On Stage with The Lincoln Theatre

From Actor to Electrician: How Lighting Design Transforms Live Performances

• Bob Watkins • Episode 23

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Let's Meet Shaly Farmer, Lighting Technician With The Lincoln Theatre

What happens when the lights go down and the spotlight comes up? Behind every perfectly illuminated performance at The Lincoln Theatre stands Shaly Farmer, whose artistic vision transforms the historic stage into a canvas of light and shadow.

Growing up in Marion, Shaly remembers visiting The Lincoln during its renovation period, never imagining she would one day control its lighting board. Her path took an unexpected turn during college when a required technical theatre class sparked a passion that would define her career. "I can't imagine what my life would be like not doing lighting," she reveals, describing her journey from spotlight operator to head electrician and beyond.

The conversation illuminates the vastly different approaches required for various performances. For concerts, Shaly often improvises on show day, creating atmospheres that complement the music and energy. Theatrical productions demand meticulous planning with scripts analyzed weeks in advance, while dance performances focus on highlighting movement rather than faces. Each discipline requires unique technical knowledge and artistic sensibility.

Perhaps most fascinating is how Shaly navigates the challenges of working in a historic venue with vintage equipment. When touring performers expect high-tech moving lights and find themselves in a theatre running an ETC Express board ("something you learn about in lighting history class"), Shaly's creativity and problem-solving skills shine. The Lincoln has embraced some modern innovations like wireless DMX systems and color-changing LEDs, creating a bridge between preservation and progress.

Whether you're a theatre enthusiast, aspiring technician, or simply curious about what happens behind the scenes, Shaly's insights reveal the artistry that often goes unnoticed but fundamentally shapes our experience of live performance. Listen now and you'll never see a spotlight the same way again.

To learn more about The Lincoln Theatre visit:
https://www.TheLincoln.org/
The Lincoln Theatre
117 E. Main Street
Marion, Virginia 24354
276-783-6092

Speaker 1:

Welcome to On Stage with the Lincoln Theatre, where history and entertainment steal the show. Dive into the rich legacy of this iconic Mayan revival theatre, from its 1929 debut to its starring role in Marion, virginia's entertainment scene. Guiding us through this journey is the man in the spotlight, our executive director, bob Watkins. Spotlight, our executive director.

Speaker 2:

Bob Watkins. The theater isn't just on stage, it's in the lighting that sets the mood, tells the story and brings everything to life. In this episode we're meeting Shaley Farmer, who is the lighting technician whose artistry helps illuminate every performance at the Lincoln. Welcome back everybody. Skip Monty, here, co-host slash producer, back in the studio, not with Bob Watkins, executive director, but actually with Shaley Farmer, who is the lighting technician with the Lincoln Theater. Shaley, it's very good to see you. Hope you're doing well.

Speaker 3:

Hello, skip, it's great to see you too. I'm great, super excited to be here.

Speaker 2:

Well, we're super excited to have you and to find out. As the lighting technician with the Lincoln Theater, we'd like to know a little bit about yourself and what your role encompasses.

Speaker 3:

Sure, yeah. So I was born and raised right here in Marion. I actually remember being in the theater not being open yet, because it was in the process of being renovated and restored to what it is today. So now to be able to be working here is kind of crazy. Really great. I love it. I went to Radford, I studied theater and went away for a little bit, but now I'm back at the Lincoln and it's going to always hold us to heart because if you've never been here, you should come. It's really cool.

Speaker 2:

It is very cool. I can say that from personal experience when I met you at the Landslide Show. That was so cool. So, Shaylee, what inspired you to pursue lighting design and technical theater?

Speaker 3:

So when I originally went to college, I was going to go study theater at Radford University to be a performance focused. I was going to be an actor and had grand dreams of that. And then I ended up taking a lighting and sound class and I was like, oh, oh, this is really cool and I'm like not bad at it. So I reach out to my professor, David Wheeler, and I said, hey, I kind of like this. You know, what can I do to get more involved? And I went from running a spot, you know giant spotlight in their production of Oklahoma, to suddenly being the head electrician on the Laramie Project and I just kind of ended up continuing with it. And now I can't imagine what my life would be like not doing lighting, continuing with it. And now I can't imagine what my life would be like not doing lighting. So I managed to find my way into it simply by taking a class that I originally thought wasn't going to pertain to me. And now here I am.

Speaker 2:

Here you are. You're a professional. So what does a typical show prep look like from a lighting technician's perspective?

Speaker 3:

typical show prep look like from a lighting technician's perspective? Yeah, so it really depends on the show. Like concerts and plays, dance shows, they're all really different. They have, you know, when you boil it down, it's all. You have the concept of them all being the same. You know you have to have the lights to see the people. People want to see the lights do cool things, and you know that you want to have a good show. But each one has a very different process.

Speaker 3:

So for a concert like we have at the theater at the Lincoln, typically I don't get a lot of attention about what is wanted until the day of. So I come in usually an hour or so prior to load. In that way I can test to make sure that all of our lighting instruments are working, hook up all of our newer LED things, because it runs on a separate board than our conventional fixtures that we have. So I come in about an hour earlier and then, once the show gets, we get what's called a slot and it has you know the location of where all of the instruments and the vocalists are going to be. So it kind of gives you an idea of what's your, what needs to be lit, what doesn't need to be lit. Where can I put a light? You know if a person is standing here because a person's there. Once they load it, started with sound check, it kind of helps give a vibe of what they're doing. Sometimes they'll have a little more, you know, broken down tech needs.

Speaker 3:

I've had a few different bands who are like we want lights to do this, this and this, but typically for concerts it's. You know, we want it to look cool at this point and then maybe we want a full blackout here. But it's not super. It's not super scripted, whereas with a theater show, typically I would get that script about a month in advance. Um go through after everything is cued out and it's. You know, down to the, how fast the lights to come up, how slow do we have any? You know specific colors we want to use to invoke a feeling or what have you.

Speaker 3:

So it's, it's super different, um, super different. Those two things. And then dance is incredibly different too, because they care more about um catching the feet as opposed to the face. They use a lot of side lights. They want, they want you to be able to see the movement as opposed to they use a lot of side lights. They want. They want you to be able to see the movement, as opposed to seeing a full on face. It's what are their arms doing? What are their legs doing? What can you do to like really carve out the form of that person?

Speaker 2:

Very cool. I was going to ask how do you collaborate with directors and performers to to shape the visual tone of a production? But that's exactly what you just said.

Speaker 3:

It depends, because I mean, I've worked with some directors who have, I mean, a full PowerPoint presentation on how they want the thing to look when they want it to look, and others who are far more I don't want to say trusting, but they, they are more willing to kind of go with the flow. You know, see what you come up with on your own and then you know you collaborate together. There's a lot of talking, as for like here at the Leigh Mountains, we always know it's going to be a super specific you know, it's published on TV.

Speaker 3:

We have a very specific look for it. So there's not a lot that goes into that in terms of collaboration with Andre, their director. But you know, every time we produce that show here he does a light balance check. We make sure we don't have any. You know big dark spots, something like that, but most other you know performance bands here it's like, eh, do what you feel is right, so it's nice to have that for you.

Speaker 2:

People trust me to do that and yeah, yeah Well, if you're like me, I would much do what you think is best. You know that I would appreciate that Cause. Then you can let your creativity come out. Right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3:

It's. You know it's nice to sometimes have that box of, like this is. I would like to be given an idea of what they want, but I don't want you to tell me every little detail, because then that really kind of takes the creative process out of it and it's it's more like I'm replicating what you want as opposed to creating something that I want.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I get that, totally get that. So what are some of the most challenging or rewarding shows that you've worked with at the Lincoln?

Speaker 3:

Oh, at the Lincoln. Let me think. Let me think. What we have an issue with at the theater here is a lot of these groups are coming from places that are massive, they're huge and they have the most up-to-date lighting fixtures, all the LEDs, all the moving lights, fancy light boards and we're a historic venue that does not have that. For example, we run an express ETC Express board here, which is something that you learn about in lighting history class. Rarely ever do press board anymore, so it's it's an interesting conversation to have when the performer comes in and they're like well, just hit us here with your moving lights and I'm like we don't have moving lights.

Speaker 3:

I'm like we don't have those. I can give you some color, to give you some spot, specials, but we don't have moving lights. I designed the lights and I also was performing in the show. It was a theater piece Lord of the Lord with a community group a few years ago, which actually I've done that three times now, I guess, where I've done the lights and also performed in the show. So it's always a bit of a challenge to see what those lights look like when you're also on the stage. So that was a fun challenge here, because the other places I've done it, I was able to record it, go back and watch it, make my notes. But here it was more I was relying on the director I was working with and my own opinions from on the stage to really figure out what was happening by the, the, the lights that follow you.

Speaker 2:

Is that a new technology? That instead of like a spot where you've got somebody behind it, it's actually like technologically driven that you focus it on one person and it follows them. I do live streaming at a church and and actually your sound guy put, put all this equipment in this church.

Speaker 1:

It's so cool I found out when I was there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, aquaman when I was there. Yeah, aquaman, he looks like Aquaman, but anyway, and we've got cameras that you can put it on automatic and it will follow somebody around the stage. Sometimes they'll change directions and it'll keep going the way they were going, so that you know I'm a little nervous with that. But anyway, moving light is fascinating.

Speaker 3:

They are really cool and the technology behind them has really it's super, super fast in the past couple years. But there's some that you have to do it, there's some that they do have that tracking technology and there's some that you it's like a spotlight that you play and it's almost like a video game where you're like watching and you're like tracking the person on this. It's it's really cool. The technology behind it, like just lighting technology in general has really exploded over the years do you guys have a spot that like a big spotlight, that somebody?

Speaker 3:

we have, um, we have two large spotlights, um, they are support lighting system, little outdated, so sometimes they get a little warm and a little loud because the cooling fans come on and all you hear is the. So the audience typically is a little less happy when we use them, but we do have them here. They're up in the balcony and they, when they get used, they are used well.

Speaker 2:

Gotcha, Gotcha. Well, you kind of you touched on this already, but how has lighting technology? Like you said, it's a historic theater, so you got to maintain that historic nature of it, but has lighting technology evolved at the Lincoln Theater over the last few years?

Speaker 3:

We do now have some color changing LEDs, which is super cool. I'm able to, you know, live mix color on the fly. If somebody's like ew, this blue is ugly, I can be like, oh, let me just and do it. It runs on a different system than our actual conventional fixtures. I said conventional fixtures, I said all of those are ran on our ETC Express board, but I actually use the app called QLC Plus to run all of our LEDs and runs through a wireless DMX. So that's been really cool to be able to play with. I'd never used that system.

Speaker 3:

Evan the sound guy actually was like, hey, you should look into this. And it's been fun's been fun to learn. Definitely, I think, help you bring some fun color to the theater, because before that, you know, there are gels that slide into the front of lighting fixtures and they give you, you know, stationary colors. You can have a blue, a pink, whatever, but you can't switch them on the fly, whereas, like now, with these LEDs, I can kind of give you know, shift the mood depending on the song or the scene. So that's really helped bring things into the, you know, 21st century.

Speaker 2:

Cool, very cool. Well, hopefully you'll continue in that direction.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know, if, if anybody out there has some money that they would like to donate towards the Lincoln, we would. We would gladly accept a new light board and some fancy new light fixtures. Just shameless.

Speaker 2:

There you go. Well, it is a nonprofit, it is, we are a nonprofit 501c3.

Speaker 3:

If you're feeling generous, we're here.

Speaker 2:

Great opportunity for those philanthropists out there.

Speaker 3:

Well, shaylee, if any of our viewers listeners are interested in backstage or tech roles at the theater, what advice would you give them? Definitely, reach out. If you know somebody who works in the tech industry, don't be afraid to reach out to them and tell them you're interested. I mean, reach out to me. If you're going to college, you know, taking theater classes or music classes, and you're like I'd really like to learn more about this, I guarantee you there's probably a class in within your program that you can take and we'd love to have more people be interested in it, because, I mean, I wasn't interested until I had to take the class and it sparked this whole new part of me, like I would not have the career that I have today had I not had that interest in it. And even if you're, you know you're going to watch a show. If you see a tech person who is not busy, like if they're doing something, don't approach them If they're just standing there.

Speaker 3:

I recently went to a concert and there was a lighting tech standing at the light board and I was like, hey, this is really weird. You don't know me, I don't know you, but can you show me your setup? And he did. This was like at this giant concert, um, and he stepped me through things on his lighting rig, talked me through some stuff and it was so cool, um. So if you know, if you have to be afraid to ask questions, don't be afraid to reach out. Um, people like to share the cool things that we do, so, yeah, can I ask what?

Speaker 2:

what concert that was?

Speaker 3:

um kesha oh, wow, okay, wow, I bet she had a heck of a lighting rig it was so cool it was and like I already knew I I've this was, I'd seen her multiple, but this was the first set on this tour I'd seen and after him, like stepping me through you know his setup and seeing the lights, it really it really made the experience so much cooler because I kind of had like I knew what was happening and I was like, oh, I know how he's doing that with the lights. That's so cool. It really gives you like a different perspective and like a real respect for the artistry behind it, because so many people don't realize that, like the shows don't just magically happen. Like you have a sound guy, you have a lighting person, you have somebody has to paint the set, somebody has to load it in, there's a stage manager who's calling all the cues. Like, even if you're not, if you don't want to do this as a career, it really gives you getting involved, gives you a better idea of what goes into it.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Comes with experience.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Well, shaylee, I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend some time with us and tell us all about what you do and your profession, and we really appreciate you helping us to see the theater in a whole new light. That's a plan.

Speaker 3:

I'm glad I could shed some light on the subject.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, Shayla, it's great seeing you again. Thank you so much for being on the show and I look forward to seeing you again.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, of course. Thank you so much, Skip. It's been great. Let me know when you want me back. I'll come talk about anything.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, we will definitely have you back, for sure thanks for tuning in to on stage with the lincoln theater. Want more of mary and virginia's entertainment scene? Visit us online at the lincolnorg yes, that's the lincolnorg or drop by our theater at 117 east main street. Let's keep the arts alive and kicking together.