Robert Beaucheane

ROBERT BEAUCHEANE lives a creative life in the Northeastern United States. He has been a visual artist, drummer and singer in a band, a professional Voice Over Artist, an actor, director, and a Lighting Designer & Director for concerts and theatrical productions. He has been fortunate enough to earn his living doing what he loves for most of his life.

ANGELA: How did you get started with theater and concert lighting?

ROBERT: Back in 1980 I had a child on the way and took a job with a band running lights and sound for them that actually paid more than I was making playing drums in my own band. It was a very simple setup with lights but got me interested in the different looks I could give the band and give a sort of “performance” with them with the lighting.

ANGELA: What is involved in that?

ROBERT: Back then it was just a few lights that would illuminate each member of the band individually and a few specials that I could use for “hits” at certain parts of a song for dramatic effect. It then got me interested enough to want to light plays and musicals, as well. I have always been interested in art and have been drawing since I was a kid. This became an outlet for that. It’s like painting with light.

ANGELA: How do you balance the creative and technical aspects of the lighting?

ROBERT: The more I delved into lighting the more techniques I learned. And the more technical it became. I went from working with a lighting board that had around 16 channels to learning computer-controlled lighting that have 512 channels on each segment of lighting that are called “universes.” And you can work with an infinite number of universes depending on the venue. So learning how to program these lights on the computer-controlled boards became a passion, too. It was like the technical part was as fun as the artistic part.

ANGELA: Would you elaborate on the more creative aspects of concert lighting? Is that very different from lighting musicals, comedy or plays?

Concerts are very different from lighting plays and musicals. Plays and musicals often deal with real life situations. My job there is to light realistic places and make sure that the actors can be seen by the audience. But I need to also add emotion to scenes. 

For concerts the lighting isn’t about realism or storytelling. It’s creating pictures and shapes that enhance the music. It’s more abstract and colorful and, for me, fun.

ANGELA: What kind of venues do you work in?

ROBERT: I’ve worked in small clubs with bands and all different sized theaters for plays and musicals. From small “black box theaters” to 500 seat houses. I also designed and installed the permanent lighting for The Lyceum Hall for the Performing Arts in Burlington NJ. There I can work with bands, plays, and concerts of all types. I’ve done everything there from comedy shows to ballets, from rock, funk, and jazz bands to opera, and from kids’ theatre to plays and musicals.

ANGELA: How do you prepare for an event?

ROBERT: It very much depends on the event. For theater events, such as plays and musicals, I’m first given a script to read. Then I’ll have many meetings and correspondence with the director and the rest of the technical team. Then I’ll begin to plot lighting according to the set and actors on the set. Then I’ll start to “paint” the scenes using those lights according to the mood the director is looking to convey and the location of the scene and time of day. Then program each scene and transition into one stack of cues so that the entire show can be run by an operator by the touch of one button. For bands I have created multiple scenes with special lighting that can be manipulated throughout the performance. It’s called “busking.” It’s a sort of “on the fly” performance.

ANGELA: Have you had any formal training or education?

ROBERT: I’m completely self-taught. I learned everything I know through research and hands-on experience.

ANGELA: Do you feel education could have been beneficial?

ROBERT: I wish I had the interest in lighting when I was in school. I probably would have pursued theater lighting in college and have gotten the full education in what has become my passion now.

ANGELA: What other creative activities are you involved in?

ROBERT: Throughout my life I’ve been involved in one creative thing or another. Drawing, acting, drumming, and singing. The passion for lighting came when I realized I could combine all these activities into one thing.

ANGELA: Where can we see your work?

ROBERT: I’m working all the time at Lyceum Hall in Burlington NJ. They have one or two events there every month. I also design the lighting for a lot of theater groups in the Philly area.

ANGELA: What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were starting out?

ROBERT: That almost has a regret sound to it. I have no regrets except that I wish I had gone down this rabbit hole sooner!

ANGELA: What is one piece of advice you would offer to someone who is new to lighting?

ROBERT: Follow your passion and realize you will learn something new every day. Don’t become discouraged. You’ll have those eureka moments that are worth every minute you spend working hard.

ANGELA: What do you do about burnout?

ROBERT: Do something else entirely. Get away from what I’m working on. The answers usually come to me when I’m not thinking about the project. Then I’m reinvigorated and wind up working even harder.

Interview conducted in September 2025.