How I Learned to Drive

Raven Theatre, Chicago IL   |    February 2019

Projection Design

• Direction     Cody Estle

• Lighting       Becca Jeffords

• Scenic          Jeffery D Kmiec

Drive was a play that everyone thinks they know and then you work on it again, and it’s a whole other thing. Under the detailed director of Cody Estle, this piece was cutting look at memory and trauma. The set was a large billboard on the side of a street and we used two high output projectors on printed rear-projection material to create locations and scenes the actors could reach up and touch.

“Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s set — a diagonal slash of road with a large billboard-like structure behind it – provides the backdrop for a series of projections, designed by Tony Churchill, that evoke the sexist advertising imagery of the 1960s, as well as giving us the “chapter titles” for the driving manual. We’re reminded that Li’l Bit’s abuse didn’t just happen in a family vacuum, but as part of a larger syndrome of constant sexualization of young girls.” -Chicago Tribune

photos by Michael Brosilow

Holiday Inn

Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL   |    December 2019

Projection Design

• Direction     Denis Jones

• Lighting       Jesse Klug

• Scenic          Scott Davis

Irving Berlin's HOLIDAY INN tells the story of Jim, who leaves the bright lights of show business behind to settle down on his farmhouse in Connecticut… but life just isn’t the same without a bit of song and dance. Jim’s luck takes a spectacular turn when he meets Linda, a spirited schoolteacher with talent to spare. Together they turn the farmhouse into a fabulous inn with dazzling performances to celebrate each holiday, from Thanksgiving to the Fourth of July.

With an in-the-round setup, this musical featured screens that looked like giant greeting cards that were about thirty feet wide by ten feet tall behind the audience. The content was used to show location and create holiday themed looks for the larger dance numbers.

Sweet Charity

Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL   |    October 2018

Projection Design

• Direction     Alex Sanchez

• Lighting       Jesse Klug

• Scenic          Scott Davis

Spend a little time with SWEET CHARITY. The dance-filled, groovy musical comedy inspired by Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria, SWEET CHARITY explores the turbulent love life of Charity Hope Valentine, a hopelessly romantic but comically unfortunate dance hall hostess in New York City. With a tuneful, cool, mid-1960s score by Cy Coleman (Little Me, City of Angels, Barnum), sparkling lyrics by Dorothy Fields (Annie Get Your Gun, Seesaw, Redhead), and a hilarious book by Neil Simon, SWEET CHARITY captures all the energy, humor, and heartbreak of Life in the Big City for an unfortunate but irrepressible optimist.

We used more than 50 LED Panels to create backdrops for the scenes and motion graphics for all of the songs. There are a number of locations in addition to the titles and effects for this stage classic.

“Sweet Charity” boasts Marriott Theatre's consistently superb production values. The likely award-winning element is the vibrant Video Design by Anthony Churchill.” - Northwest Herald

Photos by Justin Barbin

Scientific Method

Rivendell Theatre, Chicago IL   |    October 2018

Projection Design

• Direction      Devon de Mayo

• Lighting       Heather Sparling

• Scenic          Lauren Nichols

This world premiere had a text with some of the most detailed descriptions of projections I’ve ever read. The piece used media to help audiences understand the science phtosin the show, and also the importance it had in each character’s work and life. This element was very challenging and rewarding as projections became a character in the show. As the show evolved in rehearsal, we added elements of social networking - visually similar to cancer and cell growth - to help tell the story of scientists coping with inequity in the lab and a deeply digital connected world.

We used three Ultra Short Throw laser projectors to really control every inch of the set so that the projections could grow - like cells - from places and people on the stage. Content was found, altered, and created in after effects and was as scientifically accurate as possible.

“Lauren Nichols’ cool austere set provides a neutral contrast for the growing emotional turmoil and a backdrop for Anthony Churchill’s projections of dividing cells. Later, as Amy reaches out to other former women assistants from Milliard’s lab, the walls fill with text messages and other private correspondence, suggesting the “whisper network” that women resort to when they feel shut out of official channels.” -Chicago Tribune

photos by Michael Brosilow

Shrek

Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL   |    October 2018

Projection Design

• Direction      Scott Weinstein

• Lighting       Jesse Klug

• Scenic          Kristen Martino

This Theatre for Young Audiences performance was produced on two different sets - Sweet Charity which used several arrays of LED panels over the stage, and Holiday Inn which used four panels as projection surfaces behind the audience. The challenge was creating media that could work in different formats and still help tell the story with content including characters from the show and several special effects such as dragon fire and flatulence which needed to interact with the performers.

The content all needed to live in a classic hand-animated world so many of the looks were drawn by hand, digitized, and enhanced before being used in the show. One sequence involved a hand-animated bird that sang to Fiona and eventually exploded.

“…and above are television screens with Video Designer Anthony Churchill’s projections of trees and other swamp plants that one might find. The screens in particular are an excellent addition, allowing the space to extend past the stage, and fully transform into the swamp from this magical fairytale. “ -Picture This Post

Oklahoma!

Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL   |    April 2018

Projection Design

• Direction Aaron Thielen

• Lighting Jesse Klug

• Scenic Kevin Depinet

This show was a 75th anniversary performance and used a minimal scenic design in conjunction with projections and lights to create the different locations in rural turn-of-the-century Oklahoma.  Because the surface expanded around the back of the audience, we had to use material that could be seen through in places - as you'll see the board op in one of the photos below.  Almost all of the content for the show was static images that slowly transitioned in support of the text and music.  We used mostly realistic composited vistas - with exception of the dream ballet which got quite surreal.

We used a variety of high-end projectors, from 9000 to 12000 lumens, to achieve a full 360 degree experience in the arena setting of the Marriott.  Fourteen projectors made up the system, controlled by five Watchout computers.  We projected on burlap which had a lovely diffused quality that was perfect for the rolling landscapes of Oklahoma. 

"The designers Kevin Depinet and Anthony Churchill have come up with a circular projection at the rear of this theater in the round, here used to create a sense of endless flat land, of flowers on the prairie where the June bugs zoom, of the possibilities of pasture. It’s not cutting-edge technology — it reminded me of the old display in the visitor’s center in Gettysburg, Pa. — but it’s done well, and it has not been done here often.

The ribbon became visible as the orchestra struck up a new set of orchestrations with more of a country flavor — heavier on the acoustic guitar and fiddles — and it connected one slice of statehood prairie in one time to another on the brink of becoming a territory. All around me, arms snaked around the backs of partners."

             -Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

Oklahoma

Marriott Theatre, Linconshire IL   |    April 2018

Projection Design

• Direction     Aaron Theilen

• Lighting       Kevin Depinet

• Scenic          Scott Davis

One of the finest examples of American Musical Theatre, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first collaboration, OKLAHOMA!, returned to the Marriott Theatre in a special 75th Anniversary Production. This production had more than a dozen projectors creating an unbroken 360 degree screen on old grain sacks to create a really beautiful environment inside this arena theatre.

“The designers Kevin Depinet and Anthony Churchill have come up with a circular projection at the rear of this theater in the round, here used to create a sense of endless flat land, of flowers on the prairie where the June bugs zoom, of the possibilities of pasture. It's not cutting-edge technology — it reminded me of the old display in the visitor's center in Gettysburg, Pa. — but it's done well, and it has not been done here often.

The ribbon became visible as the orchestra struck up a new set of orchestrations with more of a country flavor — heavier on the acoustic guitar and fiddles — and it connected one slice of statehood prairie in one time to another on the brink of becoming a territory. All around me, arms snaked around the backs of partners.”

- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

photos by Anthony Churchill

Long Way Home

Q Brothers Collective & The Chicago Children's Choir, Chicago IL  |     February 2018

Projection Design

• Direction      The Q Brothers Collective
• Lighting       Nick Belley

This show as a modern hip-hop musical version of The Odyssey, by Homer.  Three heroes go through a magical journey through Chicago music genres - gospel, punk, house, and blues - to get to a rap competition.  Featuring the Q Brothers, several leads, and more than 70 Chicago Children's Choir members as the chorus, this show was a massive undertaking at The Studebaker Theatre in Chicago.

We used a large 20,000 lumen projector to accomplish a lot of different looks for this show.  There was a number of scenic elements and performers that had to be masked and we integrated a lot of moving video to look like pieces of the set.

Merrily We Roll Along

Porchlight Music Theatre, Chicago IL  |     January 2018

Projection Design

Jeff Award Nomination for Projections - 2018

• Direction Michael Weber

• Set Design Jeff Kmiec & Greg Pinsoneault

• Lighting Denise Karczewski

This show is a rarely-seen musical that tells the story of three friends in reverse, starting in 1976 (this production actually began in 2018) and moving backwards to 1953.  The production used a bare set as a canvas for media to help audiences understand the times of each scene and better communicate the story in collaboration with the text, costumes, and detailed direction.

Merrily was a gargantuan undertaken that included projector mapping, static and moving images throughout the show, photo and video manipulations to indicate time and story, and a four projector system across the entirety of the set.

"This writer was also wowed visually at the very start, when Projection Designer Anthony Churchillbegins to show his stuff. A mosaic of images catapults the story from its mid-70’s time post to today—very today, replete with #MeToo signs, Trump in his most Orange Hitler stance, and more. How fun! Churchill’s ability to bottle the zeitgeist continues as the story rolls the clock back, even thinking to include that iconic clip of Lucy and Ethel trying to keep pace in the chocolate factory. Churchill’s eye for detail even included meshing a bridge image with the trim in the Ruth Page Performance Center, the Porchlight's new home. Just exquisite!"

     - Picture this Post, Amy Munice

"...but Merrily is the kind of show that was made for projections, and Anthony Churchill’s are exemplary: moving through time, setting the scene, making a joke, but never distracting."

    Chicagoland Musical Theatre, Patrikc O'Brien

"...using the smaller and very intimate stage of The Ruth Page Center For The Arts to its best advantage and the projections by Anthony Churchill were sheer perfection."

      - Around the Town Chicago, Alan Bresloff

Photos by Anthony Churchill & Porchlight Music Theatre

Harbur Gate

16th Street Theatre, Berwyn IL  |     January 2018

Projection Design

• Direction      Ann Filmer
• Set Design   Nicholas Schwartz
• Lighting       Ben White

This production had a number of special effects using projectors that were specified in the text.  Additionally, the show had several distinct locations that used projections to indicate time and location.  Harbur Gate used two ultra-short throw projectors in the back and one high output projector over the audience that sync'd up to create a number of different looks on the small rep set.

"Tony Churchill created the projections that provide the sense of movement and heighten the tension."

        -Oak Park Wednesday Journal

Photos by Anthony Aicardi