Christopher Akerlind (born May 1, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American

lighting designer In theatre, a lighting designer (or LD) works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text while keeping ...

for theatre, opera, and dance. He won the

Tony Award for Best Lighting Design This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design for outstanding lighting design of a play or musical. The award was first presented in 1970. Since 2005, the category was divided into Lighting Design in a Play ...

for ''

Indecent Inappropriateness refers to standards or ethics that are typically viewed as being negative in a society. It differs from things that are illicit in that inappropriate behavior does not necessarily have any accompanying legal ramifications. Co ...

''. He also won the

and the

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. In the 2009 ceremony, the category was sepa ...

for '' Light in the Piazza'' and an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

for sustained excellence for his work

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

. He attended

Boston University College of Fine Arts The Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) at Boston University consists of the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. Each school offers degrees in the performing and visual arts at the undergraduate and grad ...

(1985) and the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

, training with

Jennifer Tipton Jennifer Tipton (born September 11, 1937) is an award winning American lighting designer. She has designed for dance, theater, and opera. She is known for working on many productions of American Ballet Theatre. Life and career Tipton was born in ...

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

CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bot ...

School of Theater. He has designed many

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and

productions, working on both musicals and straight plays. He is noted for his work for director

Lloyd Richards Lloyd George Richards (June 29, 1919 – June 29, 2006) was a Canadian-American theatre director, actor, and dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991, and Yale University professor emeritus. Biography Richards was born in Toront ...

on the first productions of the plays of

August Wilson August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ...

, including ''

The Piano Lesson ''The Piano Lesson'' is a 1987 play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the fourth play in Wilson's ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir nga se ...

'' (1990) and ''

Seven Guitars ''Seven Guitars'' is a 1995 play by American playwright August Wilson. It focuses on seven African-American characters in the year 1948. The play begins and ends after the funeral of one of the main characters, showing events leading to the funer ...

'' (1996). He was the Resident Lighting Designer for twelve years at the

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is an American summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by th ...

. Akerlind was a Visiting Associate Professor and Director of Production at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

School of the Theatre (now the School of Dramatic Arts) from 2007 to 2008, has guest taught at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

, Yale, and for the Broadway Lighting Master Classes.

Work (selected)

*''The Piano Lesson'' (1990) *''Mad Forest'' (1992) - Drama Desk Award nominee, Outstanding Lighting Design *''

Shining Brow ''Shining Brow'' is an English language opera by the American composer Daron Hagen, first performed by the Madison Opera in Madison, Wisconsin, April 21, 1993. The libretto is by Paul Muldoon, and is based on a treatment co-written with the compo ...

'' (1993) *''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 ''The Tale of the Allergist's Wife'' is a play by Charles Busch. In his first play written for a mainstream audience, Busch explores the Upper West Side milieu of aspiring intellectual and middle-aged upper class matron Marjorie Taub, who lives c ...

'' (2000) *''

Well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

'' (2004) -

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

nomination *''The Light in the Piazza'' (2005) *''Belle Epoque'' (2005) - Drama Desk Award nominee, Outstanding Lighting Design;

nomination *''

Awake and Sing ''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935. Summary and characters The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It con ...

'' (2006) - Tony Award and

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

nominee, Best Lighting Design of a Play *''

110 In The Shade ''110 in the Shade'' is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt. Based on Nash's 1954 play '' The Rainmaker'', it focuses on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American southwest ...

'' (2007) - Tony Award nominee, Best Lighting Design of a Musical *''

Top Girls ''Top Girls'' is a 1982 play by Caryl Churchill. It centres around Marlene, a career-driven woman who is heavily invested in women's success in business. The play examines the roles available to women in old society, and what it means or takes fo ...

'' (2008) *''Garden of Earthly Delights'' (2008) -

win *''Chéri'' (2013) *''Rocky'' (2014) *'' The Last Ship'' (2014) *''

Waitress Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...

'' (2016)

References

External links

*
Akerlind listing, Internet Off-Broadway database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akerlind, Christopher Yale School of Drama alumni 1962 births Living people American lighting designers Tony Award winners Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni