Patrick Mulcahy is lighting up Spirit of the North Theater this month with his design for Tick, Tick… Boom!. Whether he is shaping a story through stage lights, playing the euphonium, or building architectural masterpieces out of gingerbread, Mulcahy brings his artistic soul to everything he does.
🎟️ Get your tickets to the upcoming show: destinationduluth.co/TickTickBoomBoatClubProductions
Whether designing exciting theatrical lights for the stage, playing the euphonium with area music organizations, or building architectural masterpieces out of gingerbread, Patrick Mulcahy brings his artistic soul to everything he does.
“I grew up in a small farming town called Huntley, northwest of Chicago. When I graduated high school, the population was about 1,800. It was one of those places where everyone knew everyone,” Mulcahy said.
He attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. “Originally, I started out as a computer science and music major, but after deciding that I didn’t actually want to do those for a living, I bounced around several different departments (chemistry, physics, psychology, math) until I found theatre.”
Patrick and his wife Krista live here in Duluth with their two boys, Ian and Connor, and their dog, Joey. Ian has been working on stage lighting with his dad for the past several years, and Connor has recently shown interest as well.
Wearing Many Hats
Mulcahy recalled, “My earliest involvement in theatre was providing the stuffed squirrel for my 3rd-grade play about Abe Lincoln. My next interaction with the theatre came in high school when I played in the pit orchestra for our high school musicals. But it wasn’t until college, while working for the Cultural Events Office, that I truly discovered the world of technical theatre.”
He added, “Dance was the gateway. I loved how you could sculpt a dancer’s body with light, create mood, and movement just by changing the angle of light. I was really drawn to the artistry of light and still remember being in tears during a production of Ragtime in Chicago – just from how impactful the lighting was.”
He worked for the Quad City Music Guild as Technical Director for a couple of years before moving to Duluth to join the Duluth Playhouse as their Technical Director for six years. Over the past 24 years, he has designed lights, sets, sound, and/or props for over 120 shows there.
Over the past decade or so, he has really settled into just designing lights and serving as their Master Electrician at the Playhouse. In addition to working at the Duluth Playhouse, he has worked on shows in various other theaters and schools around the area, including The DECC, College of St. Scholastica, The Depot Stage, the Minnesota Ballet, and Spirit of the North Theatre (Fitger’s). Mulcahy served as lighting designer for the holiday show, Winter Wonderettes, at Spirit of the North Theater.
“It might sound cliché, but whatever show I’m currently working on tends to be my favorite. That said, the one that really stands out is a youth production of Les Misérables,” Mulcahy said. “I was initially skeptical of a children’s version of Les Mis. I remember thinking that ‘This is going to be a disaster.’ But then I sat in on a rehearsal a couple of weeks before opening and was absolutely blown away. I ended up with 450 lighting cues, because they deserved nothing less than a full-scale design with professional-level production.”
In addition to his theater work, Patrick stays busy with other hobbies and activities, including playing the euphonium with the Twin Ports Wind Orchestra, the Two Harbors City Band, and the Carlson Quartet.
“I co-founded 3D Robotics Duluth, a program offering K-12 students hands-on STEM experiences through robotics,” he said. “We’ve grown from 2 to 27 teams in just a few years. Last year, 3 of our teams qualified for the World Championship in Houston.”
Another passion of his is making structures out of gingerbread. “I run a seasonal business called The Gingerbread Man, creating hundreds of gingerbread houses and large-scale edible structures like the Aerial Lift Bridge, Glensheen, and Split Rock Lighthouse.”
One of Patrick’s gingerbread masterpieces of Glensheen shows the wonderful detail of his cookie creations.
Tick, Tick… Boom!
About his current lighting assignment, Mulcahy noted, “Tick, Tick… Boom! is a show about creativity, passion, and the ticking clock of time. It’s about struggling to find your voice as an artist, dealing with self-doubt, and chasing dreams.”
“One of the biggest challenges has been capturing the raw, emotional tone, supporting it without overpowering it. I’m excited to help shape the space, to make lighting feel like an extension of the story itself,” he added.
Peter Froehlingsdorf, who has worked with Mulcahy on several shows, including Tick, Tick… Boom!, said Patrick is simply the best in town! Not only is he kind and so generous with his time, but his lighting designs are the thing that always puts the final polish on any production!”
Information About Tick, Tick… Boom!
By Jonathan Larson, David Auburn, and Stephen Oremus
September 26-27 7:30 pm | September 28 2:00 pm
October 2-4 7:30 pm | October 5 2:00 pm
Spirit of the North Theater, Fitger’s Third Floor
For tickets: visit destinationduluth.co/TickTickBoomBoatClubProductions
Before Rent, there was Tick, Tick… Boom!. This autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer of Rent, is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Containing fourteen songs, ten characters, three actors, and a band, Tick, Tick… Boom! takes you on the playwright/composer’s journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster.
