Lighting Design Concentration

Program Overview

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Lighting Design Concentration

Why Study Lighting Design?

You are passionate about theatre. You are creative, talented, and enjoy collaborating with others. In the Lighting Design concentration you’ll learn to think critically and create designs that support productions that address the current issues in our society. You’ll be actively engaged in our productions learning the practical skills needed to execute your ideas.

Why Study Lighting Design at MMC?

You will receive strong conservatory training in a robust theatre program while getting a well-rounded college experience. You will develop a pre-professional design process that integrates disciplines from across the College. Experience everything New York City offers as the center of the entertainment industry. You will learn from faculty members who are working professional designers. Our design and technology course sequence builds a thorough design process incorporating technical skills, theatre history, and practical experience. Our inclusive and diverse student body have opportunities to study with New York theatre professionals, design mainstage productions, establish professional contacts, participate in a one-on-one mentorship, and obtain internships with some of New York’s major theatre designers, theatres, television studios, and film companies. Get ready for a career in the entertainment industry or for graduate school applications by preparing a professional portfolio.

What You Will Learn

• You’ll support dramatic storytelling by learning to paint with light to evoke the correct ambiance for a production.
• You’ll learn the technology involved in creating exciting and dynamic shows.
• You’ll have the opportunity to design the lighting for a show in our Theresa Lang Theatre and also work designing for our other venues. Through coursework and experiential participation in mounted production opportunities, you’ll learn visual and dramatic analysis, conceptualization, and research skills needed to plan designs and effectively present them to directors and other production team members.

Program Highlights

Equity Through Design Mentorship Program

Our students attend panels given by professional designers from United Scenic Artists Professional Design Union for Theatre, Television, and Film discussing their careers and the paths students can take after they graduate. Some of our students are paired with a professional designer in their concentration for a year-long one-on-one mentorship experience.

Exciting NYC Internships

Experience working as an intern in New York theatre, film and television. Design and Technology students have worked at Saturday Night Live art department, New York Public Theatre shops, The Lighting Syndicate, David Korins Studio and other professional designers.

Senior Design Showcase

All design students take a senior design seminar course where they get to collaborate on large projects. They get to create a digital portfolio to present to potential employers or graduate school applications.

Careers and Outcomes

Marymount Manhattan College theatre alumni are working on Broadway, off-Broadway, in television, in film, at regional theaters, and everywhere in between. Many of our students also go on to graduate schools across the country and the world.

Internships

• Saturday Night Live
• Atlantic Theater Company
• Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center
• Millbrook Playhouse
• The Broadway League
• The York Theatre Company
• Harbor Pictures, and many more!

Careers and Graduate Studies

• The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
• Saturday Night Live
• New York Public Theatre
• Santa Fe Opera
• Julliard School
• Yale University Drama School
• Carnegie Mellon University Drama School
• NYU Tisch School of the Arts

The Theresa Lang Theatre

No matter your major or concentration, Theatre Arts students have the opportunity to learn, design, work, and perform in the College’s 250-seat theatre. From our intimate J. William Bordeau Box Theatre to the Great Hall, MMC has a range of performance spaces serving the Theatre Arts program.