Galileo Galilei

Co-Production between UNCG Music and UNCG Theatre - Spring 2015

The lighting design for the opera Galileo Galilei drew inspiration from the Heavens. Heavens as in the Cosmos, and Heaven in the spiritual sense. These are the two struggling forces found in this opera. The cosmos would make extensive use of Star Fields, utilizing a wide range of techniques for creating stars onstage ranging from fiber optics, to LEDs, to projections to twinkle lights. The spiritual heavens would be represented through stained glass windows, and a high angle of light drawing a visual line to heaven.

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Galileo at the end of his life remembering his Daughter

LED and Projected Stars - The memory continues

Rosco Image Pro Projections are added to the Star Field as Galileo continues to reflect on his life.

The full impact of the Cosmos is revealed with a fiber optic drop, LED drop, rotating projected Stars on the dome of the auditorium, and Star netting behind the grill of the auditorium. Meanwhile, Galileo tells his tale from high atop a stair case placing him in the middle of it all. I called this my “Professor X” moment.

Galileo coming down from his “Professor X” moment.

Galileo’s recantation

Galileo’s amid the stained glass at his trial

A Dialogue on the Two Systems of the World

Galileo with his daughter in the church

An opera within the opera: Galileo as a child watching the story of Orion.