London - 1984 - Lighting Designer
Broadway - 1987 - Lighting Designer
Japan/Australia - 11/1987 - Lighting Designer
Starlight Express (1984)[]
The challenge of lighting Starlight Express is to do with the movement and scale. The actors cover huge expanses of track in a matter of seconds. A simple lighting idea of the stalls track involves as many as 120 lighting instruments - two or three ideas use as much equipment and many full scale musicals. The sheer complexity of installing all the lighting equipment took a full crew many weeks working day and night.
The object of the exercise was to achieve a lighting rig which could immediately respond to the movement of the set and the skaters and the emotional mood of the music. To this end we developed a system of "intelligent" spotlights which redirect themselves during the evening and undergo some 40 colour change sequences. A "normal" musical will have between 125 and 175 lighting cue states. Starlight has nearly three hundred. We had to stop when the lighting computer's memory bank was totally full...
Biography (1987)[]
Over the years since moving from New York to London in 1968, David Hersey has been recognised as one of Europe's leading lighting designers. He has designed the lighting for some 200 productions for most of England's major theatre, opera and ballet companies. For ten years he was lighting consultant to the National Theatre. He has lit many plays for the RSC both in London and in Stratford as well as numerous operas and ballets for the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Ballet Rambert, London Contemporary Dance, Scottish Ballet and The Glyndebourne Opera Festival. He is the founder of DHA Lighting Limited, which specialises in the design and manufacture of lighting equipment and effects. He was chairman of the Association of Lighting Designers from 1984 to 1986.
Awards:
- Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle - Lighting 1979 Evita
- Drama-Logue Critics Award - Lighting Design 1980 The Crucifer of Blood
- Tony Award 1980 - Evita
- Maharam Foundation Design Award 1982 - Nicholas Nickleby
- Tony Award 1983 - Cats
- Drama-Logue Critics Award Lighting Design 1985 - Old Times