Esteemed lighting designer, theatre consultant, and author Richard Pilbrow is the winner of the 2008 Wally Russell Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented on Saturday evening, October 25, at the LDI Awards ceremony during LDI2008 in Las Vegas.
Richard Pilbrow is one of the world’s leading theatre consultants and a pioneer stage lighting designer. He is also an author, and a theatre, film and television producer. He has been responsible for the many innovations in stage lighting, theatre architectural design and technology.
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. His Broadway credits include A Tale of Two Cities, Our Town (starring Paul Newman), The Life, Hal Prince’s revival of Show Boat, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, and The Rothchilds. In 2008 he was lighting designer for The Sleeping Beauty for the American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House.
In 1957 Richard founded Theatre Projects as a lighting design and rental company in London. Under his leadership the company has grown to be an international theatre design consulting firm, with over 1,000 projects in 60 countries. Fifty years later, as the founder and chairman emeritus of Theatre Projects Consultants, Pilbrow is still consulting on some of the most significant arts projects in the world, including three major performing arts centers in the US: the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center, and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City.
Published in 1970, his book, Stage Lighting, with the forward by Lord Laurence Olivier, became an international teaching text. A second book, Stage Lighting Design, The Art, The Craft, The Life, with forward by Hal Prince, was published in 1997 (reprinted in 2008 by Quite Specific Media). In 2003 Pilbrow co-authored (with Patricia MacKay) The Walt Disney Concert Hall—The Backstage Story.
In 2005 Pilbrow was honored as Lighting Designer of the Year at LDI. In December 2005, in the premier edition of Live Design he was named as one of the ten visionaries among designers and artists, who were the most influential people in the world of visual design for live events.
Founded in 1992, the prestigious "Wally" Award was established in memory of Wally Russell, a true trailblazer whose career influenced future generations of industry professionals. Each year, the "Wally" honors one individual who exhibits a strong sense of leadership, a commitment to technological innovation, and a career of service to the lighting industry.
Past winners of the "Wally" include: Fred Foster, Allen Branton, Richard Belliveau, George Izenour, Sonny Sonnenfeld, Jimmy Fuller, Jim Bornhorst, Stan Miller, Don Stern, Bran Ferren, Fred Bentham, Francis DeVerna, Tharon Musser, George van Buren, Charles Altman, and Wally Russell (in memorial).
The Wally Russell Foundation board includes active members: Donna Appleton, Phil Bernard, Rusty Brustché, David Cunningham, Tom Folsom, John Howe, Patricia MacKay, Philip O’Donnell, Glen Russell, Anne Valentino, Jennifer White, John Wiseman.
For additional information about the Wally Russell Awards and how to make a donation: www.wallyfund.org