TOUR MANAGER TREVOR ALBAIR reached out to me in April 2023 to discuss production design for this Canadian singer, who was about to embark on her first headlining tour that would begin in North America. The artist wanted a simple, unique look for her show that would take place in small to medium sized venues like The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, where the pictures on this page were taken.

Lauren and Trevor were already working with creative director Connor Brashier on her overall look and branding for her new album “Mirror” and sought a production design that would continue Connor’s work while being able to fit in a bus trailer along with a small audio and backline package. Challenge accepted!

Lauren wanted a small riser to give here somewhere to stand for the show opening. This strategy was perfect for the kind of venues she would be playing, using some vertical space to draw attention to her and show off, in full length, the stunning outfits chosen by her stylist. We decided on an elegant, simple set of curved stairs extending downstage from this small platform, between two band risers that would be skirted in fabric to match the white stairs. Connor and I worked in a live video chat with Vectorworks on the screen as we played around with different stair configurations and experimented with different treatments and finishes in real time. The entire set would take the light from just four Martin Mac Aura XB fixtures positioned on the floor at the downstage corners.

Lauren chose to place the name of the tour on an otherwise black backdrop so that the branding “mirror tour” would both be featured and become part of the background, which would fill up with beams from four Martin Mac Encore fixtures placed on the floor upstage. To add an element of three dimensionality to the stage, four Source Four Fresnels were chosen to be placed on stands just behind the band, giving us an organic, tungsten glow of backlight while themselves becoming set pieces with their barn doors and fresnel lens faces.

Lighting Director Amy Edge programmed the show in rehearsal in Los Angeles, and she continues to refine the show as the tour progresses. This is the first Penlight project on the road using the MA3 console in MA3 mode, and Amy is able to quickly clone house fixtures in to the show file to augment her compact floor package.