EXPERIENCE DESIGNER
LIVE EVENTS
Apocalypse at the Rainforest Cafe
Role
Project Type
Year
Lighting Designer
2022
Theatrical Production
Apocalypse at the Rainforest Cafe is an original works piece in development that is a four-dimensional, 90-minute, no-intermission-thriller-experience. When night falls, the secret lives of the workers and animatronic animals of the Rainforest Cafe are exposed only to be immeasurably interrupted by the Illuminati's plot to take over the world. The top .001% of the rich and famous are cleansing the world to be sunshine, lollipops, and rainbow slime. The Illuminati put their headquarters at the first-ever Rainforest Cafe, but little do they know the animatronics are alive and f@#$ng ruthless. Apocalypse at the Rainforest Cafe is an exhibition of celebration, love, laughter, sadness, death, anarchy, and devastation -- everything that "life" and the fear of dying at any moment is composed of.
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Apocalypse at the Rainforest Cafe has been in the works since October 2021. The show came to life during our first two week workshop period in January 2022, ultimately culminating in a live stream and recording. While the workshop had to get cut short due to the Omicron variant, it was a great opportunity for me to build out the cues, finalize lighting looks, and prepare for our debut. This put us in the perfect place when it was time to open the show with an audience at CalArts' Coffeehouse Theater, an intimate 60-person blackbox space. With limited technology and lighting inventory, my goal was to create a visually stimulating and immersive environment, expanding past the stage and into the house.​
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Apocalypse at the Rainforest Cafe is still in ongoing development as we anticipate the public premiere at the June 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Retro Rave: CalArts Halloween 2021
Role
Project Type
Year
Scenic Designer
2021
Live Event
Retro Rave was the theme for CalArts' 2021 Halloween Party, a staple of the CalArts experience. Our theme was inspired by the vapor-wave, retro-wave, and retro-futuristic aesthetics, filled with bright colors, vintage computer graphics, and a juxtaposition of the new and old.
Working with another co-designer, we were tasked with creating a themed food station for the event. We thought about the location of our space and how it acts as a transitional space between a chill lounge and the main stage. We were inspired by vintage foods and commercials like TV dinners and frozen foods. We pulled inspiration from spaces around us to make the event as a whole more cohesive. One of our biggest inspirations was how the retro-futuristic aesthetic is filled with a balance of biological and artificial, which is what led us to use mannequins and vegetation.
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We also had to think logistically as this station had to serve 700+ people and had a tight budget. This led us to create a facade for folding tables out of hollywood flats, which was good for our budget and allowed us to create a visually pleasing station. Throughout the project, I created sketches, 3D models in Sketchup, cutlists, dimensions, and renderings.
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This was a collaborative project with Holly Webb.
