Nancy Shaw

Nancy Shaw was born and raised in and around the cattle and citrus of Orlando, Florida. This, of course, was when the city of Orlando was more synonymous with alligators than theme parks as it is today.

Nancy originally started out on her design career as a scenic designer rather than a lighting designer. In 1976 while still at high school she won first place in the Florida State Thespian Scenic Design Competition; however, while in college Nancy realized she could paint scenery with light rather than having to pick up a brush.

Nancy enrolled in Winter Park, FL’s Rollins College where she received a B.A. in Theatre Arts. During the summer of her freshman and sophomore years in college, Nancy worked as an electrician for the Santa Fe Opera

Post-graduation in 1981 saw Nancy struggling to find work in Washington, D.C., as a lighting designer. As she says in her own words, “Nobody wanted to hire a smart-mouthed kid from Florida as a LD!” Two years of working as an assistant stage manager, technical director, production carpenter, assistant master Electrician and a shop electrician for various theatre and ballet companies in the Washington, D.C., area led to Nancy once again returning to Orlando.

Between 1984 and 1986, Nancy worked as a stagehand at Walt Disney World and worked as a local electrician for IATSE Local 631 of the Greater Orlando Area.

In 1989, Nancy became the production electrician on numerous U.S. and international David Copperfield tours. Ultimately, her work on the touring scene led to becoming a much sought after production electrician throughout the 1990’s. Nancy’s jobs during this period included working as an assistant lighting designer / programmer for Feld Entertainment on shows like Ringling Bros. Circus and Disney on Ice: Beauty and the Beast.

In 1997, Nancy started to get noticed as a lighting designer in her own right. Working mainly in the corporate theatre world, she has designed for clients such as Fed Ex, Pfizer, The Salvation Army, American Express, Spiriva, Saturn, Dodge, General Motors, Janssen and Cheez-Its to name a few.

Still based in her home town of Orlando, Florida, Nancy prides herself on the fact that during her almost 30 year career, she has only spent five weeks doing something unrelated to ‘theatre’ or ‘entertainment.’ Her two weeks as waitress ended with her getting fired and her three weeks at ‘Walden Books’ ended because she kept buying things. Without a doubt, Nancy has found her niche, and she does not even have to think about picking up a paint brush.