Donald Holder is an American lighting designer in theatre, opera and dance based in New York. He was born in 1962. He has been nominated for fourteen Tony Awards, winning the 1998 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for The Lion King. He won a second Tony in 2008 for the revival of South Pacific. His lighting design for Paradise Square has been nominated for a 2022 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical. Additional Broadway credits include: Tootsie, Anastasia, Kiss Me Kate, Fiddler on the Roof, The Bridges of Madison County, She Loves Me, The Cherry Orchard, The King and I, Big Fish, Annie (2012 Broadway revival), Golden Boy, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Arcadia, The Motherfucker With The Hat, Promises, Promises, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Radio Golf, The Little Dog Laughed, Movin' Out, The Times They Are a-Changin', A Streetcar Named Desire, Holiday, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Prelude to a Kiss. Off-Broadway credits include Jeffrey and The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. He was the theatrical lighting designer for seasons one and two of the NBC-Universal television series Smash. Other television and film credits include: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Spirited, and Oceans Eight
Holder studied forestry at the University of Maine, where he graduated from in 1980. He also worked for the Portland Stage Company in Maine.Three with Maine ties get Tony nod Portland Press Herald, May 5, 2010 He holds a Masters of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama and is a student of Jennifer Tipton. He was the head of lighting design in the School of Theater at the California Institute of the Arts from 2006 to 2010, Head of Lighting Design at the Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts from 2016 to 2025, and currently Head of Lighting Design at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. .
Awards and nominations +Award nominations YearProduction Award Category Outcome1997Juan Darien Tony AwardBest Lighting Design Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Lighting Design 1998The Lion King Tony AwardBest Lighting Design Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Lighting Design 2003Movin' OutTony AwardBest Lighting Design Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Lighting Design 2004The Violet Hour Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Lighting Design 2005Gem of the OceanTony AwardBest Lighting Design Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Lighting Design A Streetcar Named DesireTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Play 2008Les Liaisons DangereusesTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Play South PacificTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Musical 2010RagtimeTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Musical 2013Golden Boy Tony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Play 2014The Bridges of Madison County Tony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Musical 2015The King and ITony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Musical 2016OsloTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Play 2018My Fair LadyTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Musical 2022Paradise SquareTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Musical 2026RagtimeTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Musical 2026SchmigadoonTony AwardBest Lighting Design of a Musical
References
External links
Livedesign magazine article on Holder Authorsden.com article