Look Solutions has long been the manufacturer of choice for reliable, repeatable fog and haze effects across any application. Jeremy Wahlers is a Broadway Production Electrician and Owner of JJW Production Electrics. He is in charge of lighting rigs, which also includes some special and atmospheric effects, and supervises the teams that actualize effects during technical rehearsals and operate them once the show has opened. He has worked in theaters since he was a child and uses Look Solutions products in many of the productions he oversees.
One of Wahlers’ recent projects was Death Becomes Her, which opened in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway in March 2025. The film won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and pioneered the use of computer-generated effects. Re-imagining them for a live audience was always going to be a challenge for the production teams involved.
“Death Becomes Her is amazing; the music, the orchestrations, the actors’ chemistry, are all fantastic,” Wahlers states. “Shows like this take a lot of planning, and getting the effects spot-on requires a full rehearsal period. You could try and do it in a demo room, but really it has to be a full-scale dark room, which can be really cost prohibitive. The scale of this show is massive and we feel like we’ve really nailed it.”
Wahlers has worked with many different lighting designers, and Death Becomes Her Designer, Justin Townsend, is a regular collaborator. Once the team is chosen, much of the work happens in the background. Wahlers and his team help to ensure the correct equipment can be sourced and the design ideas can be realized in exactly the way the lighting designer intended.
“I’m the designer’s advocate. I’m there to fight for them, to help negotiate the budgets, labor and perishables. I work with the other departments to ensure we can get the rig into the building, and consider the whole picture to get the best possible outcome for the show,” he explains. “Broadway is largely a commercial venture, so we have to make money and if we are not fully prepared, then we will fail. Special effects are often an afterthought. If we have an idea during technical rehearsals, even with the whole team working on it, if the special effects haven’t been considered, it is much harder to get them right the first time around.”
Controlling fog and haze can be very difficult, especially in older, drafty theaters. But localized techniques, as well as using variable output units like the Look Solutions Unique 2.1, ensure that Wahlers and his team can apply their effects exactly where needed. This ensures minimal bleed through to the wings, where haze could build up and cause issues for technicians and performers. The style of application also prevents too much fluid being used, which makes shows more economical. Wahlers has also been using an app called Haze Watch©, created by John McKenna, which is a particulate-monitoring system that utilizes multiple sensors throughout the theater to track fog and haze levels in real time, sending the data back to a central location with a simple real-time readout.
The most well-known effect in Death Becomes Her is the moment that the character Helen, played by Jennifer Simard on Broadway, gets shot, leaving a huge hole in her abdomen. In the theatre, this is achieved with costume and smoke effects and has been rightly praised for its efficacy. As Wahlers explains, getting it to that point took time, experimentation and team work to make sure all departments could make something exciting happen together.
“Hiding equipment on people’s bodies is hard,” Wahlers says. “It has to be tiny, and some DMX controlled equipment just isn’t small enough. Alternatively, it is so small it becomes fragile and needs specialist attention to make sure it works. When you are as busy as we are, time-consuming, specialist equipment often gets cut.” The Tiny Fogger range has a variety of solutions for situations exactly like this and can be placed in costumes, or hidden discreetly in props to ensure fog is delivered exactly where it is needed.
“We used Look Solutions Tiny FX for the personal smoke effects,” Wahlers adds, “but the DMX remote was too big for the tight-fitting costumes, so we have a member of stage-crew in the wings firing the effect locally.” The modular design means that if there is space, DMX and remotes can be worn in addition to the fogger to make the system completely remote or, as in Death Becomes Her, the unit can be operated locally via remote to reduce the size of the unit and make it even more discreet. There are even tubing options to adapt the unit to a personal prop, operated by the wearer.
Special effects in theater is still a relatively new area and, much like the explosion of video content in shows, special effects still require explanation and justification. For Wahlers, these conversations are getting easier because he has a body of successful work to refer to. For Look Solutions USA, these conversations are a chance to find out how the products are being used. In theater, equipment is often deployed in ways the manufacturer had not envisioned, so relationships and conversations are even more pivotal, as Wahlers concludes.
“Nathan Kahn at Look Solutions USA is a wonderful stand-up guy. If I have any questions he has always been really prompt and helpful,” he says. “Relationships are really important in theater, and Look Solutions USA has built a great product and a great community.”
Further information about Look Solutions USA: https://looksolutionsusa.com/
