Download Lighting by Feder.

L
ate
& reat
G
american designers 1960-2010
Howard Bay
D
Patricia Zipprodt
Peggy Clark
Abe Feder
esigners participate creatively
in productions of art and
entertainment with the same level
of professionalism as performers and
directors, but designers names are less
often remembered and their contributions
tend to recede into the collective memory.
This book represents another effort by
USITT to raise designers’ public profiles
by establishing a record of their artistry.
As Raoul Pène du Bois told Elliott Arnold
during an interview for the New York World
Telegraph in 1940: “No designer can afford
to be modest. He has to fight hard for
what he wants in a show. Once I planned
to dedicate a book of my sketches ‘to the
producer through whose fingers slipped
some of my best designs.’”
preface
W
hen USITT launched the monograph series about major
American Designers in 2005, it was with the intention to
profile active designers who would be willing to attend the
Annual Conference & Stage Expo to share their life stories
and creative inspiration. Everyone loved the idea and five monographs
later, the series is an unqualified success. However, many regrets were
also expressed that so many designers who would have been the subject
of monographs were no longer alive and able to participate.
As USITT’s fiftieth anniversary approached, the idea for a remedy
presented itself—and this volume is the result. The twenty-five scenery,
costume, lighting, sound, and make-up designers included within these
pages were all active between 1960 and 2010 when the majority of
their career occurred. They all spent most of their lives working in the
theatre rather than in other venues and for other art forms, and all of
them dedicated themselves to working in the major theatre centers, in
particular New York City, where USITT was founded in 1960.
In addition, an attempt was made to identify designers whose
careers were not already represented in books recently published or still
in print, such as Jo Mielziner, who would obviously have been included
but for Mary Henderson’s excellent book about his life and career.
Literally hundreds of designers could fit this criteria, so effort
was also made to provide some variety of era and style, and also more
traditional definitions of diversity. Members and the leadership of
USITT Scene Designs and Technology Commission, the Costume
Designs and Technology Commission, the Sound Commission, and the
Lighting Commission all actively participated in selecting designers
to be included. The original list changed a bit, due to availability of
research materials, appropriate and willing authors, and schedules.
One can hope that the success of this venture will lead to more
publications that record—before it is lost to history—the great heritage
of designers in the United States.
8
preface
Many thanks are owed, to USITT’s leadership and membership,
with warm congratulations on reaching fifty years as a vital organization
serving design, production and technology professionals in the
performing arts industry. Appreciation is due to David Rodger and
Deborah Hazlett at Broadway Press who turned words and images into
this beautiful volume and who create lasting artistry from words and
images every quarter in USITT’s journal, TD&T. Kudos to the authors of
the essays who obviously loved their subjects and also were patient with
the editorial process (see “About the Authors” on page 250). Thanks also
to those who helped the authors with access to archives, illustrations,
and insights (see “Acknowledgements” on page 10). Merci bien to Arnold
Aronson for his excellent introduction that places the designers in this
volume in context.
Mucho gracias to my friends and colleagues in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, including Lynn Roundtree, editor extraordinaire, and the
support provided to me by the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill from the top levels of the administration to the ranks of faculty and
support staff, including Judy Adamson, Emily Elledge, Paula Goodman,
Rachel Morris, Laurie Holst, and Randy Medlin—all of whom helped me
balance my “day job” with this project. Warm thoughts to my lifeline and
life partner, Gordon Ferguson.
This book is dedicated to all the designers included within the pages
for their art, craft, and inspiration. We can no longer thank them in
person but can thank those others among us who continue to inspire.
Bobbi Owen
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
March 2010
9
lighting
1909 – 1997
written by
Annie O. Cleveland and
M. Barrett Cleveland
L
abe
feder
ighting By Feder—three words that defined a company, a
career and an unmatched credit in the theatre. As early as
1934, these words identified a young lighting wizard fresh from
Carnegie Tech. Abe Feder went on to collaborate on hundreds
of productions for the Federal Theatre Project. When the country
mobilized out of the Great Depression into World War II, Sergeant Abe
Feder joined the uniformed ranks, shifting his talents, like many in
the entertainment industry, from the commercial stage to supporting
the war effort. After VJ Day, the post-war economy opened doors to
a second vocation of illuminating buildings, bridges, airports, and
works of art. Throughout his seven-decade career, Abe Feder’s favorite
slogan was, according to Mel Gussow in his New York Times obituary,
“Push back the darkness.” Feder laid the foundation for the profession
of stage lighting and for what he later came to describe as “the larger
stage of life.”
Born in 1909, Abraham Hyman Feder grew up in the working class
city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His long-time associate, LaVerne Roston,
reminisced in a 2009 interview that “He was always involved with
lighting. When he was a young boy, he was mystified by how the embers
looked in the fireplace…” He spent a good deal of time around stage
doors instead of attending school and was especially fascinated with the
stage illusions of the popular magician, Thurston, who had the largest
traveling magic show on the vaudeville circuit. Feder’s sister took him
108
Abe Feder
lighting
Abe Feder on lighting bridge, c.1950. Courtesy Lighting By Feder.
to a performance, and when Thurston
solicited the audience for volunteers
to come to the stage for part of the act,
young Abe jumped at the opportunity
for a back stage view. Surrounded by
the lighting equipment and mechanics
for the illusions, he soaked up the
experience like a sponge—apparently
too much for Thurston’s comfort. “He
(Feder) saw all of the lights backstage
deceiving the people out front… He
began asking questions, and Thurston
said ‘get that kid outta’ here.’” He was
quickly shooed off the stage and returned
to his seat, but Feder had already
witnessed the power of light to reveal or
disguise action and form.
A bright and inquisitive boy, Abe
worked in the family’s butcher shop to
help make ends meet. Consequently
most of his grades were average, with
the exception of the A+ in “Electricity”
noted on his report card. When
Trick for Trick, lighting design by Abe Feder,
1932. Photo by Elite Studio, courtesy Lighting
By Feder.
Abe Feder
109
lighting
Two scenes from Macbeth, lighting design by Abe Feder, 1935, Federal Theatre Project production.
Courtesy Library of Congress.
graduation approached, his high school principal encouraged Feder
to find a university where he could combine his passion for the stage
with his aptitude for figuring out how the world can be manipulated by
light. At the time there were no courses of study in lighting design, but
Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) offered programs in
both theatre and engineering. He traveled to Pittsburgh to meet with
university administrators to plead his case for admission. After passing
a rigorous written test with flying colors, the dean agreed to admit Feder
with the understanding that he focus on his studies and maintain high
marks. Lighting his first production as a freshman, Romeo and Juliet,
he soon carved out his niche at the university. As a sophomore, he was
responsible for lighting effects for eleven productions and eventually
persuaded the university to purchase a new lighting switchboard.
Although he thrived at Carnegie Tech, he left after his second year to
pursue his career.
His first stop was New York, which he entered by walking through
the Holland Tunnel on the day the stock market crashed in 1929. After
stints at the short-lived Bronx Art Theatre and the Young Men’s Hebrew
Association (now the 92nd Street Y), Abe was given his first Broadway
lighting assignment in 1932 for Trick for Trick, aptly a production
with a magic theme. Although not credited for the lighting (that went
to director Harry Wagstaff Gribble), New York Times critic Brooks
Atkinson noted in his review of February 19, 1932, that Trick for Trick
“…is pure prestidigitation…Harry Wagstaff Gribble has directed the
110
Abe Feder
lighting
production with an enjoyable relish of windmachines, compressed air, and lighting hokum.”
At the age of twenty-three, Feder already had a
toe-hold as a professional in New York.
He joined the creative team assembled by
Orson Welles and John Houseman for their
production of Macbeth (sometimes referred to as
Voodoo Macbeth) produced by the Negro Theatre
Unit of the Federal Theatre Project. Established
in May 1935, the Federal Theatre Project was
the government’s ambitious attempt to organize
and produce theatrical events. Houseman had
engaged Feder for his short-lived 1933 production
of Three and One. He notes in his memoir, RunThrough (1972), “My only stimulation came
from a pale-faced, garrulous, exhaustingly eager
and ambitious young light expert just out of
Carnegie Tech. He was called Abe Feder.” The
…stage deceptions used for vanishing acts and mysterious appearances “black
magic.” Employing a series of plush black velvet draperies, the audience’s sense
of depth and perspective are all but lost under effective lighting.
Dr. Faustus, lighting design by Abe Feder, 1937, Federal Theatre Project
production. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Abe Feder
111
lighting
1937 production of Dr. Faustus, with Orson Welles playing the title role,
was the company’s most technically challenging production to date.
Save for a thrust which extended the stage over into the first three rows
of the theatre, there were no scenic elements. Welles shared Feder’s
fascination for magic and magicians. Conceived as a magic show,
Faustus incorporated one of the most effective of all stage deceptions
used for vanishing acts and mysterious appearances—“black magic.”
Employing a series of plush black velvet draperies, the audience’s
sense of depth and perspective are all but lost under effective lighting.
Houseman continued in his memoir: “Orson, with Feder’s assistance,
elaborated and extended this device. By using almost no front light and
crisscrossing the stage with parallel light curtains and clusters of units
carefully focused on the sides and from overhead, he was able to achieve
mystifications that would have impressed the great Thurston.”
Puppeteer Bil Baird, who was fabricating and operating the puppets
representing the Seven Deadly Sins, described the apparatus as “miles
Dr. Faustus, lighting plot by Abe Feder, 1937, Federal Theatre Project production.
Courtesy Library of Congress.
112
Abe Feder
lighting
My Fair Lady, lighting design by Abe Feder, 1957, Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York.
Courtesy Lighting By Feder.
of black velvet and tubes of about five foot and maybe twenty foot long
on the inside of which he had Lekolites—and they made columns of
light.” Included in the 114 fixtures in Feder’s lighting plot were thirtyone 1000W beam projectors—the brightest fixtures of the day. As
reported in Orson Welles–The Road to Landau by Simon Callow, “So
many lights were hung from the grid that it broke under the weight.”
Brooks Atkinson opened his New York Times review of January 9, 1937,
by saying, “Although the Federal Theatre Project has some problem
children on its hands, it also has some enterprising artists on its staff.”
He continues noting that the play, presented on a bare stage, was “relying
upon an ingenious use of lights to establish time and place.” Feder’s
lighting for Faustus became legendary, but he paid a heavy price for the
tumultuous times spent with Welles and the Federal Theatre Project.
The opening of Faustus proved to be such a monumental task that he
moved into the theatre and was later hospitalized with a breakdown after
opening. Adrian Dannatt, in the Independent (London), speculated that
“Some of this may have been occasioned by his ferociously antagonistic
relationship with Welles (amusingly documented in Simon Callow’s
recent biography) and Feder’s own short temper.”
Abe Feder’s tenacity would later win him a landmark case arguing
for the rights of designers to their work. In 1957 the producer of My
Fair Lady, Herman Levin, planned to take that show on the road. Feder
informed Levin of his fee for relighting the show for the road, but
Abe Feder
113
lighting
instead of paying for Feder’s design, Levin hired the head electrician
to light the tour based on the original lighting plot. Feder sued and
eventually won a settlement—$1.00. Sonny Sonnenfeld, a USITT Fellow
with over fifty years in stage lighting development and manufacturing,
commented on the legal precedent established by Feder’s settlement,
“Now any original design modified to take out on the road is a new
design—not just for lights, but sets and costumes too.”
He was also directly responsible for the development of the
workhorse PAR56 and PAR64 sealed beam reflector lamps.
Between 1945 and 1990 he filed U.S. patents on several
architectural fixtures and accessories
Feder was recognized as a “Houdini of the switchboard” and dubbed
by critic George Jean Nathan as “a genius with light.” Lighting By Feder
credits include some of Broadway’s biggest hits: The Boy Friend (1954),
Inherit the Wind (1955), My Fair Lady (1956), Camelot (1963), and On
a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965). Reflecting back on his long
career in David Masello’s article in Architectural Record (1990), Feder
emphasized that “there is no such thing as creating with light. Light is
the nature of its revealment. In terms of the revealment of something,
the talent comes out not in the search for an effect, but in how you
reveal it…The great confusion is that lighting is not engineering.”
Abe Feder was a determined problem solver. “Heroic failure never
bothered me, because if you don’t try, nothing happens.” If there was
not a way to make an effect work, he invented one. He worked tirelessly
developing more efficient lamps and collaborated with Clarence
Birdseye (of frozen food fame) on the first reflector bulb (R40) back in
the 1930s. He was also directly responsible for the development of the
workhorse PAR56 and PAR64 sealed beam reflector lamps. Between
1945 and 1990 he filed U.S. patents on several architectural fixtures and
accessories. On occasion, however, his determination to produce the
lighting effects he envisioned caused problems. John Conklin designed
only one show with Feder, the 1971 Broadway production of Archibald
MacLeish’s Scratch. Conklin, who had designed the set, recalled:
The set was this barn that covered the whole three sides. Of course he
kept saying “how am I going to get side light in, back light and stuff.”
I came back from lunch one day and heard this strange noise. I
came out on stage, and it was like a little saw sort of coming through
the set. Abe Feder was on top of a ladder sawing a hole in the back
wall of the set himself.
I said, “Abe you can’t do that.”
He was going to cut a round hole for a light!
114
Abe Feder
lighting
Two nights after the opening of Angel Street on December 5, 1941,
Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. During World War II,
Feder lit only three productions before joining the Army Air Corps, which
assigned him to light Winged Victory, which opened in 1943. Following the
war, he did not return to Broadway until 1950 when he lit the short-lived
RCA Building as lit by Abe Feder, c. 1985. © Bo Parker, courtesy Lighting By Feder.
Abe Feder
115
lighting
The Gioconda Smile. This hiatus from Broadway did not mean that he was
not busy lighting—he was just illuminating buildings instead of actors.
Lighting By Feder company records for 1946 show only a single
production, The Fighting Jew, a pageant staged by Jewish war veterans at
Madison Square Garden. In the same year, however, Abe Feder shifted
into architectural lighting with almost thirty projects. These included
residences, shops, restaurants, beauty salons, and apartment complexes.
As Feder’s fame spread, he was commissioned to light a variety of major
projects, including the Terrace Plaza (1946), and The United Nations
(1949), and Idlewild (now Kennedy) Airport (1956). In 1957 he lit 666
Broadway—The Tishman Building—which was the first illuminated
New York skyscraper. The RCA (now GE) building at Rockefeller Plaza
in 1985 was his most famous architectural lighting design. Taking a
seventy-story building which virtually disappeared into the night sky,
Feder made the RCA building the first in Manhattan to be lit from
top to bottom on all four sides. He personally placed 342 customdesigned fixtures on the roof tops of nine adjacent buildings where
they bathed the structure with fifty million lumens. Feder reflected on
his architectural commissions: “Theatre is the most wonderful training
possible for the profession, but how can you get excited about a fiftyfoot stage after you’ve lit a fifty-story building?”
While lighting design was integrated into most theatre curricula
at the time, it was generally not taught as a distinct discipline in
architecture and interior design programs. Beginning in 1980 Feder
developed and offered a series of hands-on architectural lighting
workshops. He was a dedicated teacher of lighting design, and although
he was never a permanent member of a teaching faculty, lessons from
him were definitely a hands-on experience. At Juilliard he conducted
his classes on a stage, employing various teaching aids like levels,
walls, scrims, and a ceiling piece loaded with a variety of architectural
fixtures. Interior designer and teacher, Terri Weinstein, took a master
class from Feder. She relates that “The seminar he gave that day in New
York was astonishing, because it was like a master magician teaching a
bunch of little magicians how to maneuver in the world of lighting. It
was all about residential lighting; he was showing all the new miniature
stuff and he was saying this is what we use in the theatre and you can
use it residentially.” Taking Feder’s class to heart, she installed forty
new incandescent lamps he demonstrated inside a soffit in a client’s
bedroom for indirect lighting. The effect was stunning, but the clients
called the next day to say that there was so much filament noise in the
bedroom that they could not sleep. In a panic, Weinstein called Abe.
He started laughing, and barked, “Listen to me. I want you just to do
what I am saying and don’t ask me any questions. So just do it—we’ll
talk about it later.” He instructed her to buy an automobile transformer
and have her electrician install it in a remote location to dissipate the
116
Abe Feder
lighting
filament noise. The bedroom was silent. Weinstein exclaimed, “Abe is
my hero!” Jules Fisher sums up Feder’s passion for the field: “He talked
about architecture, talked about inspiration, about dedication. He loved
everything he did…it was contagious.”
The Tony Awards for Lighting Design were not presented until 1970,
leaving Abe with only four award-eligible productions. His lighting for
the 1975 production of Goodtime Charley received nominations for
both the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award. In 1969 Carnegie
Mellon University presented Feder with an Alumnus of Merit Award.
He was the founding president of The International Association
of Lighting Designers in 1969 and in 1976 named Fellow of the
Illuminating Engineering Society. USITT recognized Abe Feder as its first
Distinguished Lighting Designer with a special citation which reads: “In
recognition of his contribution to the theatrical and architectural lighting
worlds as pioneer, inventor, leader and master of light.”
Abe Hyman Feder died after a long illness on April 24, 1997. He
was preceded in death in 1990 by his wife of thirty-eight years, Ceil
Grossman Feder. Despite declining health, Abe Feder had big plans
to the very end. LaVerne Roston recalled, “At the end he was meeting
with the Cardinal at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He wanted to light the
Sistine Chapel—he was already preparing letters to the Pope.” On
April 28, 1997, as a fitting tribute the illumination Feder gave to New
York, lights at Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building were
turned out for one hour. Although the New York skyline he loved to
light was dimmer for a while, Lighting By Feder had forever changed
how we see and use light. n
Abe Feder
117