12 Facts About Stanley McCandless

Stanley Russell McCandless is considered to be the father of modern lighting design.

Stanley McCandless paved the way for future lighting designers by making contributions to almost all aspects of theatrical lighting, from the engineering of lighting instruments to consultant work, and designing realized theatrical productions.

The method of lighting the stage Stanley McCandless outlined in A Method of Lighting the Stage, known today as the Stanley McCandless Method, is still in wide use today.

Stanley McCandless was one of the first professors to outline the historical development of lighting design.

Stanley McCandless's books are not only practical guides to the art, but they give designers a sense of their legacy and heritage.

Stanley McCandless continued to educate and design until he retired from teaching in 1964.

Stanley McCandless's legacy is still felt by many lighting designers today, as his method and approach to the art are still the backbone of many educational theatre programs.

The Stanley McCandless method is a particular approach to providing stage lighting, first proposed in his book, A Method of Lighting the Stage, which has been through several editions.

Stanley McCandless described these angles as being the diagonals of a cube in the center of the acting area.

However, the key to the Stanley McCandless method is that one light of the primary pair is "cool" relative to the other.

Stanley McCandless began devising this system while at Harvard College.

Stanley McCandless fully developed it following his move to Yale University, which was then near the center of American theatre, in part because many producers of Broadway-bound shows staged opening runs at New Haven's Shubert Theatre in order to assess their wider potential.