Richard Pilbrow, founder of Theatre Projects Consultants, is one of the world's leading theatre design consultants, a theatre, film and television producer, and a stage lighting designer and author. He founded Theatre Projects in London in 1957.
Under his leadership, Theatre Projects has become the pre-eminent theatre consulting organization in the world. Pilbrow was a pioneer of modern stage lighting in Britain. He was the first British lighting designer to design the lighting for a Broadway musical, Zorba. On Broadway he was lighting designer for Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, The Rothchilds, Four Baboons Adoring The Sun (Tony nomination), the Hal Prince hit revival of Show Boat (Drama Desk Award, Outer Circle Critics Award-lighting), and the Cy Coleman musical The Life (Tony Award nomination). He was lighting designer for Our Town with Paul Newman on Broadway and hi-definition video for PBS; American Ballet Theatre’s Sleeping Beauty at the Metropolitan Opera (with Dawn Chiang), and A Tale of Two Cities (2008 Drama Desk Award nomination.)
Published in 1970, his book, Stage Lighting, foreword by Lord Olivier, became a standard international text, also published in China. Stage Lighting Design, The Art, The Craft, The Life, foreword by Hal Prince, was published in 1997. In 2003 Pilbrow co-authored (with Patricia MacKay) The Walt Disney Concert Hall — The Backstage Story. In 2011, his memoire, A Theatre Project was published, both in real print and as an eBook.
In 2005, Pilbrow was honored as Lighting Designer of the Year by Lighting Dimensions (now Live Design) magazine. In the premier edition of Live Design, he was named as one of the ten visionaries who were the most influential people in the world of visual design for live events. In 2010, Live Design voted Richard “one of the 50 most powerful people in the entertainment technology industry.” In 2011, Richard was honored with the 4th Knights of Illumination Lifetime Recognition Award. In 2012, he was also awarded the Southeastern Theatre Conference 2012 Distinguished Career Award.