Sooner Rae Routhier is a 2X Parnelli, Live Design Achievement, Live Production Summit Pinnacle, and multi Top Dog award winning Designer. Her work has been viewed by millions all around the world and has appeared on major screens such as Jimmy Fallon, The AMA’s, The Ellen Show, The Voice and The Billboard Music Awards. She has developed, produced and helped create some of entertainment’s most recognizable performance moments for some of today’s most celebrated headlining artists including, Coldplay, Green Day, Noah Kahan, Paramore, The Weeknd, KISS, Imagine Dragons, The Lumineers, Rhianna, Megan Thee Stallion, Jay-Z, Halsey, Motley Crue, G-Eazy, Muse, Alessia Cara and Depeche Mode.
Sooner’s story began in 1999 where she worked as a lighting technician and lighting director for Rainbow Concert Productions while attending Emerson College in Boston. She launched her career as a Lighting Designer for the rock band Chevelle and In 2007 Sooner teamed up with legendary production manager Robert Long to form SRae Productions. While growing SRae Productions, Sooner was also able to cultivate new creative talent that emulated the team’s strong creative visions. Sooner and the SRae team joined forces with World-Renowned Composer Ramin Djawadi and together in a Live Nation / HBO partnership brought the world of Westeros to life and launched the „Game of Thrones – Live Concert Experience.“
Routhier’s newest venture, The Playground, launched in 2022 and her work has continued with projects including Lighting Design for Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres World Tour, Muse’s Will Of The People World Tour and Wang Feng’s Unfollow Tour. She has also created full show design for Green Day’s Saviors Tour, Noah Kahan, Megan Thee Stallion, Maren Morris, Daddy Yankee, Paramore, and The Lumineers and art direction for the band Ghost.
Sooner has not only made her mark in the entertainment industry, but she has also become a respected leader in her field and along with her colleagues helped pave the modern landscape of entertainment lighting, design, and production.
In 2020, the live entertainment industry came to a very abrupt halt due to the onslaught of the COVID 19 pandemic. Sooner teamed up with several industry peers to form EVEN – an organization that seeks to create a more diverse and inclusive live events industry through outreach, training, mentorship, networking and job placement.
In 2023, she founded the creative collective The Playground, a design co-op focused on creating iconic experiences. The foundation of the company is to design and produce unforgetable moments through the magic of collaborative creativity, with joy and without ego. With The Playground, Sooner’s vision is to remain in motion by challenging convention, innovating, and mentoring young talent.
