Tony Stoeri is a Minneapolis-based lighting designer with experience in theater, opera, dance, and event lighting. Since he began designing at the age of sixteen, his work has been seen around the Twin Cities and across the United States. In addition to being a freelance designer, Tony teaches lighting at Carleton College.
He believes that all creative acts are fundamentally communal, that feeling and meaning are inextricable, and that an artist's job is to bring forth whatever expression is unique to them, lest it be lost.
Tony holds an M.F.A. in lighting design from Indiana University, and a B.A. in history from Carleton.
Reviews:
"I often find myself at a loss after a production to recall much of the lighting and sound design of a production, that is not the case here. Tony Stoeri’s lighting is creative and adds both realism and a dreamlike quality depending on the scene. There are several scenes where headlights come into play and Stoeri’s solution sells the effect completely. Likewise while most of the time jumps happen as a blackout and fade up after some costume changes, there is a moment towards the end when we get a flashback that is actually more like a memory which the lighting is our signal that this one is different, and it’s perfectly clear to us in that moment what is happening thanks to Stoeri’s work."
-Stages of MN Review of Ironbound
"Stoeri creates moods with the lighting, highlighting the feel of the scenes. Creating shadows of different colors through the windows to evoke hope or danger depending on what is needed."
-Stage of MN Review of The Convert
"Stoeri’s lighting choices in particular stand out for their boldness, without going over the top. One chilling scene is illuminated by only one light, relatively close to the ground, revealing only silhouettes to the audience."
-Herald-Times Review of The Duchess of Malfi
"...lighting design by Tony Stoeri...speaks to the show’s cultural milieu of engineering, computing and pixelization...[creating] superimposed grids of pixels, which manage to fall somewhere between romantic, musical overture landscapes and basic graphics. Basic and very, very effective."
-MN Playlist Review of The Ugly One
"[The]lighting design by Tony Stoeri added wonderful depth and sense of place to the pleasantly stark stage...in particular, many of the scenes that involve Boom, Ax and Kuroko are perfectly lit to inspire fear."
-MN Playlist Review of The Last Firefly