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R. Lee Kennedy, Associate Professor, Lighting Design rlk3p@virginia.edu M.F.A. in Stage Design, Northwestern University Lee has designed and assisted on more than one hundred plays, musicals, and operas in commercial, resident, and academic venues. He is a founding member of New York-based Transport Group Theatre Company and has designed their off-Broadway productions of Our Town, Requiem for William, and the critically acclaimed revival of First Lady Suite (Drama Desk Award Nominated). Other Transport Group Productions include: Down the Road (off-off Broadway), Violet, The Young Man from Atlanta, She Loves Me, and Carousel at the Barksdale Theatre in Richmond, Virginia; A Streetcar Named Desire (Special Recognition Winner USITT Design Expo 1998) for The Gretna Theatre in Pennsylvania; and The Illusion for The Nevada Theatre Company in Las Vegas. Lee’s Chicago lighting designs include: Pegasus Players' The Secret Garden (Joseph Jefferson Citation for Lighting Design), Once on This Island (Joseph Jefferson Citation Recommended for Lighting Design), and Assassins (Joseph Jefferson Citation for Best Production); Piven Theatre's revival of Mud starring Lili Taylor at Victory Gardens Theater; Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre's Oklahoma and The Sound of Music; as well as designs for Mary-Arrchie Theatre, Light Opera Works, and Parallax. Lee has designed lighting for national tours of The Secret Garden, Once on This Island, Five Guys Named Moe, and A Grand Night for Singing for Big League Theatricals, New York; and was associate lighting designer for the world premier musical Men are from Mars … Women are from Venus at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Lee also designs regularly for Heritage Repertory Theatre at the University of Virginia and The School of Theatre and Dance at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. As a lighting assistant Lee has worked at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C., The Lyric Opera of Chicago; Ballet Chicago; Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook, Illinois; and was resident assistant at Marriott's Lincolnshire theatre for three years. From 1999-2003 Lee was resident lighting designer for Operafestival di Roma/Operestate in Rome, Italy where he has designed productions of The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, The Merry Widow, and Cosi fan tutte. Ongoing research/creative projects include application of digital rendering to lighting design, integration of web-based instruction with automated lighting technology (Automated Lighting Studio Project), history/aesthetics of concert lighting design, and interactive lighting control systems. Lee has a Master of Fine Arts in Lighting Design from Northwestern University. Office: Drama Building Room 215 |