Article by Ellen Lampert-Greaux for Live Design

USITT Fellow, lighting designer, and theatre consultant extraordinaire Richard Pilbrow turned 90 on April 28, 2023 and celebrated with a party thrown by Theatre Projects on April 27.

One of the world’s leading theatre consultants and an internationally known author and stage lighting designer, and a theatre, film, and television producer, Pilbrow was born in London, England, on April 28, 1933, and attended Cranbrook School, Kent, and Central School of Speech and Drama 1953-55. His numerous career hats include stage manager, lighting designer, producer of theatre, film and television, theatre design consultant, author, and now grandfather. He is also a Fellow of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT).

He was the founder of Theatre Projects in 1957 with Bryan Kendall in London, as an upstart lighting design and rental company. The company grew, and by 1959 sound design, rental, and later sound manufacture was added under David Collison (the world's first credited sound designer). Under Pilbrow's leadership, the company has become the pre-eminent theatre consulting organization in the world, with over 1,500 projects in 80 countries to its credit.

His lighting design work has been seen in London, New York, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Moscow. His Broadway credits include Tale of Two Cities—The Musical, Our Town (starring Paul Newman), the Hal Prince hit revival of Show Boat, Zorba, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, and The Rothchilds. He also designed lights for The Sleeping Beauty for the American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Richard is an active author and publisher including A Theatre Project: A Backstage Adventure (his memoir) with a forward by Joseph Volpe, Stage Lighting with a forward by Sir Laurence Olivier, and Stage Lighting Design: The Art, the Craft, the Life with a forward by Hal Prince, (published 1997 and reprinted 2008),which became and continues to be the standard for teaching lighting in the UK and US. He has been recognized with multiple Tony Award nominations, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Circle Critics Award-Lighting, and the Dora Award – Outstanding Lighting.