Beauty and the Beast - Lighting Designer
- Alyssa Bryan
- Oct 24, 2022
- 4 min read
As a kid and teenager, reading was one of my favorite things to do. So it's not a surprise when I say "Beauty and the Beast" was one of my favorite Disney movies. I was so excited when I heard that my middle school was doing it! Every year, I go back and help in whatever way I can with their end of the year musical. This show was originally planned for the spring of 2020, but due to Covid it got pushed back and cancelled. Luckily, they decided to push forward with the show once they were able to.
Mrs. Feldmann, the middle school drama teacher and director, reached out to me saying they were going to need help with lighting this year. Now, I've run a spotlight before and I've hit go on a light board, so I thought to myself -- "I can figure it out..." Luckily enough, the lighting board was very simple. I was able to figure out which slides went to the individual lights and was then able to program the second row of slides for different presets.
We were working with amber lights that were able to light the whole stage (left, right, and center). We could go green, red, or blue, and mix as needed. I ended up with a preset for a golden day light, transitions, red heavy, blue heavy, and a green heavy setting.
The golden/amber setting were used for most scenes in the town. It would also be used for scenes in the castle that took place in Belle’s room. This was to show Belle’s warm spirit and usually happier attitude.
Beast upset with Belle for not coming to dinner.
The cool leaning (blue tinted) lights were used for the castle scenes to help establish the cool and unwelcoming feeling of the Beast, without him being present all the time.
Lumiere trying to make Babette jealous.
In a similar way we associated red with Gaston. His bold and obnoxious personality, as well as the red of his costume, definitely leaned into the abrasiveness of the red lighting.
Gaston with Lefou.
Gaston and the Silly Girls.
For Belle's father, we wanted to lean into his quirky and odd side and went with green. In any of the moments he was onstage, there was a green twinge to the lighting. If he were alone, the green was a lot stronger.
(Quick side note - but take a look at Maurice's Machine! My mom actually designed and built the machine with a working hatchet that moved up and down. I will add that I did paint the box!)
But you can see how strong the green is here while Maurice is alone before he heads into the forest. When his machine backfires in the earlier scene, the light wash of green jumps up to a very high intensity and then back down. When he is sitting with Belle or brought in my the townspeople to Gaston, there is a lighter wash.
The boldness of the red for Gaston and blue for Beast is similar to Maurice. In general their intensity is based on the situation of how important or drastic the scene is.
Gaston plotting to get Maurice thrown in prison, hoping for Belle to return.
Beast at the very end of Act I, singing "If I Can't Love Her" - mourning the loss of his potential freedom and the harm he caused Belle.
During the chase scenes in the forest as well as in the dungeon, we leaned into the darkness with hints of red and the utilization of the blacklight.
Maurice entering the forest.
Belle finding Maurice in the dungeon.
Something that was super fun to play with was Gaston stepping into the Beast's territory. I wanted to utilize their individual colors blending together, so we went for a purple. The purple was a pretty even mix up until the big fight scene where the tension builds and the upper hand is taken.
Cogsworth scaring a villager.
Gaston about to stab Beast.
The purple slowly shifted to red as Gaston made his way down the stairs and stabbed Beast. Moments later he does fall through a window...
As Beast dies and the transformation later takes place, there is a very deep red light that overtakes the stage. It was subtly underlit by the blacklight. We also used a blue strobe from the spotlights to create a little more chaos and hint at a purple. This also helped to light up the Enchantress a little bit more.
Getting to work on this show with a relatively new medium, was an incredible experience. I absolutely cannot wait to do it again. Getting to work with kids who have such a passion for theatre truly warmed my heart and reignited my love for theatre. Everyone was so dedicated to working to make the show the best that they could. It was beautiful being apart of this process. Catch me back at CCA in March for The Little Mermaid Jr. - I am absolutely ecstatic about it.
Belle in the West Wing reaching for the rose, Beast lurking in the background.
All photos are courtesy of Jessica Lysse Photography. Thank you so much for allowing me to use these!
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