that the technology is a means to an end , that it really doesn ’ t mean anything unless there ’ s a real strong idea behind it . So technology shouldn ’ t drive the design , the design should drive the technology , but I found that if you think outside the box , you come up with solutions to challenges that may not have been out there . The biggest one is the first show on Broadway to use LED lighting was actually the one that I designed , Thoroughly Modern Millie . The set required four or five colours of linear diffuse lighting between these layers of applied steel layers on a building on a surround — basically “ Millie ’ s ” idealized vision of New York . And it was a layered , multifaceted skyline , arranged in the curve that fills the whole space . In between each layer of detail required four or five different colours of neon . And I thought , well , neon , in that kind of application seemed impractical . I just happened to be working at the time on an architectural project . And I met with some folks from Color Kinetics , which was a very , very early company , back then in 2002 . And I remember seeing iColor Cove which was purely an architectural product for interior cove lighting , and I thought , this might be the perfect solution for our set . So because of that , Color Kinetics iColor Cove was the first LED lighting on Broadway way before there was anything developed for entertainment applications . So I feel like I ’ ve always
LION KING
LION KING
been someone who ’ s embraced what ’ s next . Not because it ’ s cool , necessarily , or because everybody else is using it , but because I feel like it ’ s the perfect solution to a particular challenge . That ’ s how I feel philosophically , I feel like that ’ s why I ’ ve been able to stay with the changes that have been monumental . My early shows in New York , we used Two-Scene presets ; I didn ’ t have the budget to even use an early computer console , like an early memory desk , although they existed , of course , at that time .”
Reflecting on the current technology available now , Holder singles out Vectorworks Spotlight as an exceptional software tool . “ It ’ s the standard for what we do in lighting , design and theatrical lighting . In a line of work where things are constantly changing , the work of a lighting designer is kind of evolutionary , not only over the long term , but in the short term on every show that you do . Also Vectorworks Spotlight is sort of integral and so beautifully assimilated into the lighting culture . It ’ s designed in a way that really works , that really fits in perfectly to a lighting designer ’ s workflow . It gives us all the tools we need to make drawings and express ourselves in
LION KING
Summer 2023 | 27