Charles Dickens' classic tale reminds us about the Christmas spirit as Ebenezer Scrooge learns to open his heart to family and forgiveness. 

This was my first large design on a stage. Scrooge's journey to his past and future were full of vivid color, while his present life stayed lit in a cold and dark world. As Scrooge evolved towards the end of the play, the atmosphere shifted to a warmer, more inviting one. 

This was the second production of the original work written by Austin Savage. The Fall of Wallace Winter is the story of a man who truly believes he is living The American Dream with his picture perfect family. Within a few musical numbers in this play however, life has thrown a few curveballs at him,  as his past comes to haunt him, and the man who had it all is left with a memory of what was. 

The lighting helped by establishing a quintessential, bright and warm feeling for the family that existed at the beginning of the story. During songs and strange events that take place, the lighting embraced a whiter range of colors. As the story evolved, warmth and intensity were slowly stripped which heightened the level of loss Mr. Wallace Winter felt in the end.  

West Side Story - This modern take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet transports the audience to New York City as two young lovers find are caught between opposing gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. This couple struggles to keep their love amongst violence and prejudice. 

As my first musical, I tried to use color as the main statement depending on which gang was taking over the stage. During moments when the two met and tension was present, I shifted to more neutral colored looks and created harsher environments. 

NANA - This Brown Bag Theatre Company production is an original work inspired by the interviews from Latinx students at UC Irvine including undocumented, and first generation students on the campus. The play focuses on the lives of two kids and their families who live a more cautious life as undocumented immigrants. We bear witness to their fear of being deported if caught by the wrong people. 

The lighting helped push the story by having an overall warmer, comforting feeling to embrace the fact that although they are "illegal immigrants," they are still together as a family. As the story evolves and an unfortunate situation occurs, that warmth is stripped and replaced with cool colors that give a haunting feeling. 

Chang and Eng - Written by Philip Kan Gotanda, this play highlights the conjoined twins, Chang and Eng Bunker and the lives they lived. Before they became entertainers, they were judged and exploited based on their physical obstacle. This production embraced the theatricality of their endeavor.
The lighting helped create a world of cold labor for the backstage dressing room areas that were visible on either side of the main playing space where the lights had a range of colors to help tell the story of the Bunker twins. 

Plumas Negras - Written by Juliette Carrillo, this story is based on interviews from people in East Salinas, California and their experiences in life. In this play, the audience goes on a journey with three generations of women as they strive to rise above their struggles and make a better life for their family. 

This show had elements where boundaries of magical realism were able to be crossed into. Lighting was responsible for supporting moments in different time periods, along with incorporating an ancestral world that the woman in this family encountered each other. 

All’s Well That Ends Well shows an orphan, Helena, in love with Bertram. Helena helps heal the King of France and in return he rewards her with permission to marry whomever she wants.  Helena sets her heart on Bertram, but he is not interested. Shakespeare tells a story where forgiveness and grace evolve after Helena does the impossible to win his love. 

With this show, I challenged myself to use a tight, tinty, color palette. Shifting brush strokes to create harsher and softer looks helped to highlight Bertram's stubborn mentality and Helena's heartfelt state. The use of textures helped push the secretive moments seen in the play. 

In Legally Blonde, we see  the journey of Elle Woods as she moves from her comfortable California lifestyle to follow the love of her life to Harvard Law School. After overcoming a series of obstacles and gaining the approval of her peers and mentors, she wins the big case and proves everyone wrong. However this is quickly ruined when her professor makes an advance toward her. She rejects him and with the support of her friends, Elle becomes a successful attorney and a great example of a strong woman. 

The lighting for this show provided stark contrasts from Elle's colorful sorority life to the bland sternness in the halls of Harvard. In locations such as the salon and in her dorm room, I used light shades of pink and other warm colors to make it feel inviting and joyful since they are Elle's safe spaces. With Harvard however, I brought in paler colors in harsher brush strokes to make it uncomfortable. Towards the end of the musical when Elle finds her place the world, the lighting became bright and vivid since she pushed through a tough situation and became the best version of herself.