About MePaul Collins is currently Associate Professor at Central Michigan University teaching courses in theatrical design and production, especially lighting and scenery design. As resident lighting designer for the Department of Theatre and Dance, Paul designs the lighting for two to three productions each academic year. Paul is also active in professional and academic theatres outside of the University. Recent professional designs include Little Shop of Horrors at Mason Street Warehouse (Saugatuck, MI), The Realistic Joneses at PURE Theatre (Charleston SC) West Side Story at Charleston Southern University, August, Osage County at the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville SC, and Hamlet with the Annapolis Shakespeare Company. See more work at www.pmc-design.com
In addition, Paul has often enjoyed collaborating on new works. While a graduate student, Paul worked alongside playwrights in the Iowa Playwrights’ Workshop in developing several new plays including Akarui (Jen Silverman), Landless (Andrew Saito) and Achilles, Scourge of Man (Kevin Artigue) for the Iowa New Play Festival. In addition he worked with Director/Choreographer Martha Clarke and Tony Award winning Lighting Designer Christopher Akerlind in developing In the Night, as part of the Iowa Partnership for the Arts. Paul holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, a Master of Science in Communications at Grand Valley State University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Lighting Design at the University of Iowa. |
About this siteIf you've stumbled across the site and find it useful, I'd love it if you would let me know by sending me an email or by filling out the form below.
If you're an educator and would like to use this site in your class, please also let me know, because tenure. If you would like periodic email notifications regarding the state of the website, please let me know by using the contact form below. |
Acknowledgements
This website would not have been possible without the instruction, mentorship, and support from so many people. Many of the techniques have been influenced heavily from my teachers, Bryon Winn and Rob Murphy, and I will forever appreciate the gift of lighting given to me by these incredible teachers and artists. I also owe a great debt to the artists with whom I have collaborated- directors and designers that have joined me in countless design and production meetings. I've learned so much from the designers that I've worked with, such as Eric Stone, Loyce Arthur, Al Sheffield, Courtney Schmitz, Maylan Thomas, Christopher Akerlind, Ann Dasen, Charlie Calvert, Janine McCabe and so many others. Thanks also to the directors who have worked with me to bring productions to life: Karen Libman, Todd McNerney, Joy Vandervoort-Cobb, Mark Landis, Evan Parry, Kurt Stamm, Martha Clarke, Brandon Bruce, and many more. Thanks to my colleagues and the administration at Central Michigan University for the opportunity to take a sabbatical from my real job to work on a number of different things including this project, which would have been impossible to complete while working a full load. Thanks to my students for helping me to hone the way that I talk about design- you're the heart of this website. Last but not least, thanks to my family who have chased me from state to state as I've been figuring out how to do this thing.
This website is dedicated to the memory of the artists, collaborators, and students who have inspired me, and are no longer with us: Hannah Strickland, Brennen Reeves, David Lee Nelson, David Thayer, Sunil Rajan, Sr. Eileen Minges, and my Dad.
This website is dedicated to the memory of the artists, collaborators, and students who have inspired me, and are no longer with us: Hannah Strickland, Brennen Reeves, David Lee Nelson, David Thayer, Sunil Rajan, Sr. Eileen Minges, and my Dad.