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The Killing Room
Madlab Theatre & Gallery, Columbus, OH
Lighting, Scenic, & Special Effects Design
Lighting Equipment Rental

The production's most dramatic element is the visual one. Doug Northeim's ambitious lighting and stage designs really pay off. Turning the entire room about 90 degrees to the left, he doubles the space of the stage and fills it with an abstract, otherworldly atmosphere that transplants you into Whitmore's disturbed mind. All of this is
enhanced by a fog machine, real rain featured during thunderstorms throughout, and constantly changing light schemes (from horror red to moonlight blue).
- Dwayne Steward, Metromix

From rain to fog and surreal moonlight, nifty scenic effects enliven the
world premiere of Mark Cornell's veritable ghost story...
- Michael Grossberg, The Columbus Dispatch

I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention Doug Northeim’s incredible set design. MadLab’s mutable space allows for several stage/house configurations, and this one is one of the most creative uses I’ve seen there yet. The set drives home the creepy aspects of the play, complete with gallows, a skeletal piano, and crudely stitched burlap sacks (reminiscent of Jack’s nightmare scarecrows) for upholstery and drapery—even serving as the “screen” for the silent movie clips. The special effects in lighting, creative use of a fog machine, and especially the onstage rainstorms are particularly effective and add another layer of authenticity to the story.
- Krista Threadgill, Theatre Vault

MadLab has come up with one of its most atmospheric set and lighting designs ever for The Killing Room. Created by Doug Northeim, it features striking pieces, such as a piano and a tree that are constructed of rickety boards and lit from within or behind, respectively. The set even allows rain to descend onto the MadLab stage in a couple of stormy scenes. The overall design is nearly as nice as the one Northeim came up with for last year’s MadLab production of The Angels of Lemnos.
-Richard Ades, The Other Paper

Pretend City
Children's Museum of Orange County, CA
Exhibit Lighting Design

Red Fish Illuminations (RFI) partnered with Cantara Design Group of Huntington Beach, CA as a lighting consultant for two interactive exhibits including: 1) a theatre with various single push buttons to play back time-coded automated lighting shows and 2) an interactive "keep the beach clean" exhibit which projected images to simulate a polluted and clean beach. As part of the beach exhibit, RFI was granted special permission to use patended aerospace and architectural LCD & SPD glass units to allow simple integration into the Murphy Catton built exhibit.

LIVE DESIGN MAGAZINE
Nominated for a DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARD (architainment category)

PLSN (Projection,Lights and Staging News) Article

LED Magazine Article

Cantara Design press release.

Theatre exhibit on the front cover of the Orange County Register (Adobe pdf)
Full article link on web.

FOX NEWS 11 Feature (YouTube)

Pretend City - Featured on Real Orange (YouTube)

What is Pretend City Video (YouTube)

Kobe Bryant & family go to Pretend City (YouTube)

The Angels of Lemnos
Scenic & Lighting Designer

Named Columbus BEST DRAMA 2008
- Richard Ades, The Other Paper

Nominated for the 2008 ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE AWARD by the GCAC (Greater Columbus Arts Council)

Doug Northeim's lighting and scenic design deserves praise"
- Michael Grossberg, Columbus Dispatch

"I was impressed with how MadLab has met the play's challenges. Start with the unusual but effective staging - a new configuration for MadLab's intimate Downtown-fringe theater that works well by placing the audience into and on both sides of the action, set along a back alley where the homeless gather."
- Columbus Dispatch Theatre Talk Blog

Split
Scenic & Lighting Designer

Nominated for Best Design by the Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle (2008-2009 Season)
- Press Release

Named as one of Columbus Best Designs 2008
- Columbus Dispatch Theatre Talk Blog

"Vividly staged and well-acted...complete with colorful circus lighting and a central ringed stage on which various
”acts” and actors emerge to play with Adam's psyche"
- Columbus Dispatch Theatre Talk Blog

"The stage itself also plays a major role in the production's success. Lighting and scenic designer Doug Northeim completely recreated the theater, stretching the seating in a 180-degree format around the stage. It effectively complements the play's theme of life as it revolves around Adam....
Presented like Adam's thought bubbles, the characters in his life were rolled out on platforms from behind curtains with spotlighted performances whenever he'd mentioned them, adding an enjoyable dimension to the show."
-Dwayne Steward, Metromix

"MadLab, whose stage designs tend to be minimal, took an ambitious step and built a moving stage for Split, it's enjoyable and rewarding current production. But the inventive troupe went farther and changed its entire stage and seating configuration - with very happy results that could and should outlast this particular show. The new stage is more intimate and in my opinion, focuses the attention of the audience better than MadLab's previous extra-wide and shallow stage."
-Columbus Dispatch Theatre Talk Blog

Split Review in: The Other Paper

The Laramie Project
Scenic Designer

"Miraculous revelation... remarkable multi-media effects and a stunning set; truth was never more apparent on a stage..."
-The Oakwood Register

Wonder of the World
Scenic & Lighting Designer

"Director Aaron Babcock keeps his cast bouncing through Northeim's ingenious and childishly garish set."
- The Orlando Sentinel

Lost in Yonkers
Lighting Designer

"Doug Northeim's lighting design added the only warmth when Grandma entered the room, ridding this theater of its usual bothersome shadows."
- Emily Thorpe, The Orlando Sentinel

Objet d’Art
Scenic Designer

Nominated for Best Design by the Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle (2006-2007 Season)

"MadLab may have never achieved a scenic design as polished as Doug Northeim's comfortable living room and foyer"
-Michael Grossberg, Columbus Dispatch

"Scenic designer Doug Northeim has put together one of the most handsome sets ever seen on the Madlab stage."
-The Other Paper

"Extra kudos to Doug Northeim's classy set design"
- Columbus Alive