Abi Farnsworth has a 12 year history of theatre production and design.

     Working with Arrowhead Union High School — including their celebrated musical theatre troupe Broadway Company —  Abi Farnsworth studied under award winning artists including director Marilynn Markano, lighting designer Scott Micheals, sound designer Matt Pea, and scenic designer Matthew Carr.

     After a theatrical sound design internship under Heather Pulkowski, Abi was employed by Sunset Playhouse as a sound engineer, performing live theatrical mixing for musicals including The Producers. Abi then accepted a rare opportunity to sound design Arrowhead’s production of Neil Simon’s Fools.

     Following her Jerry Award for stage management of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Abi Farnsworth started her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatrical Design and Production at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She quickly became a fixture in the lighting shop, advancing to frequent head electrician roles in tandem with design work for the Department of Dance, Theatre Department, and musical theatre student produced work.

     Abi worked under Tim Durant of Durant Designs and with PixMob as one of three Production Coordinators for the Michigan Marching Band 9/11 20th Anniversary Tribute at Michigan Stadium, the largest stadium in the United States. This night show work included her oversight of more than 400 band members and 275 live performers, each wearing digitally synchronized LED lights or holding various lighted props while playing instruments or dancing in reflective costumes around laser light pictures on the field.

     Abi Farnsworth was also head electrician for Cedar Point’s MainStage outdoor venue (its largest), and for Interlochen’s Phoenix Theatre while designing lighting for its summer intermediate theatre and musical theatre programs.

     When COVID transformed the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor performance season into a virtual format, Abi designed lighting for numerous theatre-to-film productions including Shakespeare’s As You Like It in the Arthur Miller Theatre and MT Ghostlight, False Beginnings. Those experiences sparked her interest in how light translates from theatre and live events to film. Abi then applied and was accepted to the School of Literature Science and Arts Bachelor of Arts in Film, Television, & Media to pursue a dual degree.

      Abi Farnsworth became a founding board member and Technical Director of Multiverse Media University of Michigan student film group, winner of an Accolades award for outstanding achievement by a student organization in film & video its first year.

     In a field that included MFA student lighting designers, Abi Farnsworth became a two-time Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Lighting Design Award Winner for Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow (Honorable Mention), and Guys and Dolls (Meritorious Achievement).

     Abi Farnsworth is currently Assistant Lighting Designer to Joseph Walls for the Orlando Ballet’s 50th Anniversary reimagining of The Nutcracker.