Cha See is a New York City-based lighting designer for theatre, environmental performance, and on-site installations. Her recent design for 59E59’s production of On That Day in Amsterdam needed to transport the audience to the colorful city of Amsterdam. To achieve this, Cha required a small light fixture with excellent color mixing capabilities – and she chose the Rosco Braq Cube 4C.
The production is about two young men who, with only one day to spend together, set off on a romantic journey through the city of Amsterdam. Moved by the spirits of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Anne Frank, On That Day in Amsterdam witnesses these two young dreamers discover the meaning of art, love, and loss. “The audience goes through the journey with the characters, letting them experience what it is like to be in love in the city,” noted Cha.
Because the production was limited to one day, the lighting design needed to showcase the different times of day. Cha recalled how portraying different times of day came with its own challenges because the production jumped to the past, then back to the present, and then into the future. Having a color-mixing fixture that could re-create all of the various colors of the city at different times of day became a priority. Based on her experience working with our Miro Cube 4C on a previous production, Cha knew that Rosco’s Braq Cube 4C fixtures would bring her vision to life.
The production used a combination of video and lighting to re-create a romanticized vision of Amsterdam on stage. By using the RGBW Braq Cube 4C, Cha was able to achieve the perfect hues needed match the colors created in the video design. “The lighting design helps envelop the world of color with video. With matching color in both the lighting and the video, we were able to provide a cohesiveness to create the best possible visual scape for the production.”
Cha not only picked the Braq Cube for its beautiful color output but also for its size. “The most challenging part was the presence of a scrim downstage and another scrim upstage,” Cha noted. “I did not use any front lights because of this reason. The cleanliness of the projections was integral to the process.” Measuring at 5” x 5” x 5.3”, the Braq Cubes were easily tucked away and used to illuminate the space in between the Scrims. Each Braq Cube ships with a set of spread lenses, and Cha used the wide lens to wash the space. She also made a snoot for each Cube with Blackwrap to control the spill and keep their output hidden from the audience’s view. Cha recalled, “It gave me a nice, beautiful wash on stage and having the audience not see the source made their effect even more successful.”
Originally from the Philippines, Cha See is an award-winning lighting designer. Her design for On That Day in Amsterdam recently earned her both a Drama Desk Award nomination and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play. To learn more about her work, please visit SeeLightingDesign.com or follow @seethruuu on Instagram.
If you would like to learn more about the fixture that Cha See used in her lighting design for On That Day in Amsterdam, please visit the Braq Cube 4C product page on the Rosco website.
Brittney Pecor June 22, 2023 Questions?
Prior to joining Rosco in 2018, Brittney worked as a lighting technician and light board operator in a variety of theatrical and concert venues. In her prior role as a Project Manager for our Rosco Architectural division, Brittney gained extensive knowledge of our architectural products as she built relationships with our customers. Her background in Live Entertainment and her experience with Rosco’s architectural products make Brittney a valuable resource for technicians and designers around the world.