Tony Award-winning lighting designer Justin Townsend has been named chair of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Department of Design for Stage and Film starting in August 2022. He takes over the reins from costume designer Susan Hilferty, who has held the position for over two decades. Read more about it here.
And watch Live Design’s on-demand webcast, Celebrating The Tony’s Session Two: Celebrating Tony Lighting Design: featuring designer Justin Townsend who was double nominated in 2021, for Jagged Little Pill and Moulin Rouge, for which he won a Tony Award. Join Justin Townsend as he discusses his work for Moulin Rouge, Sponsored by ETC. In 2006, he was the recipient of the second annual USITT Rising Star Award, sponsored by LDI/Live Design.
In venue news, Hard Rock and Live Nation have announced plans to open a new indoor concert venue this spring in Sacramento, CA. Dubbed Hard Rock Live, the 2,500-seat venue (up to 3,000 for general admission events), will be a state-of-the art installation with all the high-tech bells and whistles. More info here and Live Design will dig into the details as the venue readies for opening night.
In spite of Covid rules and regulations, a passel of new productions is fueling the theatre world. On Broadway, MJ The Musical has opened to "ravishing" reviews and of course the score is a "thriller..." The award-winning design team includes scenic designer Derek McLane, lighting designer Natasha Katz, sound designer Gareth Owen, costume designer Paul Tazewell, and projection designer Peter Nigrini...more on this as Live Design catches up with the designers for this new musical with a book by the esteemed Lynn Nottage and direction/choreography by Christopher Wheeldon.
Lynn Nottage has also written a new opera, Intimate Apparel, which takes place century New York, where Esther, a lonely, single African-American woman makes her living sewing beautiful corsets and ladies’ undergarments. The opera opened on January 31, 2021 at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Directed by Barlett Scher, the production was designed by Michael Yeargan, sets, Catherine Zuber, costumes, Jennifer Tipton, lighting, Mark Salzberg, sound, and 59 Productions, projections. Take a peek...
Dreaming Zenzile, a tribute to the great singer, Miriam Makeba; a portrait of a revolutionary South African artist’s singular voice and vision, through February 13 at McCarter Theater in Princeton. The design team includes set designer Riccardo Hernández, lighitng designer Yi Zhao, costume designer Mimi Plange, projection designer Hannah Wasileski, and sound designers Justin Ellington and Bill Kirby. it took a village to produce this work: Octopus Theatricals, National Black Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, McCarter Theatre Center, Arts Emerson, Apollo Theater and New York Theatre Workshop. What is important here is that Makeba's voice continues to resonate in tributes like this one.
A look at Makeba herself: