Miss Saigon - Rotorua

August, 2012

Theatrical lighting is where my lighting design career began. That’s one reason why I still enjoy working on musicals. It’s where I realised that the same principles that apply to the theatre with lighting should apply to the retail space. In other words, the products in the store are the actors, and the role of the lights is to attract customers to those products.

Musicals are one of the biggest challenges someone in my role can face. This project was no different. For those who don’t know, a major part of Miss Saigon involves a helicopter landing.

The challenge here was to make the helicopter and the landing look authentic. I worked together with the sound and set crew to make it look spectacularly realistic. When the helicopter landed and departed, there was a standing ovation by the audience. That’s when we knew we had pulled it off.

Something else I enjoy about musicals is the need to think outside the square, which leads to new skills and new ideas. I then add those to my repertoire in the commercial and residential markets.

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