Avenue Q
Avenue Q is a musical that touches on themes such as racism and finding one's purpose. This production was a little different in that it ran for four weeks of the adult version, then a cast of high schoolers performed the school edition version with the same blocking and choreography for one week. I was able to play around with lots of colors because of the style of this show. Above is a moment from the song "If You Were Gay."
One specific theme I knew that I wanted to convey from the start was using a star pattern to represent purpose.
Production Team
Director - Alex Attardo
Music Director - Peter Bosgraaf
Stage Manager - Michala Taggart
Stage Manager (School Edition) - Katelyn Klieve
Choreographer - Jonathan Lamb
Scenic Designer - Nate Mohlman
Props Designer - Bonnie Jo Bratina
Costume Designer - Theresa Smerud
Lighting Designer - Brodyn Byington
Sound Designer - Luke Erickson
Technical Director - Nate Mohlman
The production came with a pre-built projections list, so I had to make sure when focusing my lights to allow as little bleed as possible onto the projection scree. In addition to using part of the cyclorama, I also used cyc lights to back light the windows, which were lightly painted to be frosted. This allowed me much freedom in building my cues, rather than just having plain white windows.
One of the scenes takes place in a club, so I chose to use an amber top wash, while keeping the set cooler.
The main character, Princeton, has a nightmare regarding marriage; I did not use any front light for this sequence. Rather, I built an effect that oscillated between highly contrasting, bright colors using LED top lights. The bride, Christmas Eve, had lights embedded into her dress to add to the veil of mystery.
Photos courtesy of Theresa M Smerud and Seth Kieser