Kenneth Posner is an American lighting designer, working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in American regional theatre. His most notable designs include the musicals Wicked and Hairspray, two highly regarded musicals of the early 21st century. In 2007, he won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play for his work on The Coast of Utopia (Part 2 - Shipwreck).

Kenneth Posner
EducationBoston University
State University of New York, Purchase (BFA)
OccupationLighting designer
Years active1988-present
Known forWicked
Hairspray
AwardsTony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play

Career and education

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He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design 11 times and won once for The Coast of Utopia (Part 2 - Shipwreck) in 2011. His nominations have included nods for Merchant of Venice (2011), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), Wicked (2004), Hairspray (2003), and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (2001). He has also been nominated 10 times for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design and received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Lighting in 2003. In 2013, Posner achieved a near-sweep of the nominations for the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical, garnering nods in three of the four eligible slots (for Kinky Boots, Pippin, and Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella), though he lost to Matilda The Musical.

Posner was educated at SUNY Purchase, where Brian MacDevitt also attended. He is a 1983 graduate of Eastchester High School in Eastchester, New York. He also attended Boston University College of Fine Arts.

Personal life

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He is currently a resident of Verona, New Jersey and was born in 1966.[1]

Productions

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Broadway

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Touring

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West End

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Off-Broadway

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Awards and nominations

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Year Category Work Result
2001 Best Lighting Design The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Nominated
2003 Hairspray Nominated
2004 Wicked Nominated
2005 Best Lighting Design in a Musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Nominated
2007 Best Lighting Design in a Play The Coast Of Utopia (Part 2 - Shipwreck) Won
2011 The Merchant of Venice Nominated
2012 Other Desert Cities Nominated
2013 Best Lighting Design in a Musical Kinky Boots Nominated
Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella Nominated
Pippin Nominated
2019 Beetlejuice Nominated
Year Category Work Result
1991 Outstanding Lighting Design Machinal Nominated
1998 Pride's Crossing Nominated
A View From the Bridge Nominated
2000 The Wild Party Nominated
2001 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Nominated
2002 Monster Nominated
2004 Wicked Nominated
2007 The Coast Of Utopia (Part 2 - Shipwreck) Won
2009 9 to 5 Nominated
2012 Death Takes a Holiday Nominated
2013 Pippin Nominated
Year Category Work Result
2003 Sustained Excellence in Lighting Won

References

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  1. ^ KENNETH POSNER Archived 2008-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, Playbill. Accessed January 11, 2008. "He resides in Verona, New Jersey, with his wife Michelle and their three children."
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