Episode 249 Anne Militello

The Lydian Spin

The cover photograph for the second and final Richard Hell and the Voidoids album, Destiny Street features a woman standing in the background. For years, this woman was unfairly credited as "unknown woman." However, the truth is that the woman is Anne Militello, who would go on to become an accomplished lighting designer and professor at CalArts. Anne's journey began while working for the now infamous rapist Harvey Weinstein back when Weinstein and his brother were concert promoters in metro Buffalo. Seeking to leave The Nickel City but not yet prepared for New York City, she embarked on a five-day bus trip to San Francisco, packing a tin of pot brownies, which were completely consumed along the way.

Upon arriving on the west coast, Anne leveraged her experience working with lights in college to gain work at a music venue. The manager who hired her was Sylvester, who later became a disco legend. One night outside the Magic Theater, she encountered a man dressed like a trucker who seemed to be out of place and ignored by her cohort of punker rockers. Feeling sympathetic, she struck up a conversation with him. The man told her he was a playwright and wanted her to read his new play, which she did and really liked. The trucker turned out to be Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard and they became great friends.

With Shepard's encouragement, she relocated to New York City and immersed herself in the theater scene. Over time, Anne established herself as a world-renowned lighting designer, working with luminaries such as David Lynch, Tom Waits, The Wooster Group, and Lou Reed. Today, Anne resides in Los Angeles, where she operates Vortex Lighting.