Q&A Gisela Estrada: 2026 USITT Rising Star Winner
Live Design chats with Estrada, who will be honored on Thursday, March 19 at 2:00pm, at an awards ceremony in Long Beach as part of USITT's 66th Annual Conference & Stage Expo. LDI/Live Design VP Marian Sandberg will present the award.
Gisela Estrada announced as 2026 Rising Star Winner
“USITT and LDI are excited to announce Gisela Estrada as the winner of the 2026 Rising Star Award! The Rising Star Award is sponsored by LDI/Live Design and is given annually to a young professional at the beginning of their career. The award recognizes excellence and artistic achievement in scenic, lighting, sound, projection design, or a convergence of these design disciplines.”
Recent School of Design & Production alum wins Helen Hayes Award
“Gisela Estrada (M.F.A. ’23), an alumna from the School of Design and Production (D&P), won the Helen Hayes Award for outstanding set design for “Covenant” at Theater Alliance.”
Salvadoran Gisela Estrada triumphs in awards for the best of theater in Washington
“With this award, Estrada not only inscribes her name among the best of theater in the American capital, but also becomes a reference for Latin talent in one of the most demanding showcases of the performing arts.”
REVIEWS
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"There is so much to love about this production. Set design, for me, catapults this into that minimalist space where so much is possible and yet grounds the play with the rawness of its broken, diagonal slashes of wood. Scenic designer Gisela Estrada accomplishes perfection here."
MD Theatre Guide
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"The production’s highly sophisticated array of visuals will leave you in awe. Utilizing jagged, diagonal slats that dually convey a church and a home, the fiery warmth of Gisela Estrada’s all-wood scenic design brilliantly situates the play in a space between comfort and unease.
UnProfessional Opinion
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"One of the most innovative aspects of this production is the set design, created by Gisela Estrada, who has developed a proposal that goes beyond the simple reconstruction of the disco era"
ElSalvador.com
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“This “hot Latin bar,” designed with artistic flair by scenic designer Gisela Estrada, wraps around the audience like a secret."
MD Theatre Guide
Scene Designer Gisela Estrada creates out-of-this-world setting for Haydn opera
“Orlando Paladino” is Estrada’s first opera as designer, but John Coyne, director of the Scene Design program, knew she was the right person for the job. “What we love about Gisela as a grad student designer is that she is very bold. She will try big ideas,” he says.”