Tony Award-winning lighting designer Donald Holder is the winner of the seventh Paky Award, sponsored by Claypaky. Marcus Graser, Claypaky CEO, presented the award as part of the LDI awards ceremony, on Saturday, November 19, 2022 in Las Vegas. Holder won a Tony Award in 1998 for his lighting of The Lion King, and a second Tony in 2008 for South Pacific.
The Paky Award was created in 2014 in honor of Mr. Pasquale “Paky” Quadri, founder of Claypaky and one of the leaders of the international lighting industry who passed away that year. He was the honorary recipient of the first “Paky” Award, presented in memoriam during LDI in 2014. Additional winners: Fred Foster, ETC Lighting; Richard Belliveau, High End Systems; Jonathan Resnick, Barbizon (in memoriam); LDI founder Pat MacKay; and projection designer Wendall K. Harrington.
Sponsored by Claypaky, this award honors an individual who has made a major contribution to the lighting industry, in terms of design or technology.
"It’s a great honor to receive this award in the presence of so many friends and respected colleagues. I want to thank LDI and Claypaky for the recognition. It’s humbling to be included among such extraordinary past recipients, all of whom are true visionaries, beginning of course with Pasquale Quadri—Mr Paky himself.
When the news arrived that I was going to receive this, it led to the question: what does it mean to innovate? And I thought back to my years in grad school where I learned important lessons from my mentor Jennifer Tipton about how one could and should lead a creative life. One of the principal soundbites I remember vividly was “there are no problems, just solutions, and another: there are no set rules of thumb in the process of making theatre or art—the rules are meant to broken, and re-formulated with each creative endeavor. And I’ll add one more from me—most of the success one achieves in life requires taking risks—going out on a limb—pushing against the norms and defying expectations. I believe It’s risk taking in every discipline and in every walk of life that has moved us forward as a global community. And all of these life lessons are at the core of what innovation is about. We’ve witnessed an astounding evolution in our industry over the past 30 years, all of it has been led by innovators and risk takers. And there’s examples of this innovation all over the exhibit floor here at LDI. And I believe there’s a direct correlation between the advances we’ve seen in lighting technology and the way plays and musicals are now written, directed, choreographed, designed, and lit.
When I think about the high points of my creative life, I realize that the most memorable and successful were indeed the ones where I did truly acknowledge those life lessons. The Lion King of course is a great example- the idea of producing a show like that on Broadway in 1996 with a relatively unknown and untested creative team was a huge risk unto itself. And in making the work, it was an imperative that we found innovative solutions to a multitude of creative challenges. During the process I kept hearing Jennifer’s voice in my head saying “there are no problems Don— just solutions”
From my perspective, innovation, defying norms, pushing the envelope, taking risks are at the heart of the creative process, and I’ve always tried to live by these principles. So to be acknowledged by you all as an innovator is incredibly humbling and deeply gratifying. Thank you so much for this award, and what a privilege it is to be here," said Holder in accepting the award.
“Over the tremendous run of The Lion King, Don has always been supportive of the manufacturers he’s engaged on the show. His valuable and generous feedback has pushed us to be better, and to make finer tools for our industry. Paky appreciated this guidance greatly during his life, and I know he would have been proud to present this award to Don,” says George Masek, strategic marketing manager, Claypaky.
“We are very pleased that the Paky Award was presented at LDI again this year,” notes Marian Sandberg, vice president and market leader, LDI/Live Design. “And what better recipient than Don Holder, a great designer and inspiration to so many. We applaud him on this award and the 25th anniversary of The Lion King On Broadway, for which his incredible lighting won a Tony Award.”
Holder has worked extensively in theatre, opera, dance, architectural, and television lighting in the US and abroad for over 30 years. He has designed 59 Broadway productions and has been nominated for fourteen Tony awards, winning the Tony for Best Lighting Design for The Lion King in 1998, and for the 2008 revival of South Pacific. Recent Broadway productions include: Paradise Square, Tootsie, 'Kiss Me Kate, Anastasia, My Fair Lady, Oslo, Straight White Men, She Loves Me, Fiddler On The Roof, The King and I, On The Twentieth Century, and many others. Projects at The Metropolitan Opera include Porgy and Bess, Samson et Delilah, Otello, The Magic Flute, and the premiere of Two Boys. He has worked at most of the nation's leading resident theatres, and has designed over 100 Off-Broadway productions. His television/film work includes the theatrical lighting for seasons one and two of Smash (NBC- Dreamworks), Oceans 8 (Warner Brothers Pictures), The Bad Witch (HBO Max), and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon).
Holder's most recent theatrical lighting for a film is for Spirited, a feature film/ movie musical based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, produced by Apple Studios, in theatres November 11, and streaming on November 18, 2022. The film fFeatures music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul ( Dear Evan Hansen) and stars Ryann Reynolds and Will Ferrell.
Holder’s architectural lighting projects include the refurbishment (conversion to all LED light) at St Agnes Cathedral, Rockville Centre, NY, Bond 45 and Patio at the Edison Hotel, Congregation Shaare Zedek on 93rd St.- NYC, Dance Theatre Workshop- West 19th St. NYC, Sony Plaza’s Public Spaces and the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, AT and T’s Interactive Communications Gallery in Bedminster, NJ, The America’s Smithsonian Exhibition (touring 12 cities across the United States), and several restaurants in midtown Manhattan, including the Redeye Grill and The Brooklyn Diner.
Holder was head of the lighting design program at CalArts from 2006-2010, and currently leads the lighting program at Rutgers University-Mason Gross School of the Arts. He is a graduate of the University of Maine and the Yale School of Drama, and the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from Muhlenberg College.