Christopher Akerlind

Christopher Akerlind

Christopher Akerlind (b. May 1, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut)[1] is an American lighting designer for theatre, opera, and dance. He won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for Light in the Piazza and an Obie Award for sustained excellence for his work Off-Broadway.

He attended Boston University and the Yale School of Drama, training with Jennifer Tipton.

He was Head of Lighting Design and Director of the Design & Production Programs at the CalArts School of Theater.

He has designed many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, working on both musicals and straight plays. He is noted for his work for director Lloyd Richards on the first productions of the plays of August Wilson, including The Piano Lesson (1990) and Seven Guitars (1996).

He was the Resident Lighting Designer for twelve years at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Akerland was a Visiting Associate Professor and Director of Production at the University of Southern California, School of the Arts (appointed in 2007) and has guest taught at New York University, the University of Connecticut, the Broadway Lighting Master Classes and Yale.[2][3]

Work (selected)

  • The Piano Lesson (1990)
  • Mad Forest (1992) - Drama Desk Award nominee, Outstanding Lighting Design
  • The Lights (1994) - Drama Desk Award nominee, Outstanding Lighting Design
  • Seven Guitars (1996) - Tony Award nominee, Best Lighting Design
  • The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2000)
  • Well (2004) - Lucille Lortel Award nomination
  • The Light in the Piazza (2005)
  • Belle Epoque (2005) - Drama Desk Award nominee, Outstanding Lighting Design; Lucille Lortel Award nomination
  • Awake and Sing (2006) - Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee, Best Lighting Design of a Play
  • 110 In The Shade (2007) - Tony Award nominee, Best Lighting Design of a Musical
  • Top Girls (2008)
  • Garden of Earthly Delights (2008) - Lucille Lortel Award win

References

  1. ^ Centerstage magazine, reprint of article from the Baltimore Sun, J. Wynn Rousuck, December 12, 2006 centerstage.org
  2. ^ USC biography theatre.usc.edu
  3. ^ Sherwood, Tony."Tony Award Winner Joins Theatre School", www.usc.edu, September 7, 2007

External links

v · d · eTony Award for Best Lighting Design (2001–2025)

Peter Kaczorowski (2001) · Brian MacDevitt (2002) · Nigel Levings (2003) · Jules Fisher / Peggy Eisenhauer (2004) · Brian MacDevitt (2005) · Christopher Akerlind (2005) · Mark Henderson (2006) · Howell Binkley (2006) · Brian MacDevitt / Kenneth Posner / Natasha Katz (2007) · Kevin Adams (2007) · (2008) · Brian MacDevitt (2009) · Rick Fisher (2009)
Complete list · (1970–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–2025)
v · d · eDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design (2001–2025)

Paul Anderson (2001) · T.J. Gerckens (2002) · Nigel Levings (2003) · Peggy Eisenhauer/Jules Fisher (2004) · Christopher Akerlind (2005) · Richard G. Jones (2006) · Brian MacDevitt/Kenneth Posner/Natasha Katz (2007) · Kevin Adams (2008) · David Hersey/Rick Fisher (2009) · Neil Austin (2010)
Complete list · (1976–2000) · (2001–2025)


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