Jason Lyons

I have been designing lighting for over two decades, across Broadway, regional theater, live entertainment and architectural installation. That range matters to how I teach. The work runs from the nuanced subtleties of an intimate drama to the scale of an arena concert, and the same questions sit underneath all of it: what is this moment about, and how does light say so.

Selected work

On Broadway:

• On the Town, Lyric Theatre
• Hand to God, Booth Theatre
• Rock of Ages, Brooks Atkinson Theatre
• Bring It On, St. James Theatre
• Bronx Bombers, Circle in the Square
• Let It Be, St. James Theatre
• Barefoot in the Park, Cort Theatre

Elsewhere, a small sample:

• Macbeth, The Old Globe
• Red Velvet, The Old Globe
• Dry Powder, The Public Theater
• Kings, The Public Theater
• Barbecue, The Public Theater
• Clay, Lincoln Center Theater
• Brokeology, Lincoln Center Theater
• Linda, Manhattan Theatre Club
• Scarcity, Atlantic Theater Company
• The Threepenny Opera, Roundabout, Studio 54
• Uncle Vanya, Classic Stage Company
• Junk, Arena Stage

Beyond the theatre:

• Fosse/Verdon, FX limited series
• Tesseract: The Geometry of Truth, Mumbai
• Bakowski Bridge of Lights, artistic director

The full list runs past 120 productions and lives at jasonlyonsdesign.com.

Teaching

I was shaped by the mentorship I received, and I have spent much of my career trying to pass it on. I have taught at SUNY Purchase and the College of Charleston, and I am currently on the faculty at Emerson College, where I bring professional work into the classroom. I also built a residency for Title I students exploring storytelling through design, and I speak on panels and lead master classes on where theatrical design education should go next.

I served as artistic director of the Bakowski Bridge of Lights, a public art installation built around light as a communal medium.

Mentorship is not a side job

After decades of designing across multiple genres, one of the most consistent throughlines in my career has been teaching and mentorship. Whether in formal classrooms or tech tables, post show debriefs or coffee chats at LDI, the most meaningful growth, for students, collaborators, and even me, has always come from honest, curious, process driven conversation.

As I have moved in and out of academia and met students and educators at USITT and LDI, I kept hearing the same thing: people are craving connection. Not just technical training or portfolio advice, but real conversation around process, purpose, and creative identity.

Why Designing Stories exists

Designing Stories isn’t just an educational offering. It’s a creative ecosystem, a place to sharpen your craft, dig deeper into your personal aesthetic, and learn to articulate your vision with confidence and clarity. A space where process is valued as much as product, and where community isn’t a buzzword. It’s the foundation.

It isn’t a school. It’s a studio, built for designers who want to develop voice, not just skill.

If you’re looking to grow, not just as a technician or artist, but as a storyteller, a collaborator, and a leader, I hope you’ll join me.

Jason