Michael Gend

Michael is a theatre artist that has collaborated on over 100 shows in the greater Los Angeles area during the past decade. He will be making his Off-Broadway design debut with Annapurna at the Acorn Theater this April. His lighting design was featured at the Matrix Theatre with We Are Proud To Present... which won the Drama Critic's Award for Best Performance Ensemble in 2014. He recently designed the lighting for the L.A. premiere of Annapurna by Sharr White, directed by Bart DeLorenzo and starring Megan Mullally & Nick Offerman. He serves on the board of directors for the HumanArts Theatre Company.

In another medium, he is currently proud to be an Associate Producer on the new web series I WILL LOVE produced by and starring Kristen Hansen. I WILL LOVE can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/user/kristenonstage/

Michael's previous producing included Associate Producer/Assistant Director on a unique collaboration of music, Shakespeare, and rooftops with Director Lily Whitsitt and Producers Claire Needham and Rebecca Dealy during the summer of 2011. Twelfth Night performed on the rooftop of OfficeOps in Brooklyn, NY.

Recent scenic design work includes Live the Exit's production of Miss Julie at the Raven Theater, The Exonerated, The Little Dog Laughed, Neil Simon's Rumors, and Rabbit Hole at the Pierce Performing Arts Center.

Michael designed lighting for the critically praised productions of Ivanov and The Irish Curse at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. He also designed the lighting for the world premiere production of Peter Lefcourt's M.A.D. and the west coast premiere of Lower Depth Theatre's Elmina's Kitchen. Michael's site specific lighting design work for Collage Dance Theatre's production of Governing Bodies at LA City Hall was seen in November 2010. Previous lighting designs include Sucktion at REDCAT, Roger Guenveur Smith's Inside the Creole Mafia at the eviDence room, Sandra Tsing Loh's Mother On Fire at the 24thStreet Theatre , Jekyll & Hyde The Musical at T.O. Civic Arts Plaza, Really, All About Eve by Collage Dance Theatre, Fate of a Cockroach directed by Ken Sawyer at CSUN,Othello & A Midsummer Night's Dream for Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival, and Miss Julie at The Raven. Older lighting designs include Cabaret, A Chorus Line, Beyond Therapy, and A Christmas Carol at the Madrid Theatre; all of which were nominated for Valley Theatre League ADA awards.

Michael was also the assistant lighting designer for SAVED! The Musical on Off-Broadway (Design: Don Holder), Dry Cleaning at the 24th Street Theatre (Design: Chris Akerlind), and Lorca at the Freud Playhouse (Design: Lap Chi Chu). Michael holds an MFA from CalArts and is a very proud member of the Theatre Arts faculty at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, CA.