Aaron Pelzek – Lighting Designer

By Alex Smith One of the least visible, yet most integral positions in the theatre is that of the lighting designer. The theatre is an artistic medium that requires, in its fruition, the ability to both see and hear what is happening on the stage in order to fully comprehend what the playwright has written without looking at the page. Quite simply, without the work of the lighting designer, fully half of the theatrical experience would be missing. Not... Read More

Design and Process with Clark Ellefson

By Kristine Hartvigsen Clark Ellefson has an idea − but instead of the figurative light bulb hovering over his head, imagine one of the artist’s glowing tin perforated Incredible Hulk lunchboxes instead. Or how about a charming postmodern “Mini Mojo” lamp with and artisanal paper shade. Ellefson is full of ideas, in fact, and you can bet there’s a unique fixture shedding light on every one of them. It’s not unusual to spot Ellefson making... Read More

Off Pointe and Into the World – Costume Designer Alexis Doktor

by Susan Levi Wallach Twelve weeks after dancing the role of Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty, the Columbia City Ballet’s season finale – which also is twelve weeks into her retirement as a ballet dancer – Alexis Doktor is thinking that the only thing better than being a dancer is not being a dancer. “I never liked ballet class,” she says over midmorning coffee. “I never liked the rehearsal process or anything in the studio. I’m not going... Read More