From: Montreal, Canada. LA Opera: Wonderful Town (2016); Oedipus Rex (2021).

Azra King-Abadi is a theater designer specializing in lighting and costume design. She is currently based in Los Angeles, after moving here from Montreal.

She trained at Concordia University and received her BFA in Fine Arts, Specialization in Theatre Design. Later she attended Cal State Long Beach where she received her MFA in Lighting Design. After graduation, she began working as a freelance designer in the Los Angeles area and took over the position of Assistant Lighting Designer for LA Opera. She is a member of United Scenic Artists, union local 829. She has worked at several prestigious companies such as the LA Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Long Beach Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Central City Opera, as well as many prestigious educational programs and theatre companies in California. Before moving to Los Angeles she mainly designed costumes in her hometown of Montreal. She designed for exciting young companies such as Tableau D’Hote and Gravy Bath Productions.

Azra found herself drawn to theater, as an environment for collaboration and the ability to mix so many different media.

Her design approach focuses on the emotional truth of the moment is order to tell the story in an effective way and bring the audience along on the journey. She enjoys the expressionistic style and tries to represent a character’s internal psychology on the stage. She has been able to do this in a variety of ways since she has worked in varying theaters with a wide range of capacities and/or budgets. She is always excited by the prospect of creating new and exciting work, and participating in the collaborative process.

Learn more at AzraKingAbadi.com.