Jacob Kaplan
Lighting Design

Photo By Rob Webster

About Me

Hello!
My name is Jacob Kaplan and I am currently a sophomore Lighting Design major at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.I got into theatre when I was nine years old with a performance of Oliver! the musical. Recently I had the opportunity to revisit this production as the Lighting Designer with the same Director.I have worked with various theaters in the Dallas area including North Texas Performing Arts, Outcry Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, JCC Performing Arts Space, and others as both a designer and programmer.Outside of theatre, I enjoy other activities such as knitting and board games. I also have a dog named Jenny who was rescued during the pandemic. She is incredibly energetic and loves to play and sleep at all hours of the day.Contact me!
Email: jkaplighting@gmail.com
Instagram: Jacobk_08

Clay Paky 2023

Claypaky Lighting Fixtures Elevate Stage Productions to a Truly Professional Level for NTPA Collegiate Pursuits Troupe

posted: March 21, 2023
Jacob Kaplan has learned a valuable life lesson early in his burgeoning lighting design career: It never hurts to ask.A high school senior at Fusion Academy Plano, Texas, Kaplan is also the Lighting Designer for NTPA (North Texas Performing Arts) Collegiate Pursuits, a troupe launched in fall 2022 to offer a bridge to the collegiate and professional theater worlds via a quality performing arts education and staging family entertainment. NTPA is the largest youth theater organization in the country.Kaplan was thinking about what kind of lighting fixtures would help showcase the character of William Shakespeare as the rock star of his day in Collegiate Pursuits’ production of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy, “Something Rotten!” He made student loaner inquiries to several lighting companies in the Dallas area, including Claypaky’s US partner located just blocks from North Texas Performing Arts.“I expected to get a ‘no’ or no response at all from my outreach,” Kaplan recalls. “But, instead, Claypaky asked me what I wanted to use! We talked about my interest in the field, and they supplied several road cases of equipment for the show.” Currently, Kaplan is loading in his third show for Collegiate Pursuits featuring Claypaky fixtures.“We don’t have a lot of equipment at the venue, so Claypaky’s support has allowed us to take our shows to the next level and work in a truly professional setting,” says Kaplan. “I’ve been able to experiment with new products and technology from Claypaky’s demo inventory, explore different styles of lighting, and design shows to a higher standard. It’s a great learning experience that I’m very lucky to have.”Bethany Bourland, Artistic Director of NTPA Collegiate Pursuits, says, “the Claypaky fixtures have vastly increased the quality of our productions and what the team is capable of creating. The fixtures have completely changed the dynamic of our shows. Even audiences have told us that our productions have gone from beautiful to absolutely spectacular!”Kameron Knott, Program Director of NTPA Collegiate Pursuits, notes that, “adding even one moving light adds so much to a production – right off the bat the show looks different. The Claypaky fixtures set expectations for what a show can and should look like: They elevate the production. The ability for the design team to grow in their professionalism and creativity and for the performers to get accustomed to working with professional equipment is huge.”For “Something Rotten!” Kaplan laid Claypaky Tambora Battens along the back platform behind Shakespeare as he recited his sonnets rock-style. “The fixtures helped transform the stage into a modern concert space and gave us a red, white and blue look for a ‘Les Miserables’ reference,” he explains. Claypaky HY B-EYE K15s provided pixel wash FOH and ran “some fun effects” in conjunction with the Battens while Axcor Wash 300s filled a more typical wash application.Coming off the successful implementation of the first loan of Claypaky fixtures, Kaplan was ready to use more to kick off Collegiate Pursuits’ second season with “Peter and the Starcatcher,” the Tony Award-winning prequel to “Peter Pan.” This production was staged in the round in one of the theater’s black box spaces.“This was our first in-the-round production in a beautiful space that had a limited lighting grid,” notes Kaplan. “Bringing in Claypaky Axcor Wash 300s and Axcor Profile 400s completely transformed the space, gave us a lot of versatility in what we could do and what we could light, and even added a lot of effects. We were able to build an entire immersive environment.” He points out that turning the scrims into clouds with gobos from the Profiles and a blue wash had the audience asking if projection techniques were involved in crafting the effect.At press time Kaplan was loading in Claypaky lighting for a production of Stephen Sondheim’s iconic, Tony Award-winning musical, “Company.” “We’ll be using Arolla Profile MPs, which I’m very excited to have for their big feature set and different patterns and animations,” he says. “We also have more Axcor Profile 400s and Tambora Linears, which will add color and texture to static architectural lighting for scenic archways.”Next up, at the end of May, is “Urinetown,” the Broadway hit satirical musical comedy. Kaplan has slated Claypaky Tambora Battens and Mini-B moving lights for his lighting design.“It’s been an incredible opportunity for me and for the actors to have these fixtures,” says Kaplan. “I’ll soon be going to college out of state, but the students who follow me in Collegiate Pursuits and use Claypaky fixtures will gain experience they’d be unable to get anywhere else.”“Our mission is for our students to experience as closely as possible the environment they’ll find in the collegiate and professional theatrical worlds,” says Bourland. “The overall value-add of the Claypaky fixtures from an educational standpoint is so important. Our designers can flex their skills more and our performers get a chance to work with what they’ll find later on in their careers. Thanks to Claypaky we’ve given them the tools to work truly professionally here.”“We’re extremely grateful to Claypaky for providing these fixtures and collaborating with Collegiate Pursuits to create a real professional experience for our students,” adds Knott.For NTPA Collegiate Pursuits Bethany Bourland served as the Director of “Something Rotten!” Assistant Director of “Peter and the Starcatcher” and Co-director of “Company.” Kameron Knott acted as the Assistant Director and Choreographer of “Something Rotten!” the Director of “Peter and the Starcatcher” and Co-director and Choreographer of “Company.”“When Jacob reached out to us, we were excited to listen to his ideas,” says Julie Smith, managing director Group 1440/Claypaky US. “We want to help nurture these talented young artists, providing them with the technology and tools to make their ideas reality. It is a great partnership with the local theater that gives them a forum to develop their creativity and technical skills. When students and local communities are supported in this way, it benefits the future of our industry.”Contact: Davide Barbetta davide.barbetta@claypaky.it

Credits

Director: Rachel Stevens
PSM: Lily Landoch*
Scenic Design: Anna Camerer*
Sound Design: Kaitlin Barnett Proctor*
Costume Design: Lauren Wooten*Lighting Team:
Lighting Design: Abigail Fluck*
ALD 1: Matti Andrews*
ALD 2: Rob Chalk*
PE: Adam Markus*
Programmer: Jacob Kaplan**Denotes CCM StudentUniversity Of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music

Photos By Mark Lyons, Lyons Photography, Inc.

Credits

Producer: Ben Wolfe
Director: Jacob Brent
Scenic Design: Matthew Imhoff
Lighting Design: Christian Specht
Sound Design: Olivia Lawson
Costume Design: Kathy McGill
Wig & Makeup Design: Madison Webber
Props Design: Madisen FrazierSoutheastern Summer Theatre Institute

Photos By Ben Wolf

Credits

Director: Bethany Bourland
Technical Director: Chris Neal
Scenic Design: Rick Stone
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Sound Design: Max Fetter
Props Master: Rebecca Tudor
Costume Design: Bethany Bourland
Costume Design & AD: Kameron KnottNorth Texas Performing Arts - Collegiate Pursuits

Photos By Karen Fish, Tamara Wright, and Jodi Sassano

Credits

Director: Bethany Bourland
Scenic Design: Shane Wade
Scenic Design: Rick Stone
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Costume Design: Becky Gould
Costume Design: Alyssa Martinson
Props Master: Lyz MillerNorth Texas Performing Arts - Collegiate Pursuits

Photos By Rob Webster

Credits

Director: Bethany Bourland
Scenic Design: Shane Wade
Scenic Design: Jon Sauter
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Costume Design: Stefanie Lewis
Props Master: Francine Forman
Foley Design: Jacob KaplanNorth Texas Performing Arts - Collegiate Pursuits

Photos By Fernando Martinez

Credits

Theoretical DesignScenic Design: Sophia Long
Costume Design: Lily Erera
Props Design: Maddi Myer
Sound Design: Zack Papatzanakis
Lighting Design: Jacob KaplanSoutheastern Summer Theatre Institute

Credits

Director: Bethany Bourland
Asst. Director: Kameron Knott
Scenic Design: Jon Sauter
Scenic Design: Taylor Skinner
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Costume Design: Susie Preissler
Costume Design: Elizabeth Hamilton
Sound Design: Max FetterNorth Texas Performing Arts - Collegiate PursuitsSpecial Thanks:
Group 1440 - ClayPaky

Photos By Rob Webster

Credits

Director: Kameron Knott
Associate Director: DeAnna Stone
Asst. Director: Bethany Bourland
Scenic Design: Taylor Skinner
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Costume Design: Heather Hangen
Asst. Costume Design: Elizabeth Hamilton
Sound Design: Max Fetter
Makeup Designer: Rachel DalleyNorth Texas Performing Arts - Collegiate PursuitsSpecial Thanks:
Group 1440 - ClayPaky

Photos By Rocco Pesano

Credits

Director: Bethany Bourland
Director: Kameron Knott
Scenic Design: Jon Sauter
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Asst. Lighting Design: Garret Payne
Costume Design: Susan Petty
Sound Design: Chris NealNorth Texas Performing Arts - Collegiate PursuitsSpecial Thanks:
Group 1440 - ClayPaky

Photos By Karen Fish

Credits

Director: Bethany Bourland
Director: Kameron Knott
Scenic Design: Marty Stratton
Scenic Design: Oliver Wade
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Costume Design: Jodi Sassano
Sound Design: Max FetterNorth Texas Performing Arts - Collegiate PursuitsProduced in Partnership with Plano Symphony OrchestraSpecial Thanks:
Group 1440 - ClayPaky
Production Resources Group
Digital Resources - ETC

Photos By Jodi Sassano and Karen Fish

Credits

Director: Becca Johnson-Spinos
Scenic Design: Steve McMurray
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Costume Design: Marisa Saenz
Board Op: Marwa HabibiOutcry Youth Theatre

Photos By Amy K. Abney, Kristen Barnes, Marcy Bogner, and Jason Johnson-Spinos

Credits

Director: Kameron Knott
Director: Riley Madlock
Scenic Design: Marty Stratton
Scenic Design: Taylor Skinner
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
ALD/Programmer: Tyler Bialowas
Costume Design: Shannon Hauser
Costume Design: Sophia Bock
Sound Design: Max FetterNorth Texas Performing Arts - AcademyProduced in Partnership with Plano Symphony Orchestra

Photos By Amy K. Abney

Credits

Director: Becca Johnson-Spinos
Stage Manager: Elizabeth Cantrell
Scenic Design: Steve McMurray
Scenic Design: Nathan Blasingame
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Costume Design: Kathy Wright
Media Design: Jason Johnson-SpinosOutcry TheatreSpecial Thanks:
Group 1440 - ACME

Photos By Kathy Wright

Credits

Playwrights-in-Residence:
Matt Webster & Taylor FerreraDirector: Bethany Bourland
Director: Kameron Knott
Stage Manager: Kat Raehpour
Scenic Design: Marty Stratton
Scenic Painter: Melissa A Winton
Lighting Design: Jacob Kaplan
Sound Design: Channing Black
Costume Design: Jodi SassanoNorth Texas Performing Arts - Collegiate PursuitsSpecial Thanks:
Group 1440 - ACME
Bobby Harrell - Vari-Lite
Rob Crane - ETC
Production Resources Group

Photos By Jodi Sassano