Nominations in 26 categories for the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards were announced this morning (May 4), and this year, there are two CalArtians vying for the award in the same category. For Best Lighting Design of a Musical, alumnus Kevin Adams (Theater MFA 86) was nominated for the Greenday-inspired musical American Idiot, while CalArts School of Theater faculty, Head of Lighting Design, Don Holder was nominated for the revival of Ragtime.
The Tonys seem to be a recurring theme for both Adams and Holder. In 2007, Adams received the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Spring Awakening. He followed that win of the Tony for Best Lighting Design of a Play for The 39 Steps in 2008. American Idiot had its world premiere at the Berkeley Rep last year with Adams again behind the lights. We posted a clip above from the Berkeley production.
Holder has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, winning in 1998 for Best Lighting Design for The Lion King and again in 2008 for the revival of South Pacific. A clip from Ragtime (“The Night that Goldman Spoke”) has been posted below.
They’ve been nominated alongside Nick Richings for La Cage aux Folles and Robert Wierzel for Fela! Good luck to the nominees. The awards will be televised live on CBS on Sunday, June 13.