Stage lighting is something that takes many years to learn to do properly. It's the center of many theater courses. There are many ways to light up a stage for a theater production or a musical performance, but there are also some basics that you should keep in mind when you are trying to make the light just right for a production.
Front Stage Lighting
Each lighting design should start with the front of the stage. It is important to put proper lighting there so that the audience can see the performance well and the performers can see what they are doing on stage. Any gap in front stage lighting will result in performers disappearing from the view of the audience, and unless that is part of the show, then you will want to prevent that from happening.
It is best to split the stage up into three sections and then apply the proper lighting to each section. There should be front stage left, front stage center, and front stage right, and you should allow for an overlap of each section to ensure that the entire stage is lit. In some cases the front stage lighting will be turned on when the performance begins, and then left on for the entire show. This is customary in a musical performance by an orchestra. Most of the time the front stage lighting needs to be controlled so that it can be turned off when a spotlight is used or to create mood in a scene or during a band performance.
The front center lights are normally hung from rigging that is located over the front of the stage. Most theaters and opera houses have rigging to allow for front stage lighting, and this should be utilized to avoid obstructing the audience's view of the performance.
If there will be several color changes to the front lights then it may be a good idea to invest in programmable LED lights that can change colors very easily. Standard stage lighting normally requires foil coverings called gels to change colors, and these are not easily changed during the course of a performance.
McCandless Approach
Stanley McCandless, a Yale theater professor, developed an approach to stage lighting that is becoming popular for all types of stage performance. McCandless preferred to light up individual parts of the stage as opposed to full sections of the stage or even the entire stage itself. When McCandless designed lighting for a performance he would break the stage down into various areas where action would take place. Then for each of those areas he would place two lights, one for the actors and the other for the scenery. This way McCandless could show only the actors and the parts of the stage that were necessary for the performance. If the backdrop played an integral part in a scene then McCandless would use a separate light to light up the backdrop. He did not subscribe to the notion that the entire stage should be lit, preferring to allow the audience to focus on the scene at hand and the props vital to that scene.
The McCandless approach is used by theaters all over the world today, and it helps to set moods for emotional performances, and it can also help to create a more dynamic atmosphere for performances that choose to not rely on stage production and props. If you are considering a career in stage lighting then you should spend some time studying the McCandless approach and see how that may fit into the ideas you have about proper stage lighting and production. It's best to allow your interpretation of stage lighting to evolve and change based on your experiences instead of becoming tied to one particular approach. The lighting engineer should be just as much of an artist as the performers on stage.
