Richard Nelson (December 7, 1938 – November 6, 1996) was an American theatrical
lighting designer.
Born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, Nelson studied at the
High School of the Performing Arts and began his career
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 ...
in 1955. He made his
Broadway debut with ''
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' () is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than the baby's wealthy b ...
'' in 1966. His many credits include ''
Coco
Coco or variants may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Coco'' (2009 film), a French comedy film
* ''Coco'' (2017 film), an American animated fantasy film
* '' Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle'' (), a 2020 Japanese anime film ...
'', ''
The Magic Show
''The Magic Show'' is a one-act musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Bob Randall. It starred magician Doug Henning. Produced by Edgar Lansbury, Joseph Beruh, and Ivan Reitman, it opened on Broadway on May 28, 1974 a ...
'', ''
So Long, 174th Street'', ''
The Lady From Dubuque
''The Lady from Dubuque'' is a play by Edward Albee, which premiered on Broadway theatre, Broadway in 1980 for a brief run. The play ran in London in 2007.
Productions
''The Lady from Dubuque'' opened on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on Janua ...
'', ''
The Tap Dance Kid'', ''
Sunday in the Park with George
''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La G ...
'', ''
Into the Woods
''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine.
The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...
'', and revivals of ''
Morning's at Seven
''Morning's at Seven'' is a play by Paul Osborn. Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern United States, Midwestern town in 1928, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question the ...
'', ''
Awake and Sing!'', ''
Long Day's Journey Into Night
''Long Day's Journey into Night'' is a play in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939–1941 and first published posthumously in 1956. It is widely regarded as his magnum opus and one of the great American plays of the ...
'', ''
Blithe Spirit'', ''
The Night of the Iguana
''The Night of the Iguana'' is a stage play written by American author Tennessee Williams. It is based on his 1948 short story. In 1959, Williams staged it as a one-act play, and over the next two years he developed it into a full-length play, p ...
'', and ''
Private Lives
''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetuall ...
'', among others.
Nelson 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 ...
and the
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for ''Sunday in the Park with George'' and was nominated for both awards for ''Into the Woods''. He also designed the lighting for the Ronald Reagan Memorial Library in Simi Valley, California.
In addition to his theatre work, Nelson helped define the use of light as an important element in modern dance. He worked with such choreographers as
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over s ...
,
Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp and
Erick Hawkins
Frederick "Erick" Hawkins (April 23, 1909November 23, 1994) was an American modern-dance choreographer and dancer.
Early life
Frederick Hawkins was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on April 23, 1909. He majored in Greek civilization at Harvard Univ ...
. Mr Nelson was the resident lighting designer for the
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
from 1968 to 1973. He was an associate professor of theater at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
in
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
from 1988 to 1991 and taught at the
Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...
at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
until a month prior to his death from a
brain tumor
A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...
at
Mount Sinai Hospital in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.
''New York Times'' obituary
/ref>
References
External links
*
Richard Nelson papers and designs, 1966-1996
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...
''Sunday in the Park with George'' Original Broadway production complete lighting paperwork, light plot, hookup, shop order, focus charts, magic sheets and production notes at the New York Public Library Theatrical Lighting Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Richard
American lighting designers
Tony Award winners
Drama Desk Award winners
1938 births
1996 deaths
University of Michigan faculty
Tisch School of the Arts faculty
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni