Patrick Dierson is gravitating more to production design these days, he told PLSN. Most recently, he was production designer for DirecTV’s Super Bowl Fan Festival Jan. 28-30 in the Phoenix area. “I continue to handle discipline specific duties in lighting and visuals on certain projects as well, but production design seems to be what most productions are turning to me for,” he said.
As we pull the plug on 2014 and flip the switch for 2015, Designer Watch checked in with designers, directors and programmers to inquire about their state of mind. We asked: What are you grateful for? What are your goals or resolutions? What are your hopes and wishes for the New Year?
X Japan, billed as “the most successful rock band in the history of Japan,” performed a one-off at Madison Square Garden in New York City. LD Peter Morse designed the set and the lighting for the Oct. 11 show, working with production manager Phay MacMahon. “I designed a smaller show for their warm-up concerts in Yokohama, which took place one week prior to the show at the Garden,” said Morse. “The MSG show was shot for DVD, and consisted of 600-plus fixtures, ably programmed via ESP previz by Troy Eckerman and Craig Caserta. We only had one actual day — show day — with the entire rig! So previz was an absolute necessity.”
LD Patrick Woodroffe is helping bring new life to the 1970’s classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice production revives to perform on its arena spectacular tour in more than 50 cities in North America, rolling out June 9 in New Orleans and closing August 17 in Philadelphia. The show is a two-hour live rock concert with a cast of 50 actors and musicians dramatizing the last seven days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, but with contemporary costumes and arena-scale lighting and video effects. Dave Hill programmed the show. Operating it on the road is lighting director Luke Radin. The tour has already performed in other parts of the world, including the U.K. and Australia, but with some different performers in some of the lead roles.