In the early part of the 20th century, the lighting designer was not a formalized position. Rather the set designer or electrician handled the lighting of a production. Rosenthal helped make the lighting designer an integral member of the design team.[1] She also said that lighting "was a career in itself".[3] As well as particular lighting innovations, she created an atmosphere specific to the production, and she was in demand as a Broadway lighting designer.[4]
In 1929, she was introduced to Martha Graham at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She became Graham's technical assistant, which led to a lifelong collaboration with Graham. She worked with Graham on 36 productions.[5] Rosenthal studied lighting design at the Yale School of Drama from 1931 to 1934 with Stanley McCandless.[2]
She returned to New York City, where she joined the Federal Theatre Project in 1935. This led to collaborations withOrson Welles and John Houseman. She would later follow Welles to the Mercury Theatre,[2] where she was credited as a member of the board in addition to production and lighting manager, although not as lighting designer.
Some of her major contributions were the elimination of shadows by using floods of upstage lighting and controlling angles and mass of illumination to create contrasts without shadows.[6] "Some of the signature lighting she did for Balanchine and the diagonal shaft of light she created for Graham (lovingly referred to by her as "Martha's Finger of God"), are now in such widespread use by dance companies of every style that they have become standards of the lighting repertoire."[7]
She was light designer for hundreds of productions, including Broadway, Martha Graham's dances, the New York City Ballet, and the Metropolitan Opera. On Broadway she lit musicals such as West Side Story (1957), The Sound of Music (1959), Take Me Along (1959), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Fiddler on the Roof(1964), Hello, Dolly! (1964), Cabaret (1966), and The Happy Time (1968).
Jean Rosenthal is considered one of the pioneers of theatrical lighting design. She emerged as a specialist at a time when a show's lighting was usually handled by either the scene designer or the master electrician. It was during her thirty three year career that the Lighting Designer joined the Scene and Costume Designer as a member of the production team.
Eugenia (Jean) Rosenthal was born in New York City on March 16, 1912. She was the daughter of Drs. Pauline (a psychiatrist) and Maurice (an ear, nose and throat specialist) Rosenthal and attended Manumit School in Pawling, NY and the Friends Seminary in Manhattan. After briefly studying acting and dance at the Neighborhood Playhouse during the 1929-1930 academic year, she became a technical assistant to Martha Graham, a member of the school's dance faculty. This was the beginning of a life long association with Martha Graham and her dance company. Between 1936 and her death in 1969, she designed the lighting for fifty three dances in the company's repertory. She returned to the Neighborhood Playhouse as a lecturer and production advisor during the 1937-38 and 1940-41 seasons.
During her three (1930-1933) years at Yale University she studied theatre history with George Pierce Baker, scene design with Donald Oenslager, costume design with Frank Bevin, and lighting design with Stanley McCandless. In the spring of 1933 she left Yale for New York City where she joined one of the WPA Federal Theatres. By 1935 she had become a technical assistant in Federal Theatre Project 891. John Houseman was the producer, Orson Welles the director, Nat Carson the scene designer, and Abe Feder the lighting designer.
When Houseman took a leave of absence from the Federal Theatre in 1936 to produce Leslie Howard's Hamlet, he brought Rosenthal along as the second assistant stage manager in charge of lighting cues. When the man from the rental house, who was to install the lighting system became ill, Rosenthal became the electrical technical director as well as the second assistant stage manager. This is, perhaps, her earliest "lighting" credit.
In 1937 she joined John Houseman and Orson Welles as the production and lighting manager of the Mercury Theatre. Although only credited as "Production Manager," it is believed that she designed the lighting for the eight productions staged by the company. When the Mercury Theatre Players moved to Hollywood to produce Citizen Kane (1941) for RKO, Rosenthal remained in New York City and opened a theatrical supply house: Theatre Production Service, Inc. (TPS) . Through TPS she offered a complete design and supply service.
In 1958 she created Jean Rosenthal Associates, a theatrical consulting firm which would become involved in at least thirty architectual projects, including the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, CN, the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, and the Los Angeles Music Center's Dorothy B. Chandler Pavilion.
During her career she designed the lighting for over three hundred productions. Her Broadway credits include West Side Story (1957), The Sound of Music(1959), Barefoot in the Park (1963), John Gielgud's Hamlet (starring Richard Burton, 1964), Hello Dolly! (1964), Fiddler on the Roof (1964), The Odd Couple (1965), and Cabaret (1966).
She believed her most artistic work was accomplished in the "institutional" theatre -- the dance, opera and drama repertory of the New York City Ballet(1948-1957), the Martha Graham Dance Company (1934-1969), the American Ballet Theatre (1960-1968), the New York City Opera (1950-1954), theDallas Civic Opera (1957-1969), and the American Shakespeare Festival (1955-1959). These "institutional theatres" gave her more time for experimentation than was possible on the commercial Broadway stage. For example, the production schedule for the Broadway bound musical: Baker Street(1965), called for only four days of technical and dress rehearsals before the first preview performance in Toronto.
A number of the designs she created for the New York City Ballet and the Martha Graham Dance Company are still in the company's repertory. Her plots have been adapted to changes in equipment and audiences expectation, but because the original concepts, specials, and cue placement have been retained, the program still carries the credit: "Lighting by Jean Rosenthal."
Paper work -- including drawings, hookup charts, focus sheets and cue sheets for "Errand Into the Maze" (1947) -- for the winter 1948 Broadway season of the Martha Graham Company can be viewed at The Lighting Archive (thelightingarchive.org). (Goto: Archive > Rosenthal > Martha Graham Dance Company) Also at the Archive is the paper work (plot and focus charts) for the Fall 1963 season including the Cue Sheets for "Night Journey" (1947, revised 1960).
She died, after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 57 on May 1, 1969, ten days after attending the opening of her last creative work: Martha Graham's "Archaic Hours". The last Broadway show to close carrying a "Lighting by Jean Rosenthal" credit was Fiddler on the Roof which ended its 3,242 performance run on July 2, 1972, three years after her death.
Jean Rosenthal described Broadway lighting as an attempt to make the actor appear "jewel-like." She achieved this by surrounding the performer with light, often creating the impression of "light and shade on a stage that contain[d] no shadows." Instruments were mounted on the balcony rail, box booms, side torms (or booms), and overhead pipes. Her major contributions were the addition of deeply colored washes of back and side light to the designer's vocabulary, and an organized approach to lighting dance.
In addition to her numerous lighting projects, she designed the sets for three Broadway shows: Conquering Hero (1961), The Beast in Me (1963), and On An Open Roof (1963) and wrote several articles on lighting and technical production for magazines like Theatre Arts, Opera News, Musical America andImpulse.
In the late 1950s, Miss Rosenthal began developing plans for a book on lighting design. She would dictate the material when she had time. It would be edited and shaped by writer: Lael Wertenbaker, and illustrated by her assistant, Marion Kinsella. During the early 60's Jean was constantly in demand, so little work was done on the book. In 1968 she was diagonosed with cancer. During her long stays in the hospital she was finally able to dictate the essential material that would become the basis for her final legacy. The Magic of Light, which has long been out-of-print, was published in 1972.
She received the Henrietta Lord Memorial Award from the Yale School of Drama in 1932, and the Outer Critics Circle Award, during the 1968-1969 season, for her contribution to stage design.
The Rosenthal Collection
The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
A collection of her lighting design documents, including light plots, hook-up charts, cue sheets, and production notes are on file in the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research, which is housed in the Archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Included, among the many shows, are the lighting designs for the Broadway productions of The Sound of Music (1959), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To The Forum (1962), and Hole in the Head (1957); the New York City Center presentations of the New York City Opera (1950-1954), New York City Center Dance Theatre (1949), and City Center Light Opera Company (1954-1957). Shows from outside the New York City area include the Los Angles productions of The King And I (1958 and 1965); the Chicago Lyric Opera production of I Puritani (1955) and the American Dance Festival at Connecticut College in New London.
The completeness of the files range from a few brief notes, a rough light plot sketched on graph paper and a scribbled hook-up chart to a nearly complete record of the development of a lighting design. For example, The Sound Of Music file contain...
- the correspondence between Miss Rosenthal and the producers,
- a copy of Lindsay and Crouse's working script,
- Oliver Smith's 1/4 inch scenic sketches,
- the 1/2 inch scaled floor plans and designer's elevations of the set,
- fabric swatches from Lucinda Ballard's costume designs,
- Miss Rosenthal's rough sectional studies and preliminary layouts,
- final light plot, torm elevations, equipment list, hook-up chart, focus charts, magic sheets, and cue sheets.
- and thank you cards and telegrams from numerous members of the production's staff and cast.
During the 1950s and 60s, most Broadway shows did a short, two or three stop, "try-out" tour before coming in to New York. The front of house hang was usually modified at each out-of-town theatre. Some times, as in Baker Street, the changes were minor: the box boom units were 6x12 Lekos in Boston and Toronto instead of the 8x11s specified for New York. Other times the changes were more substantial. The original light plot for Winesburg, Ohio (1957) called for 48 (all 6x12 Lekos) front-of-house units: 24 on the first balcony rail and 12 on each box boom. In Baltimore, 4 lamps were cut, and the remaining 44 units were divided between the second balcony (28) and the two box booms (9 each). In New York, according to notes in the file, the box booms were cut, and the lamps, now down to 38 (28- 6x12 Lekos and 10- 1500w 8" KliegLites) were divided between the balcony rail and the booth pipe.
The smallest show in the collection is the 1959 Neighborhood Playhouse's production of Dear Liar, 20 lamps and 4 sections of foot lights controlled on two-- six channel Davis Dimmers. The production then went on the road before opening on Broadway. The road plot was very close to what was done at the Playhouse: 22 lamps and 4 sections of footlights controlled on one 14 plate road board. The two additional lamps, and dimmers, were for specials. When the show opened at the National Theatre on March 17, 1960 there were 58 lamps, 4 sections of foot lights, and 3 sections of border lights controlled on 48--500watt dimmers mastered through one 14 plate road board. At the Playhouse and on the road, each of the three acting areas were primarily lit by 4 lamps: 2 on the balcony and 2 on the first pipe. At the National Theatre, each area was lit by 12 lamps: 2 on the rail, 2 on each box boom, and 6 on the first electric. An interesting side light: according to the notes in the file, one of the students assigned to Miss Rosenthal's light crew by the Neighbor Playhouse was Dabney Coleman.
The largest production in the collection is To Broadway With Love. This extravaganza was presented in the Texas Pavillion during the 1964 New York World's Fair. The deeply curved stage had a 74 feet wide proscenium opening. The 406 lamps and the 63 sections of 500 watt PAR strips were controlled on 10 road boards with a total of 140 dimmers.
The collection also includes the paper work (repertory light plot, rep hook-up chart, re-plug charts, cue sheets and notes ) for 32 of the works in the 1950-1954 repertory of the New York City Opera .
Among the dance designs included in the collection are those for the American Dance Festival, Connecticut College, New London, CN (1949-1950), theNew York City Dance Theatre (1949) which used the New York City Ballet's repertory plot, the 1950 performance of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera, the Ballet International (1944) and Ruth Page and Jose Limon in Paris (1950).
In addition to lighting the traditional theatrical forms -- drama, musicals, opera, and dance -- she also lit Judy Garland at the Palace (1951), Judy Garland at the Met (1959), the National Orchestra Association's Christmas Show (1948-1950), the The Lamb's Club Benefit for the Children's Clinic's Postgraduate Center for Psychotherapy (1961) and the National Congress of American Industry's Convention (1950) at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
The earliest lighting design represented in the collection is the from the six show repertory of the New Opera Company which opened its five week run at the Broadway Theatre in November 1942. The latest show represented is Happly Ever After which opened in March 1966.
The files for at least three Broadway shows, West Side Story (1957), John Gielgud's Hamlet (starring Richard Burton, 1964), and Dark At The Top of the Stairs (1957) are empty. A note in each folder, dated January 30, 1969, says that the documents were "Returned to JR." Although the paperwork for the Broadway production of Dark...Stairs has been returned to JR, the light plot, hook-up chart, and cue sheets for the bus and truck company are still in the collection. The paperwork for the 1959 national tour of West Side Story (1957) can be viewed at The Lighting Archive (thelightingarchive.org). Unfortunately, the light plot for the tour is not in the collection, but the shop order (4 sheets), the hook-up charts (10 sheets), the focus charts (22 sheets), and the cue sheets (108 sheets) can all be viewed. She used 4 follow spots, 198 focusable lamps (Lekos and Fresnels), and 23 sections of strip lights controlled through 5 road boards.
There are also files for several Broadway shows which do not carry the "Lighting by Jean Rosenthal" credit. The 110 In The Shade (1963: Lighting by John Harvey) folder contains only the script and cue sheets. The She Loves Me (1962: Scenery and lighting by William and Jean Eckart) file contains a revised hook-up chart and cue sheets and numerous production notes. Miss Rosenthal was apparently brought in to re-hang and re-cue the show, but no reason is given as to why.
One of the "Broadway" shows in the collection does not appear in the listing of Miss Rosenthal's design credits in The Magic of Light . The show is Hot September (1965), a musical adaption of William Inge's Picnic which closed out of town in Boston.
The collection does present a number of problems. Many of the papers are not dated, and there is often more than one hook-up chart or cue sheet making it difficult to determine which was the final design, and which was the preliminary sketch. The color media used in most of the early productions was Brigham gel, and when Rosco gel was chosen, it was identified by the old numbers, "No Color Pink" was #60, not #225. By the late 1950's she began using both Cinemoid (where "Pale Salmon" was #553) and Roscolene (where "No Color Pink" was #9-60 instead of #825) Most of the shows were controlled on four to six road (or "piano") boards. The typical "Broadway Play" had 42- 3000 watt dimmers on three boards, and 12-6000 watt plates on the fourth. A "Broadway musical" was controlled on 70- 3000 watt dimmers, on five boards, and 12-6000 watt units on the sixth. Road boards, which contained 12 to 14 resistance plate dimmers, used a 10 point scale which measured resistance, not intensity. Three was brighter, approximately 70% of full, than 7.
The collection, which is contained in 41 document boxes, does not contain all of Ms. Rosenthal's work. The productions included were presented between 1942 and 1966. The most important works missing from the collection are her designs for the Martha Graham Dance Company and the New York City Ballet.
Paperwork (light plots, hook-up charts, focus sheets and cue sheets) from three productions in the Wisconsin Collection-- Julius Caesar, directed by Orson Welles at the Mercury Theatre (1937), Joy to the World at New York's Plymouth Theatre (1948) and the national company of West Side Story (1957/1959)-- can be viewed, under the Rosenthal tab, at The Lighting Archive (thelightingarchive.org).
A Bibliography of Material By and About Jean Rosenthal
Boone, Mary Callahan. "Jean Rosenthal's Light: Making Visible the Magician." Theatre Topics 7:1, 1997, pp 77-92.
Goodman, Saul. "Meet Jean Rosenthal." Dance Magazine, February 1962, pp 19-23.
"Jean Rosenthal Dies Here at 57; Designer of Theatrical Lighting." New York Times, May 2, 1969, pg. 43.
Lewis, Jerry. A Description and Analysis of Some of the Lighting Designs of Jean Rosenthal. An unpublished MS thesis. University of Wisconsin-Madison. 1964.
Rosenthal, Jean. "Art and Language of Stage Lighting." Theatre Arts, August 1961, pp17-19.
Rosenthal, Jean. "Five Kings." Theatre Arts, June 1939, pp. 411-413.
Rosenthal, Jean. "General Technical Requirements for Summer Stock Operation," in Beckhard, Richard and John Effrat, Blueprint for Summer Theatres --1951 Supplement. New York: John-Richard Press. 1951.
Rosenthal, Jean."Light For The Stage." Opera News, April 15, 1968, pp 8-11.
Includes black and white lighting sketches for Leslie Howard's Hamlet and Richard Burton's Hamlet, a small portion of the hook-up chart for Cabaret(1966), and the repertory light plot for the Metropolitan Opera.
Rosenthal, Jean. "Lighting for the Theatre." Musical America, February 15, 1954, p 13.
Rosenthal, Jean and Lael Wertenbacker. The Magic of Light. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 1972.
Includes essays on lighting the play, the musical, the dance and the opera; documentation for Plaza Suite (Light plot, Hook-up chart, and selected Cue sheets), Hello Dolly! (Light plot, Hook-up chart, and selected Focus charts), the Martha Graham Dance Company (Light plot and Cross section); and the most complete listing of Miss Rosenthal's design credits.
"A Photo Essay on Light", which appears in the "Tools of the Trade" section (Illustrated and edited by Marion Kinsella), shows, through twenty-three photographs, how light coming from the standard theatrical lighting positions looks when focused on an actor standing on stage.
Rosenthal, Jean. "Native Son--Backstage." Theatre Arts, June 1941. pp. 467-470.
Rosenthal, Jean. "Patterns of Light." Impulse '56. pp 11-12.
Rubin, Joel E. and Leland H. Watson. Theatrical Lighting Practice. New York: Theatre Arts Books. 1954.
Contains Jean Rosenthal's repertory light plots for The New York City Ballet and The New York City Opera seasons at the New York City Center.
Sargeant, Winthrop."Please, darling, bring three to seven...A Profile of Jean Rosenthal." New Yorker, February 4, 1956, pp. 33-59.
Skelton, Thomas. "Jean Rosenthal's Dance Lighting." Theatre Crafts, September 1973, pg. 46.
Violett, Ellen. "Name in Lights." Theatre Arts, December 1950, pp. 24-27.
Jean Rosenthal was a pioneer in theater lighting design. “Light is quite tactile to me. It has shape and dimension.” Inspired by the paintings of Rembrandt and Monet, Rosenthal mastered the technical and poetic aspects of stage lighting. She used light’s form, color, and movement to express the intention of a performance. Carefully integrating light into the overall texture of a piece, Rosenthal believed that “the most successful and brilliant work a lighting designer can do is usually the least noticeable.”
Born Eugenie Rosenthal in New York City, on March 16, 1912, she was the only daughter and second of three children of Pauline (Scharfman) and Morris Rosenthal. Her parents, who emigrated from Romania in the 1880s, were both children of Jewish tailors. An unconventional family for the time, both parents worked as medical doctors, her father as an ear, nose, and throat specialist, her mother, as a psychiatrist.
Following her mother’s progressive educational beliefs, Jean and her brothers attended the Ethical Culture School in the Bronx and later enrolled in the experimental Manumit School in Pawling, New York. With good humor, Rosenthal described the unorthodox yet holistic education she received at Manumit: “We... learned how to enter a chicken coop without scaring the chickens. Very valuable thing to know when you work in the theatre.” For high school, Rosenthal studied at the Friends Seminary in Manhattan, a more formal educational environment, where she had a difficult time fitting in. At age sixteen, Rosenthal barely graduated from the school.
With her grades too low for her to be accepted at a prestigious college, Rosenthal enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in Manhattan. She was soon captivated by the experimental dance work of one faculty member, Martha Graham. Between 1928 and 1930, Rosenthal immersed herself in Graham’s work, doing all aspects of production and technical assistance. In order to get more rigorous technical training, Rosenthal enrolled in the Yale University School of Drama from 1931 to 1934. There, she studied closely with the well-known stage lighting instructor Stanley McCandless. In 1932, Rosenthal received the Henrietta Lord Memorial Award for her work at Yale.
Rosenthal’s first professional job was in 1935 as production supervisor for a WPA theater project in New York City. In this setting, she worked with John Houseman and Orson Welles and, in 1937, became a production assistant for Welles’s Mercury Theatre. During Welles’s production of Julius Caesar in 1937, Rosenthal made a name for herself as an inventive lighting designer, bringing her a succession of jobs on Broadway. To supplement this production work, Rosenthal founded her own company in 1940, the Theatre Production Service, which ran a mail-order catalog for theatrical equipment.
Rosenthal did the stage lighting for a number of well-known Broadway plays and musicals, such asWest Side Story (1957), Becket (1960), Hello, Dolly! (1964), Hamlet (1964), Fiddler on the Roof(1964), The Odd Couple (1965), and Cabaret (1966). She is most famous for her unconventional lighting of dance and opera performances, including long-term collaborations with Gian Carlo Menotti, the New York City Ballet and its predecessor the Ballet Society, Martha Graham, and the New York City Opera. Rosenthal also worked as an illumination, theater, and restoration consultant, assisting on such projects as the Pan-American terminal at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, the Los Angeles Music Center, the American Shakespeare Festival Theater in Connecticut, as well as theaters in Canada and Australia.
A small, dark-haired woman with large blue eyes, Rosenthal confronted the sexism of her male-dominated profession by being very courteous, commonly referring to her crew of electricians as “darling” and “honey.” She spent her free time in the company of close friends, disliking the more formal social life of cocktail parties. A lifelong New Yorker, Rosenthal shared her apartment, as well as her home on Martha’s Vineyard, with artist Marion Kinsella.
Throughout her career, Rosenthal favored dance performances, particularly the abstract works of Martha Graham. In contrast to Broadway musicals and plays, which required a relatively standardized lighting design, Graham’s dances allowed for imaginative and experimental illumination. Rosenthal used dramatic side lighting, giving dancers a sculptural quality. She made Graham’s performances a professional priority: “To do one or two new works for Martha a year was a part of my life and a renewal of my own interior spirit.” In the last weeks of her life, suffering from cancer and confined to a wheelchair, Rosenthal designed the lighting for her final Graham piece. Until her death in New York City, on May l, 1969, Rosenthal lived a “lifetime in light.”
Bibliography
Billy Rose Theatre Collection. New York Public Library; Lael Wertenbaker Collection. Mugar Library, Boston University; NAW modern; Obituary. NYTimes, May 2, 1969, 43:1; Ridgon, Walter, ed. Biographical Encyclopaedia and Who’s Who of American Theatre (1966); Rosenthal, Jean. Papers. Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Rosenthal, Jean, and Lael Wertenbaker. The Magic of Light: The Career and Craft of Jean Rosenthal, Pioneer in Lighting for the Modern Stage (1972); Sargeant, Winthrop. “Please, Darling, Bring Three to Seven.” The New Yorker (February 4, 1956): 33–59; WWWIA 5.
Jean Rosenthal'sBroadway Lighting CreditsThe designs for the titles which appear in bold type face are included in the Jean Rosenthal Collection at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research.1942Rosalinda
1943Richard III
1946The Haven
1947The Medium and The Telephone
1948Joy to the WorldSundown Beach
1949Caesar and Cleopatra
1952The Climate of Eden
1954
Carousel (Revival at the NY City Center )FledermausHouse of FlowersOndineQuadrilleThe Saint of Bleecker StreetShowboat (Revival at the NY City Center )
1955
The Time of Your Life (Revival at the NY City Center )
1956The Great SebastianThe King and I (Revival at the NY City Center )Kiss Me Kate (Revival at the NY City Center )
1957The Beggar's Opera (Revival at the NY City Center )The Dark at the Top of the Stairs(Bus and Truck, not Broadway plot)The Duchess of Malfi (Revival at the Pheonix Theatre )A Hole in the HeadJamaicaMeasure for Measure (Revival at the Pheonix Theatre )Othello (Revival at the Pheonix Theatre )Taming of the Shrew (Revival at the Pheonix Theatre )West Side Story
1958The DisenchantedThe King and I (Revival at the NY City Center )Winesburg, Ohio
1959Destry Rides AgainJuniper and the Pagans (Closed out of town)RedheadSaratogaThe Sound of MusicTake Me Along
1960BecketCaligulaDear LiarHenry IV, part 1 (Revival at the Pheonix Theatre )Henry IV, part 2 (Revival at the Pheonix Theatre )A Taste of Honey
1961The Conquering HeroDaughter of SilenceThe Gay LifeThe Night of the Iguana
1962A Gift of TimeA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumLord Pengo
1963The Ballad of the Sad CafeBarefoot in the ParkThe Beast in MeJennieOn an Open Roof
1964The Chinese Prime MinisterFiddler on the RoofHamletHello, Dolly!Incident at Vichy (At the Lincoln Center )LuvPoor Bitos
1965Baker StreetThe Country Wife (Revival at Lincoln Center )Hot September (Closed out of town)Maurice Chevalier at 77The Odd Couple
1966The Apple TreeCabaretHapply Never AfterI Do! I Do!IvanovShow Boat (Revival at the Lincoln Center )The Star Spangled GirlA Time for Singing
1967Freaking Out of Stephanie Black (Closed during previews)Illya Darling
1968:The ExerciseThe Happy TimeLeda Had A Little Swan (Closed during previews)Plaza SuiteWeekend
1969Dear World
The last Broadway show to close carrying a "Lighting by Jean Rosenthal" credit was Fiddler on the Roof which ended its 3,242 performance run on July 2, 1972, three years after her death.
The 1980 Broadway revival of West Side Story at the Minskoff Theatre also carried the "Lighting by Jean Rosenthal" credit.
A Photo Essay on Lightfrom
The Magic of Light
by
Jean Rosenthal and Lael Wertenbaker
Photography by Steven A. Sint
Edited by Marion Kinsella
Lighting equipment courtsey of Kliegl Brothers
The following photo essay was shot on a miniature stage (scale: two inches to one foot) using small versions of the fresnel and ellipsoidal spotlights. The figures are sculptor's scale-model manikins. The essay is preceded by a mini light plot.
The essay was designed to show in simple terms how light coming from the standard theatre lighting positions will look when focused to light an actor in a given area on the stage. The mini light plot is a ground plan showing where the light pipes and instruments are hanging in relation to the stage. The plot also has on it an elevation of one of the tormentor pipes (or "booms," as they are sometimes called) for side lighting, and the ground plan of the tormentor positions used in the photo essay.
Each of the photo essays will refer back to the mini light plot for position of the instrument used. Through the use of this reference, the logic of why instruments are positioned as they are to achieve the desired angle and effect will become evident.
[I have added a number of bracketed comments based on either my personal experience or the study of Miss Rosenthal's work archived with the Wisconsin Historical Society located at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I have found the "Photo Essay on Light" to be an excellent teaching tool. The following link will open the mini light plot in it's own browser window. -LW ]
Figure 1
No.2 pipe diagonal x-lights. Fresnel lamps no. 1 and no. 4 on a 45-degree angle cross-focus to center stage. Both lamps are on half focus. [No. 2 Pipe 1 - 4][Diagonal x-light will produce adequate, although shadow filled, illumination. The addition of a little front light from the Cove or Rail position will improve the audience's ability to read the actor's face. See Figure 22 Two eight inch fresnels at each end of the Pipe should light the full width of the bay. Additional fresnels placed in the second, third and fourth bay can create a full stage cross wash. -LW]
The Magic of Light
by
Jean Rosenthal and Lael Wertenbaker
Photography by Steven A. Sint
Edited by Marion Kinsella
Lighting equipment courtsey of Kliegl Brothers
The following photo essay was shot on a miniature stage (scale: two inches to one foot) using small versions of the fresnel and ellipsoidal spotlights. The figures are sculptor's scale-model manikins. The essay is preceded by a mini light plot.
The essay was designed to show in simple terms how light coming from the standard theatre lighting positions will look when focused to light an actor in a given area on the stage. The mini light plot is a ground plan showing where the light pipes and instruments are hanging in relation to the stage. The plot also has on it an elevation of one of the tormentor pipes (or "booms," as they are sometimes called) for side lighting, and the ground plan of the tormentor positions used in the photo essay.
Each of the photo essays will refer back to the mini light plot for position of the instrument used. Through the use of this reference, the logic of why instruments are positioned as they are to achieve the desired angle and effect will become evident.
[I have added a number of bracketed comments based on either my personal experience or the study of Miss Rosenthal's work archived with the Wisconsin Historical Society located at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I have found the "Photo Essay on Light" to be an excellent teaching tool. The following link will open the mini light plot in it's own browser window. -LW ]
Figure 1
No.2 pipe diagonal x-lights. Fresnel lamps no. 1 and no. 4 on a 45-degree angle cross-focus to center stage. Both lamps are on half focus. [No. 2 Pipe 1 - 4][Diagonal x-light will produce adequate, although shadow filled, illumination. The addition of a little front light from the Cove or Rail position will improve the audience's ability to read the actor's face. See Figure 22 Two eight inch fresnels at each end of the Pipe should light the full width of the bay. Additional fresnels placed in the second, third and fourth bay can create a full stage cross wash. -LW]
Figure 2
No. 1 pipe ends. Ellipsoidal lamps no. 1 and no. 5 are focused diagonally to center stage, and both are shuttered upstage and downstage to stay inside the first bay. The onstage, or bottom, edge of each light has been squared off on the shutters to keep the floor pattern tidy. [No. 1 Pipe 1 - 5][Ellipsoidals make it possible to accurately control the beam of light. Ellipsoidal Pipe Ends are often used to light an actor who is only a couple of feet from the set. Two 6x12 ellipsoidals at each end of thePipe should cross light the full width of the bay. -LW]
No. 1 pipe ends. Ellipsoidal lamps no. 1 and no. 5 are focused diagonally to center stage, and both are shuttered upstage and downstage to stay inside the first bay. The onstage, or bottom, edge of each light has been squared off on the shutters to keep the floor pattern tidy. [No. 1 Pipe 1 - 5][Ellipsoidals make it possible to accurately control the beam of light. Ellipsoidal Pipe Ends are often used to light an actor who is only a couple of feet from the set. Two 6x12 ellipsoidals at each end of thePipe should cross light the full width of the bay. -LW]
Figure 3
Backlight. Ellipsoidal backlight from the no. 4 pipe center position, on sharp focus. [No. 4 Pipe Center][Backlight high lights the head and shoulders and can be used to separate the actor from his background. From the front, backlight, like downlight creates matching patterns of parallel beams. Four 6x12 ellipsoidals could backlight the entire width of the bay. -LW]
Backlight. Ellipsoidal backlight from the no. 4 pipe center position, on sharp focus. [No. 4 Pipe Center][Backlight high lights the head and shoulders and can be used to separate the actor from his background. From the front, backlight, like downlight creates matching patterns of parallel beams. Four 6x12 ellipsoidals could backlight the entire width of the bay. -LW]
Figure 4
Fresnel backlight from the same no. 4 pipe center position, on half focus. [No. 4 Pipe Center][Notice the soft edge of the floor pattern. -LW]
Fresnel backlight from the same no. 4 pipe center position, on half focus. [No. 4 Pipe Center][Notice the soft edge of the floor pattern. -LW]
Figure 5
Combination showing no. 2 pipe fresnel x-light (lamps no. 2 and no. 3) and no. 4 pipe fresnel backlight, all focused to downstage center, all on half focus.[No. 2 Pipe 2 - 3, No. 4 Pipe Center][Again, cross and backlight will produce adequate, but shadow filled, illumination. The addition of a little front light from the Cove or Rail position will improve the audience's ability to read the actor's face. The Second Pipe fresnels, lamps 2 and 3, are on a sharp 60-degree angle cross-focus to center stage. See Figure 22
Combination showing no. 2 pipe fresnel x-light (lamps no. 2 and no. 3) and no. 4 pipe fresnel backlight, all focused to downstage center, all on half focus.[No. 2 Pipe 2 - 3, No. 4 Pipe Center][Again, cross and backlight will produce adequate, but shadow filled, illumination. The addition of a little front light from the Cove or Rail position will improve the audience's ability to read the actor's face. The Second Pipe fresnels, lamps 2 and 3, are on a sharp 60-degree angle cross-focus to center stage. See Figure 22
Figure 6
Downlights. No. 1 pipe ellipsoidal lamps no. 2 and no. 4. The focus is straight down and sharp. The downlight can be very dramatic but is not very good for faces. Viewed from the front, downlights create matching patterns of parallel beams. [No. 1 Pipe 2 - 4][The three downlights on the First Pipe can be worked together to create an evenly spaced wash, or controlled individually to develop a grid of specials. Twelve lamps, three per bay in four bays, can create a full stage grid. This pattern is seen in most of her dance plots. -LW]
Downlights. No. 1 pipe ellipsoidal lamps no. 2 and no. 4. The focus is straight down and sharp. The downlight can be very dramatic but is not very good for faces. Viewed from the front, downlights create matching patterns of parallel beams. [No. 1 Pipe 2 - 4][The three downlights on the First Pipe can be worked together to create an evenly spaced wash, or controlled individually to develop a grid of specials. Twelve lamps, three per bay in four bays, can create a full stage grid. This pattern is seen in most of her dance plots. -LW]
Figure 7
In order to show the comparison of control of the light beam in an ellipsoidal with the ambiant haze light of a fresnel, we have placed two figures on the stage. One figure is in the center of the light and the other is just outside the ring of light. Although the photograph exaggerates the situation a little, it tells the story clearly. In Figure 7 we have an ellipsoidal downlight on sharp focus, and we cannot see the second figure at all. [No. 1 Pipe 3]
Figure 8
In Figure 8 we have replaced the ellipsoidal with a fresnel, and the second figure has become visible in the ambiant haze of light, even though the fresnel is also on sharp focus. Both lamps are from the no. 1 pipe no. 3 position.[No. 1 Pipe 3]
Figure 9
Frontlight. An ellipsoidal from the center of the ceiling cove, or second balcony position, focused to downstage center. Upstage the shuttering is off the backdrop; downstage it is to the edge of the stage, and the sides are squared off for a cleaner floor pattern. By itself, this frontlight gives a very flat quality to the figure, even when x-focused, but it is good for seeing eyes in faces. [Cove Center][Because very few Broadway houses had Cove positions in the 50s and 60s, Frontlight lamps were usually mounted on the Balcony Rail. This meant that not only was the actor's face brightly lit, but so was the scenery behind him. -LW]
Frontlight. An ellipsoidal from the center of the ceiling cove, or second balcony position, focused to downstage center. Upstage the shuttering is off the backdrop; downstage it is to the edge of the stage, and the sides are squared off for a cleaner floor pattern. By itself, this frontlight gives a very flat quality to the figure, even when x-focused, but it is good for seeing eyes in faces. [Cove Center][Because very few Broadway houses had Cove positions in the 50s and 60s, Frontlight lamps were usually mounted on the Balcony Rail. This meant that not only was the actor's face brightly lit, but so was the scenery behind him. -LW]
Figure 10
Box lights. An ellipsoidal from the box-right position. In the shuttering it has been cut off the right proscenium, the upstage drop, and the edge of the stage downstage, which would include staying off the proscenium on stage left. [Box Right][Three 6x12 ellipsoidals should give a full stage wash. -LW]
Box lights. An ellipsoidal from the box-right position. In the shuttering it has been cut off the right proscenium, the upstage drop, and the edge of the stage downstage, which would include staying off the proscenium on stage left. [Box Right][Three 6x12 ellipsoidals should give a full stage wash. -LW]
Figure 11
An ellipsoidal from the box left position combined with a no. 2 pipe fresnel (lamp no. 2) focused to downstage center. [Box Left, No. 2 Pipe 2][The fresnel side light from the Second Pipe adds depth, but some fill from either stage right or the front is still needed. -LW]
An ellipsoidal from the box left position combined with a no. 2 pipe fresnel (lamp no. 2) focused to downstage center. [Box Left, No. 2 Pipe 2][The fresnel side light from the Second Pipe adds depth, but some fill from either stage right or the front is still needed. -LW]
Figure 12
Torm x-light. No. 1 torm left, lamp no. 3. An ellipsoidal focused straight across, covering the stage for the figure from stage right to stage left, or full x-stage coverage. [No. 1 Torm Left 3]This is the basic side light position for dance. In a musical or drama, this instrument could represent a rising (or setting) sun. Fill light could come from the stage right torm. -LW]
Torm x-light. No. 1 torm left, lamp no. 3. An ellipsoidal focused straight across, covering the stage for the figure from stage right to stage left, or full x-stage coverage. [No. 1 Torm Left 3]This is the basic side light position for dance. In a musical or drama, this instrument could represent a rising (or setting) sun. Fill light could come from the stage right torm. -LW]
Figure 13
Torm x-light. From both no. 1 torm left, lamp no. 3, and no. 1 torm right, lamp no. 3. Both are focused for head high at center and give full x-stage coverage. [No. 1 Torm Left & Right 3][This has become the standard mounting position for lighting dance. Compare the mid-torm cross light with the high side light from the First Pipe pipe ends. See Figure 2. -LW]
Torm x-light. From both no. 1 torm left, lamp no. 3, and no. 1 torm right, lamp no. 3. Both are focused for head high at center and give full x-stage coverage. [No. 1 Torm Left & Right 3][This has become the standard mounting position for lighting dance. Compare the mid-torm cross light with the high side light from the First Pipe pipe ends. See Figure 2. -LW]
Figure 14
Low x-light, or "shinbuster." No. 1 torm left, ellipsoidal lamp no. 4, focused straight across the stage and shuttered both upstage and downstage off the opposite, masking legs. It is also shuttered off the floor with the bottom of the light, making the beam invisible until someone moves into it. [No. 1 Torm Left 4][Like the mid-torm cross light, the shinbuster is one of the main stays of a dance lighting designer's vocabulary -LW]
Low x-light, or "shinbuster." No. 1 torm left, ellipsoidal lamp no. 4, focused straight across the stage and shuttered both upstage and downstage off the opposite, masking legs. It is also shuttered off the floor with the bottom of the light, making the beam invisible until someone moves into it. [No. 1 Torm Left 4][Like the mid-torm cross light, the shinbuster is one of the main stays of a dance lighting designer's vocabulary -LW]
Figure 15
Uplight. Ellipsoidals from no. 1 torms left and right, lamps no. 4. They are focused to head high at center stage. There is no shuttering upstage, and the light has not been shuttered off the floor. The only cuts are off the downstage masking legs (wings) opposite each lamp. [No. 1 Torm Left & Right 4]
Uplight. Ellipsoidals from no. 1 torms left and right, lamps no. 4. They are focused to head high at center stage. There is no shuttering upstage, and the light has not been shuttered off the floor. The only cuts are off the downstage masking legs (wings) opposite each lamp. [No. 1 Torm Left & Right 4]
Figure 16
A combination of uplight from no. 1 torm left no. 4 ellipsoidal and a high torm x-light from no. 1 torm right no. 1 ellipsoidal. The high torm lamp is shuttered off both the upstage and downstage masking legs. The stage right, or onstage, edge of the light has been shuttered to square off the pattern as we see it on the floor. [No 1 Torm Left 4, No. 1 Torm Right 1][The dancers are moving into the stage right light, so the stage left shin buster is providing fill light. As an alternative, the high side light could come from an ellipsoidal hung on the right end of the First Pipe. -LW]
A combination of uplight from no. 1 torm left no. 4 ellipsoidal and a high torm x-light from no. 1 torm right no. 1 ellipsoidal. The high torm lamp is shuttered off both the upstage and downstage masking legs. The stage right, or onstage, edge of the light has been shuttered to square off the pattern as we see it on the floor. [No 1 Torm Left 4, No. 1 Torm Right 1][The dancers are moving into the stage right light, so the stage left shin buster is providing fill light. As an alternative, the high side light could come from an ellipsoidal hung on the right end of the First Pipe. -LW]
Figure 17
High torm diagonals. Ellipsoidals in the first and second bay stage left, no. 1 torm left no. 1 ellipsoidal and no. 2 torm left no. 1 ellipsoidal . Focus is to center and covers the figure from left to center stage. [No. 1 Torm Left 1, No. 2 Torm Left 1][A second ellipsoidal, focused to the center line could be added to light the dancers from center to stage right. A similar effect could be produced with Pipe Ends. Notice that each bay has its own set of Torms. Most dance programs were done with four bays requiring a minimum of eight booms. -LW]
High torm diagonals. Ellipsoidals in the first and second bay stage left, no. 1 torm left no. 1 ellipsoidal and no. 2 torm left no. 1 ellipsoidal . Focus is to center and covers the figure from left to center stage. [No. 1 Torm Left 1, No. 2 Torm Left 1][A second ellipsoidal, focused to the center line could be added to light the dancers from center to stage right. A similar effect could be produced with Pipe Ends. Notice that each bay has its own set of Torms. Most dance programs were done with four bays requiring a minimum of eight booms. -LW]
Figure 18
To the high torm diagonal ellipsoidals we add a midtorm fresnel x-light in the first bay, no. 1 torm left no. 2 fresnel. The addition of the fresnel in the first bay gives more distance and separation to the two figures. The fresnel is focused straight across for full x-stage coverage in the first bay. [No. 1 Torm Left 1 - 2, No. 2 Torm Left 1]
Figure 19
To the high torm diagonals (No. 1 torm left, no. 1 ellipsoidal and no. 2 fresnel. No. 2 torm left, no. 1 ellipsoidal) we add the box boom left ellipsoidal. (See Figures 10, 11, 17 and 18.) [Box Left, No. 1 Torm Left 1 - 2, No. 2 Torm Left 1][The addition of the diagonal front light from the Box Boom will fill in some of the shadows.. -LW]
To the high torm diagonals (No. 1 torm left, no. 1 ellipsoidal and no. 2 fresnel. No. 2 torm left, no. 1 ellipsoidal) we add the box boom left ellipsoidal. (See Figures 10, 11, 17 and 18.) [Box Left, No. 1 Torm Left 1 - 2, No. 2 Torm Left 1][The addition of the diagonal front light from the Box Boom will fill in some of the shadows.. -LW]
Figure 20
Combination: Ellipsoidal x-light. No. 1 torm left no. 3 ellipsoidal, no. 1 torm right no. 3 ellipsoidal. Fresnel x-light. No. 2 pipe no. 1 and no. 4 fresnels. All focused to center stage. (See Figures 1 and 13.) [No. 1 Torm Left & Right 3, No. 2 Pipe 1 - 4][Some front light from the Cove or Balcony Rail would help the audience see the actor's face. -LW]
Combination: Ellipsoidal x-light. No. 1 torm left no. 3 ellipsoidal, no. 1 torm right no. 3 ellipsoidal. Fresnel x-light. No. 2 pipe no. 1 and no. 4 fresnels. All focused to center stage. (See Figures 1 and 13.) [No. 1 Torm Left & Right 3, No. 2 Pipe 1 - 4][Some front light from the Cove or Balcony Rail would help the audience see the actor's face. -LW]
Figure 21
Combination of the center ceiling cove ellipsoidal with the no. 2 pipe no. 1 fresnel. The frontlight by itself is flat, but by adding the no. 2 pipe end x-light we begin to achieve a little modeling on the figures. [Cove Center, No. 2 Pipe 1]
Combination of the center ceiling cove ellipsoidal with the no. 2 pipe no. 1 fresnel. The frontlight by itself is flat, but by adding the no. 2 pipe end x-light we begin to achieve a little modeling on the figures. [Cove Center, No. 2 Pipe 1]
Figure 22
Now by adding the no. 2 pipe fresnels from both ends of the pipe (lamps no. 1 and 4) and taking a lower-intensity reading on the frontlight, we still have good "face" light from the front but better modeling. (See Figures 1 and 9.) [Cove Center, No. 2 Pipe 1 - 4][The combination of frontlight from the ceiling Cove and cross light from the ends of the Second Pipe makes a good, all purpose general wash. The addition of Backlight would improve separation. Compare the light on the faces in this figure with the face light in Figure 21 -LW]
Now by adding the no. 2 pipe fresnels from both ends of the pipe (lamps no. 1 and 4) and taking a lower-intensity reading on the frontlight, we still have good "face" light from the front but better modeling. (See Figures 1 and 9.) [Cove Center, No. 2 Pipe 1 - 4][The combination of frontlight from the ceiling Cove and cross light from the ends of the Second Pipe makes a good, all purpose general wash. The addition of Backlight would improve separation. Compare the light on the faces in this figure with the face light in Figure 21 -LW]
Figure 23
Combination. No. 1 torm left, ellipsoidal no. 4 as an uplight, hitting the back of the figure on stage left; no. 1 pipe ellipsoidal no. 3 as a downlight on the figure center stage. [No. 1 Torm Left 4, No. 1 Pipe 3][A dramatic image for a brief moment in a show. Compare with the down lit figures in Figure 6. -LW]
Combination. No. 1 torm left, ellipsoidal no. 4 as an uplight, hitting the back of the figure on stage left; no. 1 pipe ellipsoidal no. 3 as a downlight on the figure center stage. [No. 1 Torm Left 4, No. 1 Pipe 3][A dramatic image for a brief moment in a show. Compare with the down lit figures in Figure 6. -LW]
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