Over the past few years, each post I’ve written for the CWEA Griffin about The Muny has been a fantastic experience. The latest, which was published in the September 2025 issue, features Lighting Department Lead Rob Denton. I hope you enjoy this peek behind-the-scenes, and if you haven’t seen the print edition of the quarterly yet, a link to the digital version is at the end of this post.
The final curtain call from the cast of “Jersey Boys” took place August 24, and with that The Muny’s 107th Season came to a close. The storied outdoor theater once again produced 7 fantastic musicals in 7 weeks, a seemingly impossible feat in the traditional theater world. But at The Muny, which won 2025’s Regional Theater Tony Award in June, above, 35 full-time staff members are geared up for the pace. During the season, the number of employees climbs to 1,100 people, including actors, creatives, designers, artists, musicians and stagehands, collectively representing nine labor unions. There are also ushers, concession workers, parking attendants and more—many of whom are local youths working their first paid jobs.
One of those staff members is Lighting Department Lead Rob Denton, above, who joined The Muny thirteen years ago. Denton said that before he discovered theater during his middle and high school years in Texas, he was sure he wanted to go into pre-med. Instead, he enrolled in Webster University’s Theater Conservatory Program where he earned a BFA in lighting design, and later attended grad school at the University of Maryland. He returned to St. Louis where he worked at Opera Theater for 9 years, and in 2012, switched to The Muny as an assistant in the lighting department when Artistic Director & Executive Producer Mike Isaacson and Director of Production Tracy Utzmeyers came onboard. Denton assumed his current role the following year, and has been involved in 90 productions since then. While he and his husband are based in New York, Denton calls the Central West End home during The Muny season, and frequently returns to St. Louis for planning sessions during the off-season.
Denton describes his role as “painting the stage with light. You take a look at the physical world and transform it, telling the audience where to look, or where not to look. You can change emotional feelings, saying I want you to be sad, happy, scared, or whatever the mood is. You’re able tug on the heart strings of the audience, and I love that. One of the challenges in the world of lighting is to not only make sure the audience can see what is happening on stage, but also to emotionally connect the audience of 11,000 people with the characters on stage.”
Denton said he finds something to love about each production he’s been involved in over the years, but singled out this season’s “Frozen” with its digital mapping projections, lasers, and other technologies, as the most innovative. Much more cutting-edge than three LED walls and a state-of-the-art lighting system, which Denton had a hand in designing when the stage was rebuilt in 2018.
Another addition that transformed the lighting department this year is an array of computers, above, that allows Denton to design the lighting for each production in a “pre-visualizer.” It also allows different departments like sound to add sound effects, and the costume department to add quick costume changes. It takes about 36 hours for Denton to input it all. The system, which consists of two computers with 6 screens, was donated by generous patron.
“We’d been eyeing doing full-stage projections for a long time. But it took about 2 1/2 years, the same amount of time that we knew we were doing ‘Frozen,’ to pull it off. Lasers and projections added to the magic of the show.”
“The technical part was really complicated, so we brought in specialists to help a year in advance. They were used to working in much smaller theaters, so it was a challenge for them as well. Denton worked with a laser company in New York to develop 10 to 12 ‘looks’ to pull from on tech night. The company also helped them get necessary approval from the FAA because they were planning to shoot a laser into the air. There are two airports close to Forest Park, the hospital helipads, and police helicopters that sometimes come into the park at showtime. “Even though we got the FAA’s approval, we still wanted even more precaution as lasers can travel 10 to 20 miles. We weren’t going to blind anyone, but they are a distraction,” Denton explained. So we ‘deadened them,’ shooting them into the back of the pergola above the free seats so they didn’t shoot past the building.”
photograph courtesy of Phillip Hamer
While they were planning the production, Denton got the go-ahead from Mike Isaacson and the creative team to hold off using the lasers until the end of Act One when Elsa sings “Let it Go” in her Ice Palace. That scene shows her power.
‘We had a week to load in the projection gear, one night to focus four projectors which makes an image 74’ wide by 25’ tall. These were stationed on the roof over the free seats 400’ away from the stage. We had about 4 hours to focus the projectors, and then the following night was tech rehearsal. We still didn’t know at that point if it was going to be achievable because it’s such a large space to do it in. When we got all that power through it we were blown away by how all that work had paid off. It was an exciting moment for all of us, the first step in a new adventure.”
“And for the audience, it just became this huge moment, a pinnacle of Act One. I would watch the show from the free seats and see the entire audience be mesmerized by this next level of technology, a canopy of light above them. The lasers were much more impactful in the free seats where they got the long view. So I saw this as a special moment for those people, saying ‘we see you.’ It was fun to send a little gift to them.’’
Denton’s lighting team consists of Associate Lighting Designer Shelby Loera, an intern from Carnegie Mellon, and a daytime crew of 5 or 6 on the labor side, which at night increases to 13. There’s a crew person stage left and right, a head electrician floating around making sure everything is okay, a programmer who’s on the third floor on the East Tower with the consoles, and six follow-spot operators. About 95% of the labor is local. “There’s that much talent here, Denton said, “and we want to keep that talent. We’re also lucky that The Muny and different unions train people to keep these skills going with a mentorship program. We want to be sure that the arts industry here is successful and thriving. “
“The status of The Muny over the past decade, particularly in the theater community outside St. Louis, has grown. It’s recognized for the work we are doing, the fact that we have a large donor base, and a loyal audience of 11,000 that comes out each night, some from hundreds of miles away, because they know we produce really good work. The transformation over the past 12 years has been huge and that goes to having really great leaders who find talented people and then have faith in them. Because trust comes from leadership at the top, we trust that each of us is going to do our piece of the puzzle extremely well, so when it all comes together we’re not worried about any part of the production.”
Denton continued, “I’ve noticed that when designers and artistic staff come to The Muny for the first time, they’re amazed by the pace and how it all comes together. They note how professional everybody is, and how happy and joyful we are to work here. I feel so honored and blessed to be part of it.”
Here is the link to the digital version of September 2025’s CWEA Griffin.