When most people watch a theater or choir production, there is normally a lot of focus on the performers on stage. However, there is one aspect of the show that often gets appreciated but overlooked at the same time, and that’s the lights.
Casper Sumner is a senior at BHS and runs most of the lights alongside seniors Conor Dueweke and McKenzie Moore. With having been involved in lighting for 11 productions, he is the main lighting designer at BHS. It all started in his freshman year when he was put in a group that was learning to make lights for the theater production “Guys and Dolls”.
“[I] met Jessica Lay, who was the lighting designer at the time and became just absolutely obsessed with lights,” Sumner said.
Many things go into making light designs. An over-simplified version of the process consists of making a light plot, hanging power and data cables, patching data to consoles, making a magic map and designing and programing the lights.
Although there is a lot of work and time spent on each of these designs, the product really helps the production and adds to the magic of it.
“I like to use my talent to elevate the talent of others,” Sumner said.
Like with everything a person does, there are times when doing lighting can be extremely difficult. Whether it be working on a time crunch or fixing a mistake during a live production, there are many things that Sumner does to try to make the lights run smoothly.
“Let’s say an actor skips two pages on accident in the script,” said Sumner. “I have to physically jump light cues and find the correct time to do so it’s not distracting to the audience and not make it an obvious mistake.”
Despite all the challenging times, Sumner has decided to pursue lighting design as a career path.
“My goal is to hopefully operate for some touring bands or individuals on concert lighting (…), then start designing for concerts on my own,” Sumner said.
As someone graduating this year, Sumner is ready to leave and move into this field of work professionally, but his time spent here was memorable, and he hopes to leave a bit behind.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, what you identify as, where you come from, you can do the normal high school people things and make the most out of everything,” said Sumner. “And I want people to realize that people do care about you and respect you.”
