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“Working was a fun show to work on because most people can relate to the characters. It was also a challenge designing lights in the black box,” says Chris Valenti, a junior economics and business major from Summit, N.J., and a graduate of Governor Livingston High School.
“Chris really pays attention to the touring groups that come through and develops ideas from these artists,” says his adviser, Dick Kendrick. “This is one of the strengths of Lafayette. Even though the school is small, our students actually have a chance to get down in the trenches and see what design really looks like by practicing professionals, instead of just reading about it.”
Chris Valenti is pursuing a labor of love in an independent study this fall under the direction of Richard A. Kendrick, Lafayette’s technical director of cultural programs. He was lighting director for Lafayette College Theater’s recent production of the musical Working, adapted from Studs Terkel’s prize-winning book, in the Black Box Theater of the Williams Center for the Arts. He’ll also design lighting for other shows this term.
With songs by Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead, and James Taylor, Working celebrates the diversity and commitment of Americans in everyday occupations, including mill workers, grocery clerks, firemen, waitresses, secretaries, and construction workers.
“Working was a fun show to work on because most people can relate to the characters,” Valenti says. “It was also a challenge designing lights in the black box for this show. It’s not a large space, and the show was a fairly involved technically. I had many things to work around.”
Kendrick says, “Chris came to production meetings and we discussed what kind of light plot would work best. He worked with a design team, but for the bulk of the project, the ideas were his.” He notes that Valenti has done a good job of absorbing design concepts used in the many professional productions staged at the Williams Center.
“Chris really pays attention to the touring groups that come through and develops ideas from these artists,” he says. “This is one of the strengths of Lafayette. Even though the school is small, our students actually have a chance to get down in the trenches and see what design really looks like by practicing professionals, instead of just reading about it.”
Valenti has a ton of experience in theater, including stage-managing several Lafayette College Theater efforts, among them recent productions of William Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life, Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, and All In The Timing, an evening of six one-act comedies by David Ives. He was also lighting director for the Marquis Players’ production of Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz’ Pippin last spring. Formerly called the Chaplain’s Musicals, the Marquis Players’ annual student productions have raised nearly $50,000 for local hunger and homelessness causes in 14 years.
Last November Valenti was technical director of Lafayette’s sixth annual Fringe Festival, sponsored by Lafayette College Theater, featuring students’ original plays, music, poetry, videos, and performance art.
“I would like to get into the field of theater, at least in the beginning of my career,” he says. “I would like to be a designer of some sort, or a technical director. I’d like to keep theater somewhere in my life in the future.”
Another Side of Chris
He is the trainer for the Lafayette’s club ice hockey team.