Lighting Designer Erin Belpedio '11
Lighting Designer Erin Belpedio ’11, honored for her work by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology in 2010, is living proof that the show must go on. Instead of resting on her past honors and taking a well-deserved rest following graduation in May, Belpedio is back in the booth at the Anoka (Minnesota) Lyric Arts Main Street Stage working as the Assistant Lighting Designer for the musical Footloose with Designer Dan Thorson and Director Matthew McNabb. When Footloose opens and the lights go up on July 15, Erin’s “fingerprints” will be all over the production.
While at Gustavus and working with mentor and Technical Director Terena Wilkens, Erin garnered a number of honors for her lighting designs and her work in Anderson Theatre. She earned the 2011 Elco Corporation Theatre Award for Service & Leadership from the Department and was showcased for her lighting display for Falling Awake: A Physical Theatre Project, at the USITT national conference Design Expo in Kansas City, Mo., in May, 2010. The USITT Design Expo is a juried exhibit of scenery, costume, and lighting displays which occurs every other year. Belpedio’s lighting display was one of 14 selected for publication out of 147 exhibited designs. She also earned the Evelyn C. Anderson Technical Theatre Scholarship, Gustavus Department of Theatre and Dance, 2007-2011, and two Northern Boundary Section student scholarships to attend the USITT National Conferences in 2009 and 2010.
Belpedio graduated in May with a major in theatre and an emphasis in lighting design from the Department of Theatre and Dance. In her senior year at Gustavus, she designed the lighting for the Department’s performance of Shakespeare’s R&J and worked on the complicated media for the spring production of Hamlet with Micah Maatman. She had served as the assistant lighting designer in previous Anderson Theatre productions of Urinetown, The Lesson, and the Range of Motion dance concert.
A 2007 graduate of Coon Rapids High School, Erin developed her passion and skills for the “behind the scenes” technology that makes modern theatre work. She kept busy with high school productions (Our Town, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) and moved on to Anoka’s Lyric Arts Theatre with Wait Until Dark, To Kill a Mockingbird, You Can’t Take It With You and now Footloose.
What’s next for this talented young designer is anyone’s guess. Whatever or wherever it is, you can rest assured that Erin Belpdedio will be there and she’ll keep a light on for you.
Footloose opens on Friday, July 15 and runs through August 7 at the Lyric Arts Main Street Stage (420 East Main Street) in Anoka. Tickets range from $10-$25 and can be purchased on-line or through the Box Office by calling (763-422-1838). Additional information can be found at <http://www.lyricarts.org/on-stage/footloose>.