Graduate Student Spends Time with Theatre Greats in London’s West End

For release: June 2, 2011
For press information, contact Simone Notter Wilson (901) 678-4164.

Daniel Mueller, third year MFA candidate in theatre design, spent three weeks this spring with some of the greatest directors, producers, and designers on the musical Betty Blue Eyes in London's West End. The musical’s production team includes Neil Austin, Tony and Olivier award-winning lighting designer, Tim Hatley Tony award-winning scenic and costume designer, Sir Richard Eyre, former artistic director of the Royal National Theatre in London, and Sir Cameron Mackintosh, known for producing the three longest running musicals of all times: Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Cats, and described by The New York Times as “the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world." 

Mueller met Austin at LiveDesign (LDI) in Las Vegas last fall. “I attended a conference session that featured Rob Halliday and Neil Austin,” Mueller says. “The session was more like a small group discussion and it lasted much longer than scheduled. Afterwards I asked Rob if I could email him a few technical questions, and before I knew it I was getting ready to leave for London.”

Mueller notes that Halliday and Austin took a sincere interest in his work and research and, in March, Rob invited him to be part of Betty Blue Eyes. 
It was an amazing experience, which now is one of my most valuable assets as a theatre professional,” Mueller says.