Christopher Akerlind
Encyclopedia
Christopher Akerlind
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.
is an American lighting designer
Lighting designer
The role of the lighting designer within theatre is to work with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create an overall 'look' for the show in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety and cost...
for theatre, opera, and dance. He won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design
Tony Award for Best Lighting Design
This is a list of the winners of the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a play or musical, first presented in 1970. In 2005 the category was divided with each genre represented separately.-1970s:* 1970: Jo Mielziner – Child's Play...
and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
for Light in the Piazza and an Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for sustained excellence for his work Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
.
He attended Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
, training with Jennifer Tipton
Jennifer Tipton
Jennifer Tipton is a lighting designer. She has designed for dance, theater and opera.In 1958, she graduated from Cornell University...
.
He was Head of Lighting Design and Director of the Design & Production Programs at the CalArts School of Theater.
He has designed many Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
productions, working on both musicals and straight plays. He is noted for his work for director Lloyd Richards
Lloyd Richards
Lloyd George Richards 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 :...
on the first productions of the plays of August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
, including The Piano Lesson
The Piano Lesson
The Piano Lesson is a 1990 play by American playwright August Wilson. The Piano Lesson is the fifth play in Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir[ing] a sense of self-worth by denying ones past"...
(1990) and Seven Guitars
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 funeral in flashbacks...
(1996).
He was the Resident Lighting Designer for twelve years at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a 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 the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, which is divided into two...
.
Akerland was a Visiting Associate Professor and Director of Production at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, School of the Arts (appointed in 2007) and has guest taught at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
, the Broadway Lighting Master Classes and Yale.
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 WifeThe Tale of the Allergist's WifeThe 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 comfortably with her doctor husband Ira in an expensively...
(2000) - WellWell (play)Well is a play about illness written by and starring Lisa Kron. Well made its world premier at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York City in 2004. The play was directed by Leigh Silverman and also starred Jayne Houdyshell as Lisa's mother, Ann Kron. The Public Theater production garnered...
(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 AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nominee, Best Lighting Design of a Play - 110 In The Shade110 in the Shade110 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, and her relationships with local sheriff File, a cautious...
(2007) - Tony Award nominee, Best Lighting Design of a Musical - Top GirlsTop GirlsTop Girls is a 1982 play by Caryl Churchill. It is about a woman named Marlene, a career-driven woman who is employed at the 'Top Girls' employment agency. The play examines issues of gender discrimination present in the Thatcherite society that it is set in...
(2008) - Garden of Earthly Delights (2008) - Lucille Lortel Award win