About
Prior to working at Valencia, I was a Freelance Stage Master Electrician and Lighting Designer in Greater Central Florida area including, Tampa and Daytona Beach; also, Manhattan & Brooklyn, New York, Portland, Oregon, Seattle and Bainbridge Island, Washington to name a few. I have been in Live Show Production & Theatre Since 1994. I began as an actress and technician in high school and quickly fell in love with the electrical lighting part of theatre. My very first lighting position was as a spot light operator for school plays and I became so good at it, I was being scheduled and paid for touring Broadway productions that visited the Flagler Auditorium 1994-1996 ( http://www.flaglerauditorium.org/ ) as a spotlight operator.
I also took T.V production classes and enjoyed working on lighting for the screen/camera. So upon graduation from High School I tried to find a school that offered both program degrees. I found Valencia. I graduated from Valencia in 1998 with a A.S in Theatre and Entertainment Technology degree, and had also worked on several film production projects as well, especially in special effects makeup and production assistants. I worked at Universal Studios at the Nickelodeon Game Lab, Horror Makeup Show and Special Events, the best part, I got gun training, because my stage had a fixed prop gun. I moved to back to N.Y to pursue a degree in Lighting Design. However, when I got to Pace University the program changed, I decided to transfer to Fordham University Lincoln Center, and got my undergraduate degree in Theatre Production & Visual Arts. While in school at Fordham, I worked as a Freelance Tech at the Marionette Swedish Cottage Theater (puppet lighting) small scale and adorable which is connected to the Recreation Parks Foundation for N.Y.C.
I also did lighting design and stage management gigs on the side. My favorite was lighting Galleria del Angeli by William Kernen and my inspiration was to make the performance resemble a Caravaggio painting, which I was studying at the time in Art History. The best review I heard an audience member say on the way out of the theatre is how it reminded her of a Caravaggio painting; nailed it! I had an opportunity to work on a new production at the time as an electrician, but it was an opportunity missed, it was called Avenue Q. Hahaha, yes, I missed out. After graduation I moved back to Florida because N.Y was too expensive, I had a house to get back to and the rat race wasn't for me. I was tempted to stay and take up an offer to work as the Artistic Director for the New School, but I felt it was not what I truly wanted to pursue out of school. I moved back August 29, 2001. Then Sept 11th happened, I was heart broken for the city and our country. The doors to entertainment shut down first. As work was slow,
I taught myself how to build websites from scratch and studied html/php, but once work picked back up, I continued my journey freelancing all over Florida State. One of the first places I returned to was Valencia to see if I could design a show. My first show was Annie Get Your Gun, 2001 on the main stage. I have been designing here, many other stages ever since. It wasn't until Fall 2007, after leaving Disney, did I begin teaching at Valencia. I taught Lighting the Disney Way, a course developed just for me to teach managers and others who ran the park to learn more about lighting, safety and troubleshooting. The rest I will fill you in, let you know what I have learned and share it with you in class. Feel free to ask me anything on Lighting Design, it is my first love in the field.
I also took T.V production classes and enjoyed working on lighting for the screen/camera. So upon graduation from High School I tried to find a school that offered both program degrees. I found Valencia. I graduated from Valencia in 1998 with a A.S in Theatre and Entertainment Technology degree, and had also worked on several film production projects as well, especially in special effects makeup and production assistants. I worked at Universal Studios at the Nickelodeon Game Lab, Horror Makeup Show and Special Events, the best part, I got gun training, because my stage had a fixed prop gun. I moved to back to N.Y to pursue a degree in Lighting Design. However, when I got to Pace University the program changed, I decided to transfer to Fordham University Lincoln Center, and got my undergraduate degree in Theatre Production & Visual Arts. While in school at Fordham, I worked as a Freelance Tech at the Marionette Swedish Cottage Theater (puppet lighting) small scale and adorable which is connected to the Recreation Parks Foundation for N.Y.C.
I also did lighting design and stage management gigs on the side. My favorite was lighting Galleria del Angeli by William Kernen and my inspiration was to make the performance resemble a Caravaggio painting, which I was studying at the time in Art History. The best review I heard an audience member say on the way out of the theatre is how it reminded her of a Caravaggio painting; nailed it! I had an opportunity to work on a new production at the time as an electrician, but it was an opportunity missed, it was called Avenue Q. Hahaha, yes, I missed out. After graduation I moved back to Florida because N.Y was too expensive, I had a house to get back to and the rat race wasn't for me. I was tempted to stay and take up an offer to work as the Artistic Director for the New School, but I felt it was not what I truly wanted to pursue out of school. I moved back August 29, 2001. Then Sept 11th happened, I was heart broken for the city and our country. The doors to entertainment shut down first. As work was slow,
I taught myself how to build websites from scratch and studied html/php, but once work picked back up, I continued my journey freelancing all over Florida State. One of the first places I returned to was Valencia to see if I could design a show. My first show was Annie Get Your Gun, 2001 on the main stage. I have been designing here, many other stages ever since. It wasn't until Fall 2007, after leaving Disney, did I begin teaching at Valencia. I taught Lighting the Disney Way, a course developed just for me to teach managers and others who ran the park to learn more about lighting, safety and troubleshooting. The rest I will fill you in, let you know what I have learned and share it with you in class. Feel free to ask me anything on Lighting Design, it is my first love in the field.