Fisher Dachs Associates (FDA) is absolutely thrilled to celebrate the announcement that their founder, Jules Fisher, is receiving the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. This honor marks a crowning moment in a Broadway career that has been as impactful as it has been prolific; as both a lighting designer and producer.
All of us at Live Design join FDA in their celebration of Jules Fisher and his career, as we worked closely with him for two decades when he served as the creative consultant for the Broadway Lighting Master Classes. From his magic tricks to his incredible knowledge about lighting, Fisher helped train the next generation of lighting designers through these classes.
Few artists other than Fisher can claim to have worked on shows with both Noel Coward and Stephen Sondheim; Busby Berkeley, Jerome Robbins, and Bob Fosse; Arthur Laurents, Mike Nichols, Ulu Grossbard, Arthur Penn, and James Lapine; even Richard Rodgers and his grandson, Adam Guettel.
For more than six decades, Fisher has been a visionary force in the entertainment industry. With a record-breaking nine Tony Awards for Best Lighting Design – earned through three solo honors and an additional six in collaboration with his long-time lighting design partner, Peggy Eisenhauer – his artistry has defined the visual language of some of the most iconic productions in Broadway history.
From lighting Spoon River Anthology in 1963 to the decade-defining musical Hair, to his five collaborations with Bob Fosse (including Pippin, Chicago, Big Deal, Liza with a ‘Z’, and Dancin’), to the 13 plays and musicals directed by George C. Wolfe (including Angels in America and Caroline or Change), and all the many productions in between, Jules's work has set the standard for excellence on the stage. In addition, he produced the shows Lenny, Dancin’, The Rink, Big Deal, and Dangerous Games.
Beyond Broadway, his innovations have illuminated rock-and-roll tours for legends like The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Parliament Funkadelic, and Whitney Houston – and brought over half a dozen movie musicals to life.
Equally transformative is Fisher's impact on the physical architecture of the theatre itself. When he founded Jules Fisher Associates (now Fisher Dachs Associates), he helped pioneer the entire field of specialized theatre planning and consulting. "We are all immensely proud to celebrate Jules's extraordinary career and this well-deserved recognition," say his colleagues at FDA. "He didn't just teach us how to plan a stage; he taught us how to see a theatre as an integrated whole.” His mentorship has shaped generations of designers and planners, and his legacy is felt every time a curtain rises in any of the venues he helped create.
This award also marks a historic milestone for another reason: Jules joins his wife, the legendary director and choreographer Graciela Daniele – who received the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2021 – as one of the rare couples to both be bestowed with this prestigious honor.
We are pleased to join FDA in congratulating Jules Fisher on this monumental achievement.