David Lander is an internationally recognized lighting designer whose work encompasses Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional and international theatre, opera, themed attractions, and public art installations. Known for his nuanced, atmospheric lighting and his ability to heighten emotion through visual storytelling, Lander has collaborated with some of the industry’s most celebrated directors, including Moisés Kaufman, Steven Soderbergh, James Lapine, and Mark Brokaw. His Broadway credits include Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo—starring Robin Williams—for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Best Lighting Design and received nominations for the Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. He also earned a Tony nomination for 33 Variations, starring Jane Fonda, and contributed to other critically acclaimed productions including Torch Song, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Dirty Blonde, and I Am My Own Wife.
His work has been seen at leading regional theaters across the country, including the Guthrie Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, Roundabout Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Barrington Stage Company, and Shakespeare Theatre Company. His lighting has brought new dimensions to a wide range of productions, from new plays and classic revivals to large-scale musicals and site-specific performances. Notable recent projects include Here There Are Blueberries, which toured from La Jolla to New York Theatre Workshop, and Dog Man: The Musical, which has been presented Off-Broadway and on a North American tour. Lander’s lighting has received numerous accolades for his regional work, including multiple Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards (BERKIE), BroadwayWorld Awards, Helen Hayes nominations, and a 2024 Carbonell Award nomination for Two Sisters and a Piano at Miami New Drama.
Beyond the stage, Lander’s vision extends to immersive experiences and public art. He has designed architectural and environmental lighting for SeaWorld in Orlando and San Diego, including the themed exhibits Wild Arctic, Sea Port, and Monster Stomp. His public art collaborations include Invitation, a light installation in Houston, and Deep Time/Deep Space – A Subterranean Journey, an award-winning mile-long tunnel installation at Denver International Airport. A graduate of Ohio State University (BFA) and NYU Tisch School of the Arts (MFA), Lander approaches each project with a strong sense of narrative, a dedication to collaboration, and a deep commitment to the transformative power of light.
Current/Recent Projects
Past Projects
Here There are Blueberries – Theatre Royal Stratford East, London
LONDON REVIEWS:
The Times – “quietly devastating”
Broadway World – “a timely, necessary, harrowing watch.”
RoViews – “it is utterly gripping.”
WhatsOnStage – “Kaufman’s staging is beautiful in its simplicity”
Evening Standard – “a stark and compelling piece of work”
Theatre Weekly – “The technical execution is masterful.”
LondonTheatre1 – “a thoughtful and fascinating piece of theatre”
fuzzy – July 2025 – at Barrington Stage Company
Music and Lyrics by WILL VAN DYKE
Book and Lyrics by JEFF TALBOTT
Directed by ELLIE HEYMAN
Music Direction by PATRICK SULKEN
Starring JOHN CARIANI, CARL CARTER, BEN CLARK, SHRAMAN GHOSH, CASS MORGAN, and TEDDY YUDAIN
click here for link to a sneak peak
fuzzy @ Barrington Stage Company. John Cariani with fuzzy. Photo: Daniel Rader
The Laramie Project
25th Anniversary Reading recorded by Audible @ the Minetta Lane Theatre
Written by Moisés Kaufman and Members of the Tectonic Theater Project
Directed by Moisés Kaufman
Starring Kathleen Chalfant, Brandon Flynn, Midori Francis, John Gallagher Jr., Pooya Mohseni, Kal Penn, Conrad Ricamora, and Samira Wiley.
The Laramie Project @ The Minetta Lane Theatre. Photo: John Naran
HIGHLIGHTS:
David received the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Best Lighting Design for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo by Rajiv Joseph, directed by Moisés Kaufman, starring Robin Williams. He was also nominated for the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award.
David received a 2009 Tony Award Nomination for Best Lighting Design for 33 Variations, written and directed by Moisés Kaufman, starring Jane Fonda at the Eugene O’Neil Theatre.
Torch Song by Harvey Fierstein with Michael Urie and Mercedes Rhuel directed by Moisés Kaufman.
The hit cult classic musical The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical.
Sea World Orlando’s Howl-O-Scream production of Monster Stomp, running Sept-October 31st yearly. Jack the Ripper is stalking Slasher Alley in a musical mashup of songs from the 90’s through today taking place in the turn of Last Century’s London.
Selected PROJECTS:
– Truman Capote’s A Thanksgiving Visitor & A Christmas Memory: Two One Act plays adapted and directed by Matt Joslyn at the Park Theater in Hudson NY.
– Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty, A New Sherlock Holmes Adventure: World Premiere at the Cleveland Playhouse. Directed by Mark Brokaw.
– Ozwald Boateng at the Apollo: North America Fashion Show Debut – Sara Blonstein Creative Director.
– The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical ON BROADWAY at the Longacre Theatre. Limited run Sept 20,2019 – Jan 5,2020
– Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Huntington Theatre, director Peter DuBois
– Torch Song by Harvey Fierstein: The Hayes Theatre, with Michael Urie and Mercedes Rhuel directed by Moisés Kaufman
– Mughal-E-Azam: Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, Dubai
– The Flood: Opera Columbus, composer Korine Fujiwara and librettist/director Stephen Wadsworth
– Love Love Love by Mike Bartlett: directed by Michael Mayer, Roundabout Theater Company Laura Pels Theater
-The Tempest and Cymbeline at The Delecorte Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival
– I Am Ann Hutchinson , I Am Harvey Milk an Oratorio: by Andrew Lippa with Andrew Lippa and Kristin Chenoweth.
– The Library directed by Steven Soderbergh with Chloë Moretz, at the Public Theatre
Elyse Sommer for CurtainUp:
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- “David Landers lighting creates a film noir aura. The propulsive change of his background lighting seems almost color coded to indicate the intensity of the growing brouhaha about what Caitlin’s role in the death of the students hidden in a school library closet… The lighting also determines whether we see the actors as shadow figures or in bright movie-like close-ups. Very effective…”
– Wakey Wakey written and directed by Will Eno featuring Michael Emerson, Signature Theater NYC
http://variety.com/2017/legit/reviews/wakey-wakey-review-michael-emerson-1201997931/
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- “David Lander’s lighting and Christine Jones’ design clue us to the inevitable changing realities: a suggestion of a tasteful institutional setting, packing boxes and piles of clothing indicating material things that aren’t that important any longer, and a door just off to the side waiting to be opened.”
– The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams: Directed by Michael Wilson, A.R.T Boston
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- “Then David Lander’s lighting turns this one night in Mexico into a series of paintings. And the closing scene of Act 1 becomes an awe-inspiring theatrical effect.”
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- “All that said, a first-rate, terrifying, act-ending thunderstorm executed by McLane and lighting designer David Lander takes us into a wholly energized second half. “
http://www.wbur.org/artery/2017/02/27/art-night-iguana-review
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- “The sky, gorgeously then forebodingly lit by David Lander, is a show in itself.”
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- “Most infallible, though, is David Lander’s subtly magnificent lighting…”
Lander has collaborated with many directors including:
Joyce Arbucias, Christopher Ashley, Stephen Brackett, Jo Bonney, Gregory Boyd, Julianne Boyd, Stephen Brackett, Mark Brokaw, Marc Bruni, Oliver Butler, Joe Calarco, Frank Dunlop, Scott Elliott, Ellie Hayman, Terry Kinney, Michael Greif, Doug Hughes, Moisés Kaufman, Dan Knechtges, James Lapine, Arthur Laurents, Noah Himmelstein, Pam MacKinnon, Michael Mayer, Maria Mileaf, Larry Moss, Lindsay Posner, David Saint, Giovanna Sardelli, Scott Schwartz, Steven Soderbergh, Jonathan Silverstein, John Miller-Stephany, Daniel Sullivan, Steven Wadsworth, Michael Wilson, Henry Wishcamper.
Lander has collaborated with many actors including:
Elisabeth Ashley, Jane Atkinson, Tom Aldrich, William Atherton, Craig Bierko, Jason Biggs, Stephen Bogardus, Larry Bryggman, John Cariani, Kathleen Chalafant, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Chenoweth, Kieran Culkin, Jim Dale, Tyne Daly, Olympia Dukakis, Deanna Dunigan, Richard Easton, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Emerson, Mia Farrow, Jane Fonda, Penny Fuller, Boyd Gains, Malcolm Gets, John Glover, Zach Grenier, George Grizzard, Dee Hoty, Judith Ivey, James Earl Jones, Eartha Kitt, Kevin Klein, Frank Langella, Linda Lavin, Hamish Linklater, Andrew Lippa, Logan Marshall-Green, Maureen McGovern, Rita Moreno, Chloë Moretz, Michael Nouri, Ana Paquin, Steven Pasquale, Mary Beth Piel, Amanda Plummer, Lily Rabe, Molly Ringwald, Chita Rivera, Mercedes Ruehl, Michael Rupert, Debra Jo Rupp, Liev Schreiber, Douglas Sills, Jean Smart, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth Stanley, David Strathairn, Richard Thomas, Michael Urie, Sam Waterston, Robin Williams, Karen Ziemba, Louis Zorich.
Architecture – Themed Attractions – Public Art Highlights
His completed projects include “Invitation,” a light-art installation for the Alden Hotel in Houston.
“Luca et Vita Universae” with artist Lori Nozic, for Art-in-Public-Places, a sculpture and star field installation for Public School 58, Staten Island, NY.
Sea World Orlando’s “Sea Port” waterfront, three themed restaurants, four retail shops and exterior waterfront, as old European Sea Port.
Sea World Orlando and San Diego’s “Wild Arctic,” a themed arctic walk-through aquarium exhibit.
For the Denver International Airport’s 1% for Public Art project, Leni Schwendinger’s “Deep Time/Deep Space – a Subterranean Journey,” a light and sculpture installation in a one mile-long automated shuttle train tunnel.
David designed the lighting and lighting system for Busch Gardens Tampa “Opening Night Critters.”
Pittsburgh Light Projects- Pittsburgh, PA. Lighting consultant to interpret and execute Robert Wilson’s public art light projects.
Wild Arctic @ Sea World Orlando. Beluga Whale Pool
Awards
West Side Story @ Barrington Stage Company. Photo: Daniel Rader
- 2024 Carbonell Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for a Play or Musical, for Two Sisters and a Piano at Miami New Drama
- 2023 Washington DC’s Helen Hayes Award Nomination, Outstanding Lighting Design for Here There Are Blueberries at Shakespeare Theater Company.
- 2022 Berkshire Theater Critics Award [BERKIE] for Outstanding Lighting Design for A Little Night Music at Barrington Stage Company
- 2018 Berkshire Theater Critics Award [BERKIE], Best Lighting Design for West Side Story at Barrington Stage Company
- 2018 Broadway World [REGION] Award: Berkshires, Best Lighting Design for West Side Story at Barrington Stage Company
- 2017 Broadway World [REGION] Award: India, Best Lighting Design for Mughal-E-Azam, Mumbai India
- 2015 Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for Ether Domeat Huntington Theatre
- 2014 Henry Hewes Design Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for The Library at The Public Theater
- 2014 Lucille Lortel Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for The Library at The Public Theater
- 2013 New York Drama Desk Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for The Civil War
- 2012 New York Drama Desk Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for One Arm
- 2011 New York Drama Desk Award Winner for Best Lighting Design for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
- 2011 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards Nomination, Best Lighting Design for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
- 2011 Outer Critics Circle Nomination, Best Lighting Design for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
- 2010 LUMEN Award for “Triple Bridge Gateway.” Architectural lighting for New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal Bridge project spanning 9th Avenue with Leni Schwendinger Light Projects
- 2010 LA Garland Award for Best Lighting Design for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
- 2009 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards Nomination, Best Lighting Design for 33 Variations
- 2009 Henry Hewes Design Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for 33 Variations
- 2009 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Lighting Design for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
- 2009 Los Angeles Ovation Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
- 2008 San Diego Craig Noel Award for Best Lighting Design for 33 Variations
- 2008 Washington DC’s Helen Hayes Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for 33 Variations
- 2004 New York Drama Desk Nomination, Best Lighting Design for I Am My Own Wife
- 2004 Outer Critics Circle Nomination, Best Lighting Design for I Am My Own Wife
- 2004 Lucille Lortell Nomination, Best Lighting Design for I Am My Own Wife
- 2000 New York Drama Desk Nomination, Best Lighting Design for Dirty Blonde
- 2000 Maharam Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for Dirty Blonde
- 1997 Drama-Logue Award for Golden Child at South Coast Repertory
- 1997 Maharam Award Nomination, Best Lighting Design for Golden Child
- 1997 LUMEN Award for Sea World of Florida’s Wild Arctic
- 1995 IALD Award (International Association of Lighting Designers) for the Denver International Airport’s 1% for Art Projects Program, Leni Schwendinger’s installation ”Deep Time/Deep Space a Subterranean Journey”
- New York University Ettinger Scholarship, 1990-1991
- New York University Graduate Assistant 1988-1991 New York University Tisch School of the Arts, First Annual Design Competition, First Prize in Lighting, 1988
A Little Night Music @ Barrington Stage Company. Photo Daniel Rader
EDUCATION:
BFA in Theater: The Ohio State University
MFA in Design: New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
Contact
SETH GLEWEN
GERSH AGENCY
Email: sglewen@gersh.com
41 Madison Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10010
Tel: 212-634-8124