At just 17 years old, Nathan Coleman is a small business owner. Blackout Lighting is his lighting company, which he created while pursuing his passion for technical theater.

Nathan believes his interest in tech sparked before he could walk or talk.

“For me, tech started when I was six months old,” Nathan said. “I got into playing with power strips and extension cords — something about them fascinated me.”

In following years, Nathan picked up an interest in holiday lights, such as Christmas and Halloween lighting. His introduction to theater and its technical aspects came in first grade, where he observed the hanging lights, and never looked back. 

“I was really interested, and asked my teacher, ‘Can I use those?’” Nathan said. “I learned that we had a technical theater program from fourth grade to middle school at Bullis Charter.”

In fourth grade, Nathan operated the lightboard, a device used to control stage lights. He rose the ranks to assistant stage manager and then assistant technical director. By eighth grade, he was helping in all aspects of tech, from programming lights to building sets.

Nathan soon realized that tech was more than a fun activity he did after school. To him, it was the perfect function of technology and art.

“It’s all very intertwined because there’s a lot of strict rules you have to follow,” Nathan said. “But then there’s also the artistic side, which is taking your vision and bending it into the technical and logistical constraints. Figuring all of that out is like a big balancing act that’s just really fun to me.”

In Nathan’s freshman year, former Bullis Charter School (BCS) technical director Jocelyn Pickett asked if he could help with tech for the middle school’s play. He was tasked with programming lights, building sets, and setting up sound systems. 

His proudest moment in tech came during the production of The Lion King, Pickett’s last show. He created a night sky backdrop.

“We wanted the entire backdrop to light up the stars, so we built a giant wooden backdrop and installed thousands of little LEDs in it,” Nathan said. “We ended up spending two months on it, we made six separate wooden panels, and each panel took around 20 hours to build completely. We spent probably over 200 hours on it.”

With hundreds of hours of experience under his belt, Nathan then founded Blackout Lighting. Founded two and a half years ago, the company works sound and lighting for events by request. 

But Nathan’s knack for tech doesn’t only come in handy in business — it’s integral to Broken Box. He started out as a sound designer in his freshman year, even writing songs for Broken Box. 

“I was like, ‘Great! We’ll have the same sound person for the next three years!’” Broken Box adviser Lisa Battle said. “But he came up to me, and said, ‘I don’t want to do sound. I want to learn every aspect of tech because I want to go into technical theater.’” 

So, the next year, Nathan became the first student to do set design for Broken Box. After that, Nathan asked Battle for the position of Assistant Technical Director, for Technical Director Myles Rowland. Nathan is the first student to take on this position. 

“Every year, he challenges himself to learn more, so that he can be the most well-rounded technician ever,” Battle said. 

BCS’s current technical director, Lara Press, echoes these sentiments.

“He’s a star and I can’t wait to see him shine,” Press said. “ I know he will succeed with whatever he sets his mind to.”

“I really think he’s going to work on Broadway,” Battle said. “And I think that he’s going to make really great things.”