Kaelyn Benoit
Southern Editor
When technical theatre major Kyla Brunk approaches a lighting project, she begins by closing her eyes. The senior lighting design major was taught to read the script, reread it and write down her ideas. However, when officially approaching a show design, she tends to divert from that tactic.
“I close my eyes, and I can see what color I want on the stage,” Brunk said, describing her brainstorm process. “There’s certain shows that are certain colors, like Pippin is purple, Carousel is light purple, and Legally Blonde is of course pink.”
These colorful visions come in handy when conceptualizing the lighting design for a number of productions across her lighting career, most recently within various FSC theatre productions. But her design origins did not come in her time as a collegiate student instead, she credits her high school experience for lighting her spark.
Indian River charter school, a performing arts school in Vero Beach Florida fostered Brunk’s love for all things theatre. As someone who loved performing, Brunk found her happy place dancing amongst the colors from lights on the stage.
“I actually started off as an actor,” Brunk said, “and then about mid-high school, my disability started getting really bad.”
Brunk was diagnosed with Type 2 collagenopathy, a type of connective tissue disorder. This condition causes a variety of different aches,
pains and joint issues, all of which make it incredibly difficult to carry out the intense movement and choreography that acting requires.
“I realized that my stamina is not going to keep me on the stage very long and I was very heartbroken at the tim. I was very much a dancer and an actor and to hear these things was kind of deteriorating on me mentally.” Brunk said.
“I didn’t know what to do. I thought that {life} was over for me. Theater ending was the end of the world.”
Despite this shattering news, there was a light at the end of Brunk’s tunnel, when her teacher and technical theatre director Mr. Naff suggested she try out the technical side of the theatrical world she loved.
“I didn’t even know if I would like technical theater at all, so we tried different branches. And my senior year, it kind of played out like Goldilocks and the three Bears. I tried sewing, and that did not work out. I tried stage management, and that did not work out either, and finally everything led up to lighting.”
The first show she ever worked on in the lighting world was Little Women.
“I kind of just sat and watched what was happening. I didn’t really make too many lighting decisions there, but I remember just being fascinated by it all,” Brunk said, smiling fondly on the memory. “And I remember being like ‘This looks incredibly difficult. I want to do it.’”
This can-do attitude is what has driven Brunk since that day, leading her through many ups and downs along the way. Staying determined and true to herself is what drives her work, as she designed for shows such as ‘The Quest for Don Quixote,’ ‘Little Dog Laughed,’ and served as Master Electrician/Assistant Master Electrician for other shows like ‘Urinetown’ and ‘Legally Blonde.’
Now, with postgraduate life just a semester away, Brunk is excited to get out into the ‘real world’ and put her skills to work, possibly in a brand new way.
“I found that as much as I enjoy design, I am far more interested in building the fixtures we use in design. Everyone wants the fame and glory of Broadway and I’m like ‘I just wanna build something. I just want to connect wires and make the lights go on stage.’”
Brunk has already received multiple job offers, brand partnerships and lighting companies reaching out to her, in part due to her growing social media presence within the technical theatre world. Before those lights can rise, Brunk must close her eyes one more time, and finish off her theatrical season right here at FSC.
