Good morning! Gonna start the day with a conversation about light! From the USITT catalogue:

New York lighting designer Shirley Prendergast will receive the 2014 Distinguished Achievement Award in Lighting Design for her ground-breaking career, including becoming the first African-American woman lighting designer to gain admittance to the United Scenic Artists in 1969 and the first to design for a Broadway show in 1973. The session will spotlight her prestigious career, including work for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Negro Ensemble Company, and Crossroads Theatre, among others.

I'll start when the session comes up!

Shirley Prendergast is on the right. Kathy Perkins (a great LD in her own light, on the left) led the interview.

Prendergast came to light late. Started as a biologist.

"In my family at three years old, when you say you're going to be a doctor, you better be a doctor."

Parents divorced when she was a child. 6 months in Boston, 6 months in New York with each parent. She finally decided to go to school in NYC and spend summer in Boston. She later decided instead to follow friends to summer camp.

"I'm not very tall, but I have a mean punch."

She wanted to make money, worked her way up the bacteriologist ladder. She worked in a hospital, but she heard about a course in lighting at the Y. It didn't interfere with her career, so she took the course. Teacher was designer for Alvin Ailey company. They took the students around, and he encouraged her.

Lester Polakov had the Studio and Forum of Theatre Design. She took classes there. He had teachers like Tom Skelton, Peggy Clark. Peggy Clark used to design all the summer shows at Jones Beach on Long Island. Ken Billington and Shirley used to go to Jones Beach with Peggy Clark, and she would go back to work the next day blurry eyed.

Tom Skelton decided she should take test for the union. "It's a great traumatic experience and if you pass, you can be my assistant." She first took it in 1967, and didn't pass. Was very discouraged. Took it agin next year - and got in.

She became an assistant lighting designer.

"In school you get theory, you can always use theory. But you learn by doing. You're gonna make mistakes, oh-ho you're gonna make mistakes."

She assisted Jennifer Tipton, Tom Skelton, DAivd Segal -- "I ran the gamut." "I cheated a lot, I took some of their stuff."

Friends with Audra Williams, who used to light for Negro Ensemble Company. She was recommended to the artistic director, and the resident designer was Jules Fisher. "One thing I did learn from Jules besides lighting was that if you take the crew out to dinner on opening night you're a big time deal."

So she assisted Jules. She enjoyed assisting at first because the learning aspect. You watch Jennifer light a scene, and you watch Tom Skelton light a scene, and you learn the difference." "You learn what YOU want to do with your lights. And you learn what you have to know what you want to do but also what the director wants you to do."

Most directors can't read a ground plan. They'll say what they want, but you know you can't do it, so what do you do? You learn to talk to director and understand where they're coming from, you can talk most of them into mostly anything.

First Broadway show: The River Niger.

What was that like? "Scary."

She had an electrician on that show she had worked with before, so when she got the contract, she recommended her electrician. She knew she had people around her who understood her. The set was kitchen on one side, and dining room on the other. And lighting was time of day. IF they were in the kitchen, lighting was down in the dining room, and vice versa. Her friend said "You did that very well." And she knew she was a big-time designer. Ken Billington saw the design and said "ooh they look good."

First african-american woman to pass the exam and enter the union in lighting.

She's more consulting now than designing. But she won't do email. Doesn't like to use cell phone. But she taught herself Vectorworks.

"I like the 3d aspect of it."

She doesn't use LightWright, she prints her own spreadsheets. She made up her own paperwork.

"I think a designer should design what would help them. because you need paperwork, no two ways about it. When you're in the business long enough you know what you need and how to do it."

Is there a Shirley Predergast look? "I hope not." "When you light you light 3 things: The play, the house you're going into, and how you feel. Not only how you feel about the play, but how the actors feel to you, because that's who you're lighting. People don't look at the lighting. If they can see the individual who's acting and they can understand them, and know they turned on a light, that's what works."

Do you enjoy certain types of show more than others? "Not really. If I read it and I like it, that's good."

What was the last show you worked on that you didn't like? "I feel that if you put your name on something you better do the best you can. And if you say you're going to do it, your word is your bond. Even if you don't like it, but you do it well, you're in business."

You should treat a show in someone's garage the same as one on Broadway.

re: new equipment: "I am happy with improvements that make it easier on the designer. LED lights are fine when you're working with people who have a lot of money. The theatres I'm working with now can't afford all that stuff. ... But they're good. I love moving lights. But people I work with can't afford moving lights."

What tech improvement is she still waiting for?

"Design is a lot of paperwork, and as long as you have an assistant to do it for you, you're fine."

You have to talk companies into giving you paperwork that you can work with and you can change.

She has a favorite downlight color: "I love R74. R74, you can do so much with it as a downlight. I think it works marvelously well in anything you do. As long as you can separate it."

How she teaches design/what she tells younger designers coming up: "Think about it. And if you think about it long and hard enough you'll come to the right conclusion."

Now talking about the paucity of lighting designers of color in USA829. Something we need to address...

What was your biggest challenge? A LD of color? Being a woman of color? A young LD in NYC trying to break into B'way? All of it?

"The challenge was, the first time you went to theater they didn't know who you were, they would send you to the costume designer."

She would greet electrician, and tell them "this is your house, tell me what you want me to do. As long as you respect what they do, you're in business."

Her working as an assistant meant the electricians got to know her, so when she came in as a designer, they knew her, and they would respect her.

After the talk, Vickie Scott from the Lighting commission of USITT presented Shirley with her award. I got a great shot of Shirley with it, and I thought it would be great to end with it!