The Producers (In The Park)
American Stage American Stage in the Park St. Petersburg, FL
Lighting design for the 2018 production of The Producers (In The Park) at American Stage, directed by Rye Mullis.
About the Lighting Design
On the design side, the rig was a hybrid LED and incandescent package with a handful of moving lights mixed in. The Park’s tech evolution was mid-arc by this point. Past the trash-bagged scrollers of the early years, not yet at the all-LED-and-movers rig that came with Mamma Mia! the next season. The Producers’ palette took advantage of what was available: color-changing on the LEDs for the big number moments, conventional throws filling in the rest. The show is fundamentally a satire about putting on a show, so the lighting got to lean into the in-show artifice without ever taking itself too seriously.
The Producers In The Park is best remembered as the show that started a multi-year working relationship between American Stage and 4Wall. 4Wall had just opened their first Florida office, and The Producers was one of the first shows that office supported. I helped broker the partnership, and the relationship lasted many years beyond my tenure.
- Music and Lyrics
- Mel Brooks
- Based on the MGM film by
- Mel Brooks
- Orchestrations
- Doug Besterman
- Director
- Rye Mullis
- Choreographer
- Shain Stroff
- Music Director
- Jeremy D. Silverman
- Scenic Designer
- Jerid Fox
- Costume Designer
- Jill Castle
- Wig Designer
- Scott Daniel
- Lighting Designer
- Mike Wood
- Sound Designer
- Steve Kraack
- Associate Lighting Designer
- Abby May
- Assistant Lighting Designer
- Anthony LeFebvre
- Programmer
- Ryan Finzelber
- Technical Director
- Timon Brown
- Production Electrician
- Chris Baldwin
- Lighting Shop
- 4Wall (Rep: Phil Foleen )
- Intern
- Ben Phillips
About the Show
A scheming producer and his mousy accountant aim to produce the biggest flop on Broadway in Mel Brooks' laugh-out-loud spectacle. A down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history, thereby bilking their backers (all "little old ladies") out of millions of dollars. Only one thing goes awry: the show is a smash hit!
Source: MTI
Production Photos
Press
The most complicated part of any park show is designing the complete system from the ground up. Literally the ground. We ended up with about 400 called lighting cues in the show — over 100 of which are in 'Springtime for Hitler' alone.
Mike Wood returns to the area as lighting designer, and once again does a superb job. I really like the rainbow flag lighting during the aforementioned 'Keep It Gay.'