Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
The Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lighting Design is an honor presented at the Outer Critics Circle Awards, a ceremony established in 1950 for excellence in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, to lighting designers of any production. The category was added to the ceremony in 1988 as "Best Lighting Design" before being changed to "Outstanding Lighting Design" in 1999.
Paul Gallo holds the record for the most wins, with five from eight nominations. Four designers share the record for the most nominations, with nine each: Donald Holder, Natasha Katz, Brian MacDevitt and Kenneth Posner.
Award winners and nominees
- Key
1980s
Year |
Name |
Work |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Note: award given as "Best Set, Costume and Lighting Design" |
|||
1988 |
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Andrew Bridge |
The Phantom of the Opera |
||
1989 |
|||
Paul Gallo |
Lend Me a Tenor |
||
1990s
Year |
Name |
Work |
|
|---|---|---|---|
1990 |
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Paul Gallo |
City of Angels |
||
1991 |
|||
Tharon Musser |
The Secret Garden |
||
1992 |
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Paul Gallo |
Crazy for You |
||
Trevor Dawson |
Dancing at Lughnasa |
||
Richard Pilbrow |
Four Baboons Adoring the Sun |
||
Peter Kaczorowski |
Song of Singapore |
||
1993 |
|||
Chris Parry |
The Who's Tommy |
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1994 |
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Paul Pyant |
Carousel |
||
1995 |
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Richard Pilbrow |
Show Boat |
||
1996 |
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Nigel Levings |
The King and I |
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1997 (tie) |
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Paul Gallo |
Titanic |
||
Peter Kaczorowski |
Steel Pier' |
||
Ken Billington |
Chicago |
||
Beverly Emmons |
Jekyll & Hyde |
||
1998 |
|||
Donald Holder |
The Lion King |
||
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer |
Ragtime |
||
Mike Baldassari and Peggy Eisenhauer |
Cabaret |
||
Natasha Katz |
The Scarlet Pimpernel |
||
Note: award given as "Outstanding Lighting Design" |
|||
1999 |
|||
Paul Gallo |
The Civil War |
||
Andrew Bridge |
Fosse |
||
Brian MacDevitt |
Night Must Fall |
||
Mark Henderson |
The Iceman Cometh |
||
2000s
Year |
Name |
Work |
|---|---|---|
2000 |
||
Peter Kaczorowski |
Contact |
|
Paule Constable |
Amadeus |
|
Donald Holder |
The Green Bird |
|
Kenneth Posner |
The Wild Party |
|
2001 |
||
Brian MacDevitt |
The Invention of Love |
< |
Peter Kaczorowski |
The Producers |
|
Kenneth Posner |
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
|
Paul Gallo |
42nd Street |
|
2002 |
||
David Hersey |
Oklahoma! |
|
Donald Holder |
Thoroughly Modern Millie |
|
David Weiner |
36 Views |
|
James F. Ingalls |
The Elephant Man |
|
2003 |
||
Nigel Levings |
La Bohème |
|
Rui Rita |
Enchanted April |
|
Paul Gallo |
Man of La Mancha |
|
Brian MacDevitt |
Nine |
|
Kenneth Posner |
Hairspray |
|
2004 |
||
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer |
Assassins |
|
Kenneth Posner |
Wicked |
|
David Lander |
I Am My Own Wife |
|
Brian MacDevitt |
Fiddler on the Roof |
|
2005 |
||
Christopher Akerlind |
The Light in the Piazza |
|
Brian MacDevitt |
The Pillowman |
|
Mark Henderson |
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |
|
Hugh Vanstone |
Spamalot |
|
Donald Holder |
Gem of the Ocean |
|
2006 |
||
Howell Binkley |
Jersey Boys |
|
Paul Pyant |
The Woman in White |
|
Richard Jones |
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
|
Jeff Nellis |
Tryst |
|
2007 |
||
Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner and Natasha Katz |
The Coast of Utopia |
|
Paule Constable |
Coram Boy |
|
Howard Harrison |
Mary Poppins |
|
Neil Austin |
Frost/Nixon |
|
2008 |
||
Ken Billington |
Sunday in the Park with George |
|
Donald Holder |
Les Liaisons Dangereuses |
|
Peter Kaczorowski |
Young Frankenstein |
|
Kevin Adams |
The 39 Steps |
|
2009 |
||
Rick Fisher |
Billy Elliot |
|
David Hersey |
War Horse |
|
Kevin Adams |
Hair |
|
Peter Kaczorowski |
Ruined |
|
David Lander |
33 Variations |
2010s
Year |
Name |
Work |
|---|---|---|
2010 |
||
Kevin Adams |
American Idiot |
|
Justin Townsend |
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson |
|
Ken Billington |
Sondheim on Sondheim |
|
Kevin Adams |
The Scottsboro Boys |
|
2011 |
||
Paule Constable |
War Horse |
|
Natasha Katz |
Sister Act |
|
Malcolm Rippeth |
Brief Encounter |
|
David Lander |
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo |
|
2012 |
||
Hugh Vanstone |
Ghost The Musical |
|
Neil Austin |
Evita |
|
Brian MacDevitt |
Death of a Salesman |
|
Donald Holder |
Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark |
|
2013 |
||
Kenneth Posner |
Pippin |
|
Donald Holder |
Golden Boy |
|
Paul Gallo |
Dogfight |
|
Ken Billington |
Chaplin |
|
Kenneth Posner |
Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella |
|
2014 |
||
Kevin Adams |
Hedwig and the Angry Inch |
|
Paule Constable |
Les Misérables |
|
Natasha Katz |
Aladdin |
|
Philip S. Rosenberg |
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder |
|
Howell Binkley |
After Midnight |
|
2015 |
||
Paule Constable |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time |
|
Japhy Weideman |
The Visit |
|
Jeff Croiter |
Something Rotten! |
|
Rick Fisher |
The Audience |
|
Natasha Katz |
An American in Paris |
|
2016 |
||
Justin Townsend |
American Psycho |
|
Ben Stanton |
Spring Awakening |
|
Donald Holder |
She Loves Me |
|
Natasha Katz |
Long Day's Journey Into Night |
|
Kenneth Posner |
On Your Feet! |
|
2017 |
||
Bradley King |
Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 |
|
Christopher Akerlind |
Indecent |
|
Donald Holder |
Anastasia |
|
Natasha Katz |
Hello, Dolly! |
|
Kenneth Posner |
War Paint |
|
2018 |
||
Neil Austin |
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child |
|
Lap Chi Chu |
Mlima's Tale |
|
Paul Russell |
Farinelli and the King |
|
Paule Constable |
Angels in America |
|
Kevin Adams |
SpongeBob SquarePants |
|
2019 |
||
Bradley King |
Hadestown |
|
Stacey Derosier |
Lewiston/Clarkston |
|
Neil Austin |
Ink |
|
Jason Lyons |
Sugar in Our Wounds |
|
Peter Mumford |
King Kong |
2020s
Year |
Name |
Work |
|
|---|---|---|---|
2020 (Hon.) |
Hugh Vanstone |
A Christmas Carol |
|
The Height of the Storm |
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Isabella Byrd |
Heroes of the Fourth Turning |
||
Justin Townsend |
Moulin Rouge! |
||
Heather Gilbert |
The Sound Inside |
||
2021 |
No award given due to COVID-19 pandemic. |
||
2022 |
|||
Jon Clark |
The Lehman Trilogy |
||
Natasha Katz |
MJ |
||
Bradley King |
Flying Over Sunset |
||
Brian MacDevitt |
The Minutes |
||
Jen Schriever |
Lackawanna Blues |
||
2023 |
|||
Tim Lutkin |
Life of Pi |
||
Neil Austin |
Leopoldstadt |
||
Ken Billington |
New York, New York |
||
Ben Stanton |
A Christmas Carol |
||
Natasha Katz |
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
||
2024 |
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Brian MacDevitt |
The Outsiders |
||
Justin Townsend |
Here Lies Love |
||
Amanda Zieve |
The Who's Tommy |
||
Tim Lutkin and Hugh Vanstone |
Back to the Future |
||
Bradley King |
Water for Elephants |
||
2025 |
|||
Jon Clark |
Stranger Things: The First Shadow |
||
Natasha Chivers |
The Hills of California |
||
Justin Townsend |
Death Becomes Her |
||
Ben Stanton |
Maybe Happy Ending |
||
Kevin Adams |
Swept Away |
||
2026 |
|||
Jen Schriever and Michael Arden |
The Lost Boys |
||
Mextly Couzin |
Mexodus |
||
Adam Honoré |
Cats: The Jellicle Ball |
||
Jack Knowles |
Death of a Salesman |
||
Studio Luna |
Marcel on the Train |
||
Multiple wins
- 5 wins
- Paul Gallo
- 3 wins
- Brian MacDevitt
- 2 wins
- Peter Kaczorowski
- Nigel Levings
- Paule Constable
- Kenneth Posner
- Kevin Adams
- Bradley King
Multiple nominations
- 9 nominations
- Donald Holder
- Natasha Katz
- Brian MacDevitt
- Kenneth Posner
- 8 nominations
- Paul Gallo
- 7 nominations
- Kevin Adams
- 6 nominations
- Peter Kaczorowski
- Paule Constable
- 5 nominations
- Ken Billington
- Neil Austin
- Hugh Vanstone
- Justin Townsend
- 4 nominations
- Bradley King
- 3 nominations
- Peggy Eisenhauer
- David Lander
- Ben Stanton
- 2 nominations
- Andrew Bridge
- Richard Pilbrow
- Paul Pyant
- Nigel Levings
- Jules Fisher
- Mark Henderson
- David Hersey
- Christopher Akerlind
- Howell Binkley
- Rick Fisher
- Tim Lutkin
- Jen Schriever
See also
- Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play
- Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
- Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
References
Outstanding Lighting Design