Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL

November 1 - January 7, 2023

Jessica Fisch Director

Ryan T. Nelson Music Director

Christopher Windom Choreographer

Anthony Churchill Projection Design

Andrew Boyce Scenic Design

Sully Ratke Costume Design

Jesse Klug Lighting Design

Michael Daly Sound Design

Beautiful is the inspiring true story of Carole King's remarkable journey from teenage songwriter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. From the chart-topping hits she wrote for the biggest acts in music to her own life-changing, trailblazing solo album, Beautiful takes you back to where it all began — and takes you on the ride of a lifetime.

At first glance, this piece felt like “just another jukebox” musical, but it really has some very clever and nuanced story elements that the team wanted to support with projections.  Each jump in time or place used media to indicate place - through what was on the screen - and also time by filtering the content to look like it was from a specific period.  We managed to use two Short Throw projectors and a Dataton Watchout rig to manage everything.

Pleasant Valley Sunday Sequence

Dick Clark Sequence

The Lehman Trilogy

Timeline Theatre & Broadway in Chicago, Chicago IL

September 19 - November 26, 2023

Nick Bowling & Co-Directors

Vanessa Stalling

Anthony Churchill Projection Design

Collette Pollard Scenic Design

Izumi Inaba Costume Design

John Culbert Lighting Design

André Pluess Sound Design

Lonnae Hickman & Prop Design

Amy Peter

Told in three parts over one evening, The Lehman Trilogy is the quintessential story of western capitalism, rendered through the lens of a single immigrant family. On a cold September morning in 1844, a young Jewish man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is soon joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish—Lehman Brothers—spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, triggering the largest financial crisis in history. Weaving together nearly two centuries of family history, this theatrical event charts the humble beginnings, outrageous successes, and devastating failure of the financial institution that would ultimately bring the global economy to its knees.

This was an amazing script with a huge co-production in Chicago. We ended up choosing to use two projectors to cover the entire set, a warehouse of forgotten office furniture, and map individual areas as three actors tell the story of almost 200 years of American history. We also added 20 computer monitors, hidden around the set, which also worked as surfaces for content that could be as small as a 22” monitor and as big as a backdrop of screens.

Check out clips from the show HERE

Ring of Fire

Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook IL

August 30 - October 22, 2023

Scott Weinstein Director

Chuck Mead Music Director

Johnny Baird Associate Music Director

Anthony Churchill Projection Design

Angela Weber Miller Scenic Design

Izumi Inaba Costume Design

Lee Fiskness Lighting Design

Ray Nardelli Sound Design

Cassy Schillo Prop Design

Ring of Fire showcases the story of Johnny Cash through his music. From country rock n’ roll to searing ballads of love and faith, Cash’s iconic songs highlight the incredible struggles and triumphs of his life. Performed by an incredible group of actor/musicians, Ring of Fire celebrates the music that has become a part of our collective experience.

This was a beautiful piece with a really cohesive design across all departments. We used three Ultra-Short Throw Projectors to cover an entire back wall, while staying off the revolve and other architectural elements. The concept used WPA paintings and art as inspiration for original art that helped tell the story of Cash’s life and journey, from poor farm communities to some of the most famous venues in the world.

“Drury Lane’s projection work always impresses, and Anthony Churchill’s inclusion of Arkansas scenery, rumbling trains, running horses and concert posters helps add context to a sparse set. Designed on a turntable, the set spins from the front porch of an abandoned white clapboard train station to the inside of a performance space.”
— Christine Trevino, New City

Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps

Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook IL

June 21 - August 13, 2023

Johanna McKenzie Miller Director

Anthony Churchill Projection Desgin

Angie Weber Miller Set Design

Rachel Boylan Costume Design

Lee Fiskness Lighting Design

Ray Nardelli Sound Design

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a dash of farce and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre. Packed with nonstop laughs and over 150 characters played by four actors, The 39 Steps is an unforgettable evening of riotous performances and inventive stagecraft that is sure to delight.

This show had a lot of moving sequences and callbacks to other genre movies and we used movie posters from the 1930’s to establish style and palette. We were able to map the entire set, which used almost 100 different surfaces over two projectors, to neatly project on all of the trim pieces.

View Clips from the Show HERE

A Christmas Story

Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL

Nov & Dec 2022

Scott Weinstein Director

Ryan Nelson Music Director

Jeffrey D. Kmiec Scenic Design

Izumi Inaba Costume Design

Jesse Klug Lighting Design

Anthony Churchill Projection Design

Sally Zack Props Design

From the songwriting team behind Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman, A Christmas Story, The Musical, brings the beloved 1983 movie to musical life on stage! Set in 1940s Indiana, a young and bespectacled Ralphie Parker schemes his way toward the holiday gift of his dreams, an official Red Ryder Air Rifle. A leg lamp, pink bunny pajamas, and a freezing flagpole are just a few of the distractions that stand between Ralphie and his Christmas wish.

This show was in the round and used a different setup than ever before seen at the Marriott. We used twelve individual panels to help tell the story, changing location and - especially - helping for all of the Ralphie dream sequences. Each dream was a stylized piece, from Cowboy serials to Mobster Movies, each sequence had an individual look to pull it out of the rest of the play space.

Murder on The Orient Express

Drury Lane Theatre - Oakbrook, IL

August - October, 2022


Jess Fisch Director

Andrew Boyce Scenic Designer

Jessica Pabst Costume Designer

Paul Toben Lighting Designer

Mikhail Fiksel & Jeffrey Levin

Co- Composer/Sound Designers

Anthony Churchill Projection Designer

Cassy Schillo Props Designer

Larry Baker Production Stage Manager

David Sajewich Motion Graphics and Animation Lead

Grant Palmer Assistant Projections Designer

Just after midnight, a snowdrift stopped the Orient Express in its tracks. The next morning, an American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed, his door locked from the inside. Isolated with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on famed detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer before they strike again. The play adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famous murder mystery first premiered in 2017.

 

Murder had two very important tasks for media. The first was to help with storytelling elements, mostly the weather and various clues that were apparent to Poirot, and wanted to be highlighted for the audience. The second was to help stylize the show for modern audiences, connecting them to a long line of adventure thrill-ride books, movies, and television shows. Our version of Murder wanted to be a rollercoaster mix of action, humor, suspense, and heart. To this end, the production team conceived a intro sequence - similar to a James Bond movie - with a short bit of exposition followed by a fun opening sequence that setup the style and gave the audience a few clues to start off with. This sequence can be viewed below.

In order to support both goals, we setup four high definition LED panels in the train that worked as windows. This gave us the ability to create the sense of movement, and help the narrative by indicating weather outside the train. We also used these panels to show clues in detail when Poirot found them. Sort of movie close-up for live theatre. The other element was a stage-wide irising portal that we projected on. The portal had a high-contrast texture that created some challenges, but we managed to work with - and in some cases manipulate the texture a bit to create a really appealing look.

“Anthony Churchill, the projections designer, has created a show all of his own; don’t miss the opening sequence.”

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

“…film noir figures prominently in Drury Lane's production, which unfolds against Anthony Churchill's slick, stylish projections”

Barbara Vitelli, Daily Herald

“Also of note and not to be missed is the opening created by Anthony Churchill the projections designer. It's a show within a show”

Tina St Angelo Wetzel, Broadway World

Campaigns Inc.

Timeline Theatre, Chicago IL

August 3 - September 25, 2022

Will Allen Playwright

Nick Bowling Director

Anthony Churchill Projection Design

Sydney Lynne Scenic Design

Sally Dolembo Costume Design

Jared Gooding Lighting Design

Andrew Hansen & Sound Design

Forrest Gregor

Maren Robinson Dramaturgy

It is 1934, and famous novelist Upton Sinclair is all but guaranteed to become the first Democratic governor of the state of California—until a young, unknown pair of consultants from the shadows of the challenger’s campaign attempt to take him down. As Frank Merriam and Sinclair battle it out in the spotlight—seeking endorsements from the likes of Charlie Chaplin and FDR—Baxter and Whitaker work behind-the-scenes to methodically construct one of the most spectacular, unbelievable, and star-studded smear campaigns ever.

This was a passion project for me, as Timeline had asked me to help workshop the play before the pandemic and I was really sad it didn’t get produced before the shutdown. We used the projections as a very presentational vehicle to show the “new media” of the 1930’s, the first time we see smear campaigns and moving images used to manipulate voters.

“But it’s great to see Bowling’s snappy style of direction in TimeLine’s long-standing intimate home combining with some hilarious retro projections from Anthony Churchill that come with as many gags and Easter eggs as the script itself. And, of course, it’s great to watch a made-in-Chicago world premiere of this quality.”
— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

The Sound of Music

Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL

April - June, 2022

Nick Bowling      Director   

William Carlos Angulo        Choreographer

Ryan T. Nelson Music Director

Collette Pollard        Set Design 

Sally Dolembo         Costume Design

Jesse Klug Lighting Design

Anthony Churchill        Projections Design

Sally Zack         Prop Design

Miguel A. Armstrong Wig Design

Jessica Banaszak Production Stage Manager

 

The final collaboration between Rodgers & Hammerstein was destined to become the world’s most beloved musical. This season join the family Von Trapp in the true-life telling of one of history’s most thrilling and inspirational stories. Featuring the Tony, Grammy and Academy Award-winning Best Score, including “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Edelweiss” and - of course - the title song.

The Marriott Theatre wanted to create an outdoor space for some of the more sweeping numbers in the show. We ended up using projections to project exteriors and interiors around the back of the audience so everyone watching could experience how alive the hills were. The surface was semi-gloss wood, to reflect a finished wood surface in an alpine chalet, but this was cut to also show the alps. We ended up mapping all of the surfaces’ four layers to create a picturesque fore, mid, and background.

“Anthony Churchill’s spectacular Projections to surround the actors and audience with a spectacular vista of  mountains and valleys. Even the thunder and lightning of an approaching rainstorm looks and sounds realistic, especially as it lights up the  cliffs and peaks of the Alps.”

Chicago Theatre Review

Matilda

Civic Theatre, Grand Rapids, MI   |    February  2020

Projection Design

Direction      Allyson Paris

Lighting        Catherine Marlett Dreher

Precocious Matilda lives in a world of imagination with no boundaries. She needs to. Her mom is a self-absorbed dancer. Her father is a deceptive swindler. The headmistress at her school, Miss Agatha Trunchbull, is a tyrannical disciplinarian. Her only reprieve is getting lost in the worlds found in her imagination or her books and time with her teacher, Miss Honey who takes interest in her intellect and wit. With the help of her new ally and a touch of magic, Matilda manages to navigate everything from family drama to unifying her classmates against Miss Trunchbull’s evil ways. A scrappy story of heart that celebrates how different life can be when you take a stand for your future. 

Alabaster

16th Street Theatre, Berwyn IL   |    February 2020

Projection Design

Direction      Ann Filmer

Scenic         Sydney Lynne

Lighting       Ben White

A darkly comic southern drama about love, art and the power of women. After a tornado barrels through North Alabama leaving nothing but death and destruction, only June and her wisecracking pet goat Weezy live to tell the tale.  When Alice, a prominent photographer, arrives to take pictures of June’s scars, all are tipped to the breaking point in this beautiful story of life after death.

This space is in the basement of a city building and very intimate.  We used two projectors to create environments for most of the play and special effects for several sequences.  Much of the design involved comping dozens of elements to create a unique space in different times and weather patterns.

“Sound designer Barry Bennett, and projection designer Anthony Churchill combine excellently to create a visceral experience for the audience”    - Chicago Tribune