John is the very first winner of the Apollo Standing O Award, which should tell you something about him. We originally heard about John when he won the 2007 USITT Rising Star Award, and we figured, "Hey, this guy must be pretty amazing." Duh. He's more than just amazing. This 26-year-old standout is one of the hottest young LDs in Chicago. He's currently resident lighting designer for Emerald City Theatre Company, but he's dabbled in just about everything a body can do behind the scenes - sound, programming, graphic design, marketing, video, carpentry, electrical... Oh yeah, and he can draw, paint and sew. Bravo!

WHY HIM: We chose John for his kick-butt lighting designs, his collaborative nature, his humility, and (of course) his excellent taste in gel products.

HIS PLAYGROUND: Theatre, musical theatre, dance, opera, children's theatre.

LOVES: Music, graphic design, 2D art, photography and his girlfriend Suz ("not necessarily in that order," he assures us).

HATES: "There's nothing worse than a young designer who thinks he or she knows everything. We should feed off of each other. I think it's important to be influenced by everything."

LATEST KICK: "I just discovered Apollo's Submissive Lavender gel, AP3200. I used it in all of my 'specials' on Ragtime. Against really saturated backlight, it just made the bodies glow in the beautiful period costumes. I also like it because it can feel like a warm color or a cool color depending on what you're mixing around it. I guess 'submissive' is a good name for it."

DREAM SHOWS TO DESIGN: Bat Boy, Into the Woods, Chicago, Dreamgirls, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Sweeney Todd, Candide, Assassins, and "any modern dance company that works with new music."

ON MUSIC: "I get just about as psyched for a good song as I do for a sick lighting look. I consider myself a very musical designer. You have to know and appreciate all types of music if you're going to light musical theatre, opera, dance, rock and roll..."

BIGGEST FEAR: "I'm still scared to death when I sit down to write cue 1."

BIGGEST THRILL: "Sitting there during the first run of the show after everything is programmed and seeing something completely spectacular that I had never planned."

WHY APOLLO GEL: "To me, gel is gel. It's the personal emotion a color creates that is important. For me, the thing that sets Apollo apart is their Gel Slide Converter. It makes Apollo gel much more approachable. I also like a good sense of humor. I love the 'Possible Uses and Suggestions' in the Apollo swatch book. If you're a dork like me and look hard, you can find some pretty clever and humorous suggestions."

WHAT'S ON HIS iPOD: "I love the new music scene. I've always been a big fan of Radiohead (yeah, I am totally that kid) - they're the best in my book, as well as Jeff Buckley. And I don't care what anyone says, Pearl Jam is a solid band."

EDUCATION: BFA in Production Design (Concentration in Lighting Design), State University of New York College at Fredonia, 2003; Live Design Broadway Lighting Masters Class, 2007.

OTHER APOLLO FAVES: "I enjoyed using the Smart Moves on Ragtime. I called them 'rotators on steroids.' I got a lot of use out of them for fire and water effects, but they also added some spirit to the Henry Ford number which was set in sort of an assembly line factory setting. I was able to write an effects cue that rotated them, stopped, then rotated them in another direction - all timed out to the music and choreography, of course."

AWARDS: Winner of 2007 USITT Rising Star Award sponsored by LDI and Live Design magazine, 2007 Apollo Standing O Award.

WINNER'S REACTION: "When I found out I won the Standing O Award, I was very pleased and surprised, which in turn made me a little hungry. So I grabbed an apple."