Junior lighting designer works as theatrical electrician for Syracuse Stage, SU Drama
Eddie Natal | Staff Photographer
Anna LiDestri said she loves the technical side of art, and lighting is especially special because it's an art form she can't actually touch.
For a long time, Anna LiDestri struggled with what career they wanted to pursue.
But when they came to Syracuse University, they found their passion in a career that often gets overlooked. LiDestri, a junior theater design and technology major, is a theatrical electrician and a lighting designer.
There is a lyric from the song “Last Hope” by Paramore that says, “It’s just a spark, but it’s enough to keep me going” that really struck LiDestri. Besides the fact that Paramore is their favorite band, the lyrics inspired LiDestri to get a tattoo of the passion that created a “spark” in their life and has kept coming back for more.
This past January, LiDestri tattooed an upside-down light bulb with an extra long cord down their left forearm. The tattoo was done at Sleepy Hollow Tattoo in Milford, Connecticut.
LiDestri works in the electrics shop for Syracuse Stage and SU Drama. As an electrician, their main responsibilities are to hang all of the lights for the stage and to help focus them.
LiDestri explained that essentially, their job is to make sure the lighting designer has everything they need to reach their artistic vision. But how can lights be art? LiDestri had this same question, which ultimately pushed them to go into the field.
With set design, you can touch the walls you put up, or sit on the couch on the stage that you designed. With costume design you can zip up a jacket or button a blouse. But you can’t touch light with your hands.
Anna LiDestri
What intrigued LiDestri the most was how one could create beautiful art with something that wasn’t tangible. The answer to this is what LiDestri is trying to figure out through their studies.
While these admirations of intangible art are what LiDestri likes most about being a lighting designer, there are other perks they enjoys as an electrician. LiDestri said they loves to be hands-on with their studies, and being an electrician allows them to do so. And they gets to do more than design — they learns about the different lighting instruments and really gets into the nitty-gritty of how they work.
Said LiDestri: “I love getting my hands dirty with the technical side of the art.”
Published on April 5, 2016 at 12:01 am
Contact: lmeyers@syr.edu
