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	Love You I Do: Theatrical Lighting	Chapters Introduction Cast, Crew & Technical Details Short & Long Synopsis Bringing the Legend to Life Listen: Bill Condon Adapts the Book Singing and Dancing in "Dreamgirls" Cadillac Car: Crafting a 'Dreamgirls' Universe The Light and Color of an Era Love You I Do: Theatrical Lighting Jimmy's Rap: Costumes, Makeup and Hair The Legacy of "Dreamgirls" Theatrical Trailer for Dreamgirls More Movie Posters MORE POSTERS College Favorites Music Posters Various Hot Girls Female Musicians Pop Music For His Dorm Best Sellers
	“Never ever felt quite like this Good about myself from our very first kiss. I’m here when you call. You’ve got it all And confidence like I never knew.” As a counterpoint to the realistic approach taken with live action sequences for the musical numbers, Condon wanted to bring back all the glamour and fireworks that galvanized the original production. Only one team could achieve that level of perfection in terms of the lighting design – Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. “‘Dreamgirls’ has a show-within-a-show aspect to it, and authentic theatrical lighting was essential to the look of the numbers,” says Mark. “We were so lucky on ‘Dreamgirls’ to have the best theatrical lighting team in the world,” says production designer Myhre. “It was an honor to collaborate with Jules and Peggy.” Tony-winning theatrical lighting designers Fisher and Eisenhauer worked in tandem with Schliessler and his team to seamlessly integrate the styles of the performances with the off-stage sequences. A close collaboration was required, in order to keep their lights in sync with his cameras. In a theater, an audience member only has one point-of-view, whereas the motion picture camera has a transitional, moveable pointof- view. “In theater, we do things to change the audience’s perspective by moving light around, adjusting levels,” says Fisher. “In film, we have the added element of the motion of the camera to consider.” “Since theatrical lighting is designed to be viewed from only one direction and with the naked eye, it doesn’t necessarily translate into motion picture lighting,” explains Schliessler. “In the disco, we basically had 200 lights burning right into the camera…and if they’re too bright and too close, they burn out. Our natural eye is more tolerant of extreme lighting levels than we can record on film. So I told Jules, ‘I have to bring these levels down a little bit,’ and in time they completely got it. It was a learning curve for all of us and ended up being a great collaborative experience. Fisher elaborates, “Lighting for the stage is totally to please the eye. For film, we have to adjust it so that the emulsions of the film capture what the eye sees, and they’re very different responses.” Though they let their imaginations run wild, the team also became guardians of accuracy and verisimilitude in creating sequences for the eras in which they’re set. “As lighting designers,” says Eisenhauer, “we are very concerned with maintaining the feeling of period, to make sure nothing is out of context or anachronistic.” And to also keep the story grounded in its musical roots. “Part of our design process is to choreograph the motion of light to match the music,” explains Fisher. “Not only to match it from a rhythmic standpoint, but from an emotional standpoint as well. Lighting changes themselves are musical. If there is a percussive beat, the light changes on that beat; if there is a swell of violins, it can change over time with the swell. It’s a way for the musical and visual elements to become seamlessly intertwined.” When Myhre created a disco inside Los Angeles’ Tower Theatre, where The Dreams perform their version of “One Night Only,” it became the ideal arena for Fisher & Eisenhauer to bring their immense stage lighting acumen to the production – Fisher had designed the lighting for New York’s famed party palace, Studio 54. “One Night Only” utilized more than 200 lighting instruments. “The sequence is reminiscent of those glorious ’70s disco days,” says Mark. “Jules had created the lighting towers and those lights that descended while people danced at Studio 54, which was an old theater that had been turned into a club. So we had him help turn the beautiful Tower Theatre into a disco.” For the song “Dreamgirls,” which represents The Dreams’triumphant attainment of mainstream success, Condon and Myhre worked with the lighting team to create a sense of the group taking over the world. “We embedded light bulbs into our bluesequined drape surrounding them,” describes Myhre. “And when they sing, ‘All you have to do is dream,’ some of the lights appear. It gives the effect of a star field. Then, on another line, more lights appear, and you realize they’re surrounded by lights – not just embedded in the drapes and walls; they’re hanging everywhere. Then we lower the front-lighting on the drape so it vanishes behind the stars and Tobias’ beautiful camera work swirls around and it feels like they’re floating through the universe.”  Next Page: Jimmy's Rap: Costumes, Makeup and Hair

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