We turn to theater for live storytelling—for actors who passionately convey the writer’s tale. Though most of us are unaware of it, someone else helps to shape that story, too: the lighting designer.
Ranked among the best lighting designers in the theater world, Natasha Katz has been a mainstay of touring productions in L.A. for the past several decades, helping to augment the Arabian sunlight of Aladdin, the chalk-dust warmth and concert glam of School of Rock, the stunning state-of-the-art technology and old-world art of An American in Paris, and the sugary pastels of the recent Hello, Dolly! revival, for which she picked up a Tony nomination.
Lighting designers “are trying, first of all, to tell you where to look, taking your eye and putting it to the right place,” explains Katz. Designers also manipulate the audience’s subconscious, she adds, deliberately stoking our feelings while still allowing us to experience a range of responses at each moment.
Raised in New York City, Katz was 12 years old when she first accompanied her parents to a Broadway show. Since then, she says, all she has ever wanted to do is to work in the theater. “It has the potential to change the world, I still believe,” she says.
Though Katz took a lighting class when she attended Oberlin College, she claims she didn’t understand it. “Lighting is so ethereal,” she says. “I think it’s a very difficult concept to grasp for someone who’s 19. It’s difficult to grasp for audience members, too. It’s subtle.”
Unlike other behind-the-scenes roles, Katz’s part of the process is very public, she notes wryly. Actors work out their characters in private; directors spend months analyzing the script. She, however, shows up on tech week—with everyone watching, the clock ticking and the producers paying for every minute—to start writing her cues.
She does, of course, prepare in detail beforehand, a process that sometimes includes international travel (for example, to Morocco for Aladdin). She also works with the set designer, studies the colors and fabrics of the costumes, and plots the types and locations of her lamps, all while staying within the budget.
Such attention to detail might make you question whether Katz can still enjoy a night out at the theater without dwelling on her work. “I look with more of an educated eye at what the lighting designer is trying to do, but I try to immerse myself in the play,” she says. “Then I might poke around a bit and see what the lighting designer is up to.” Next time you’re at a show, wondering why you’re suddenly smiling or weeping, perhaps you too will look to the lighting designer.
You can see Natasha Katz’s lighting during Hello, Dolly! (Jan 29–Feb 17) and Cats (Feb 26–Mar 24) at the Pantages Theatre.