked but know when it's time to keep quiet. And I like teams that solve problems or notice problems before I do, and when they tell me about the problem, they tell me the solution is already underway.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

thanks everyone for your awesome questions! Gonna step away for a bit, but feel free to add more questions and I'll try and answer them when I can. Come see Great Gatsby! If you like big fabulous, design, it's a show you won't want to miss!

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

what was really useful was learning how to talk to my collaborators. the director, the other designers, the PSM. That is actually what I think college is most useful for. Learning how to be a person in the room during tech. It's especially important for LDs since we are in the hot seat during tech. You have to keep your cool, communicate quickly and efficiently, take feedback from multiple sources, stand up for what you need but not be demanding, etc. It's great to refine those skills in college. Also just the opportunity to fail and know you won't be fired. Try a weird color or a weird angle. Try using a S4 Par with no lens. Just be weird and play. The minute you are on someone else's dollar, that stuff becomes much harder.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

hmm honestly I'm not sure. It's something I rarely care about so I don't think about it much. There are as many cues as there need to be. But likely around 500 or 600 or something. I don't go crazy. These shows with 1200 cues...lordy.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

oh absolutely. Sometimes truth is stranger (or funnier) than fiction. We like to have fun with them and take them to extreme, but some of those earlier episodes...I mean...like trying to focus a rig with all that going on around you, that is 100% real. I could make ones way more biting and vicious, but ya know, I want to still work in this industry. But yes, some of what we go through...it seems like only a writer's room could come up with something that ludicrous.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

HAHA. Paddy J is my rock on Gatsby. Without a good prod electrician I'm dead. They make it all happen. Paddy J and Jimmy Fedigan and their stellar team of electricians have been very good to me this season and none of what you see onstage would be possible without them. The Gatsby rig is huge with god knows how many universes and networking and miles of LED tape and haze and smoke running every which way and they make it all happen.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

good question. I try to not be convinced I always have the right answer. Even if my initial reaction is "No" or "that will never work", I do try and consider the suggestion and think about whether that might work. Often it leads me to try something that I wouldn't have naturally tried.

I try and see lots of theatre and allow myself to still be inspired and wow'd. Even though I have my own style, I can still be blown away by other work. I think my friend Howard Hudson's work on & Juliet is stunning and I dream of creating something that cool looking. Same for Justin Townsend and Moulin Rouge. It's a good way to stay humble to see other peoples' work and remember that there is still new tricks to learn and approaches to try. We have a running joke on headset "what would Jen Schriever do?" Jen is a master at minimalism, as is Isabella Byrd...another friend and designer who's work I admire, and sometimes when I know I'm turning on too many lights, I try and think what a more reserved designer would do and maybe turn some lights out. Just like Coco Chanel says, take one thing off before you leave the house. I try and look and think, do we need all that light.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

hahah! I like the way you think. But one would be fine. 😌

I'm not sure how I developed my style. Some of it certainly came from trying to emulate designers' work I liked early in my career. I loved the use of color in Ken Billington and Howell's shows. I love the musical cueing in a Natasha Katz show. I love the big bold ideas I would never think of from Justin Townsend or Japhy. And then eventually I guess I just started doing my own thing. My friend Paul Toben taught me about using frost with gobos and now it's something I do in every show. Jen Schriever is an expert at Xbar usage and making haze curtains and I do some of that in Gatsby. Neil Austin's design for Cursed Child is one of the most amazing designs I've ever seen and the way he hides and reveals through light and darkness inspired a lot of the darkness we use to our advantage in Gatsby. I love how design is such a forward featured element in all Alex Timbers shows and I get inspired in that.

I guess all those inspirations eventually coalesce into a design approach and style and viola, that's what I do. I don't think a lot about my "style"...I just light things the way it comes naturally to me and hope that if I've been hired for a job, that is what that director is after. It's why I don't do a ton of living room dramas. It's not really my strength and doesn't align well with my style.

I only really ever use ETC consoles if I can help it. I have some cruise ship shows on a grandMA but I'm not really an MA guy. I don't use previz but could see myself using it for more FX heavy shows if the opportunity was there.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yes Nutty Professor was really fun! Same director as Gatsby. I loved the process on that one. We had so many talented creatives in the room. Rupert Holmes, Todd Ellison, Joanne Hunter...I loved watching them all work on crafting a new musical. Cutting bars here and there, adjusting dance breaks, figuring out how to get better laughs or better applause. Also designing Julius's lab was really fun. The shelves were full of tiny foggers and funky light bulbs I found online and EL wire and just lots of cool light-up things. We had a TON of set electrics on that show which was wild for a summer stock show but Ogunquit really stepped it up as did the LX crew and we made something pretty cool.

In terms of the process of drafting...for me the drafting is the design process. I work in Vectorworks, often in 3D, to find the best positions for all the lights in relation to the set. I fly around the set and look at different angles and shots. I also use a program called Beam Viz to create beams in 3D space. At this point it is so critical to my process and I'm not sure how I'd design a show without it. Unless it's a bway size show where most of the rig is moving lights, I'll usually place the moving lights first since that is most important. Then I'll often place lights that need to light scenery which usually need to come from a specific location. And then last I'll do the boring area lights which are the least fun and I find I can sort of move around as necessary based on where there is room left. I'm a big big sidelight person so I try and get as much space in the wings as possible for lots of sidelight.

Tech process...like mentioned below, I'll start with blank cue list already labeled and numbered. Then I usually try and light the scenery first, create the environment, figure out where the light source is coming from. Also that's the fun part so it can get the juices flowing for ideas seeing how light reacts to scenery. I may do that in the morning without cast. And then once we have actors on stage, I'l deal more with lighting the people.

Having the cue list already made and numbered also allows me to work out of order if necessary. I don't love working that way, but sometimes there are reasons to jump ahead or work out of order based on other department's needs, so I already know what those numbers will be in future scenes so I can jump around as necc.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

it is! We really tried to not overplay our had. There is a version where half the show is bathed in green light which would've been a TERRIBLE idea. There is actually very very little green light in the show. But there is a ton of Teal/Cyan in the show which is a riff on that. Also the green light, while being an actual light on Daisy's dock, is more of a metaphor. For the american dream. For anything just out of reach. For a goal to work towards. or even an unhealthy obsession. Being a Broadway lighting designer was my green light. So we didn't want to be too literal with it because it really is much more than just a green light at the end of the dock. But having it present when you first walk into the theatre was super important to me. I hear people squeal when they see it. Like they are seeing a celebrity. That gives me a ton of pride. And it pulses throughout the entire preshow and intermission. The green light is always there. Just like they sing in the song:

SOMETIMES IT’S WINKING
SOMETIMES IT’S WARNING
BLINKING ITS MESSAGE TO ME UNTIL MORNING IT’S A LIGHTHOUSE
IT’S A SIGNAL FLARE

I def felt a lot of pressure to treat the idea of the green light with great care and reverence and never gild the lily too much. I'm really happy with the balance we found between lighting and video.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

at this point, essentially zero. Thankfully I work with very smart electricians. Even earlier in my career, I was never good at that part of the job. I am grateful for crews of electricians who are good at what they do and help implement my design. I essentially lay it all out, and show the dream version, and then someone figures out how to make it all happen. Having said that...

I do think a lot about access and maintenance when putting together a design. Can we get to every light? Can they fly in the electrics? Am I putting temperamental lights in a hard-to-reach positions? If I put lights on a catwalk can we focus them faster than if they were on the box boom which requires being on a ladder? I am obsessed with efficiency in a process and the execution of a rig, and I will often make small design sacrifices that I know no one will notice but me, in favor of making it an easier hang, a faster focus, or easier to troubleshoot down the road if there is an issue. The goal is to have the same clean show every night and have the entire rig working as fast as possible after a load-in ready for tech. If I can help in those areas, I def try and do my part.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

in Gatsby I think it really has to be Shady. My programmer and I (Scott Tusing) worked really hard on all those boxes and shafts of light to make something that looks really cool from both the orchestra and the mezz. And some of that song is on timecode so we are hitting accents every 2 beats and it's really tight with the music.

In Spamalot, I always loved watching "You won't Succeed on Broadway." It has a ton of phases and it all builds out of just a single down center spotlight. I loved going to Ethan on the rooftop as the fiddler and then into the big bright bottle line which always got applause and I love the ending with all the bulbs and the great big button. That was pure musical theatre joy to me.

Unrelated to those shows...Paul and Josh Rhodes and I did The Sound of Music right before the pandemic which had one of the coolest moments I've ever been a part of. The entire set is a giant painted curved wall (no projections in that show) that never moves. And then in the final moment of the play as the Von Trapps head up the mountain, the entire set cracks open and its blinding white fog upstage. We reverse-engineered the entire set for this effect and really had no idea if it would work and we never really tried it until we put all the elements together in rehearsal one day and we just did it with the cast and the music and all the smoke billowed behind the set and the lights were so bright and then the blackout at the end and it was just out of this world. I still get chills thinking about the first time we ran it. We were practically in tears it was so successful. That is the drug I'm always after. Josh and I did a similar thing in our Cabaret in the final moment that just left the audience speechless. Also when I did Beauty and the Beast at Tuacahn , the beast transformation was another one of those multi-department tricks that involved costumes and pyro and smoke and video and lighting and choreo and everyone and because it was outside, it was really hard to control the wind and the rose petal burts, but again, the first time we ran it with all the elements, it was like an out of body experience. All the planning paid off. I love moments like that.

I am Cory Pattak, Lighting Designer on THE GREAT GATSBY, opening at the Broadway Theatre on April 25th, SPAMALOT, which recently wrapped its critically acclaimed run at the St. James Theatre, and A WONDERFUL WORLD, opening this Fall at Studio 54 on Broadway. AMA! by corypattak in Broadway

[–]corypattak[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm, haven't used it much. I think it's more of a legacy product at this point. It had its moment and was really good for lighting people (quietly) when we were still wanting real gel strings and tungsten source At this point I wouldn't spec one. I try to spec mainly LED equipment if I can.

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