Paul Miller (lighting designer)
Encyclopedia
Paul Miller is an American
theatrical lighting designer
.
Born in Chicago
, Illinois
, Miller studied music and piano performance before attending the Theatre School (formerly known as the Goodman School of Drama) at DePaul University
to study lighting design in 1982. He began his career in 1990 lighting for regional theatre
s and off-Broadway
productions, including Waiting for Godot
and Dan Goggin
's Nunsense II
and Balancing Act.
Miller made his Broadway
debut as the assistant lighting director for Titanic
in 1997. Additional Broadway credits as assistant, associate and designer include The Sound of Music
(1998), On the Town (1998), Saturday Night Fever
(1999), The Price
(1999), The Music Man
(2000), The Producers
(2001), Hairspray
(2002), Little Women
(2005), Sweeney Todd
(2005), Three Days of Rain
(2006), and Company
, as well as Jackie Mason
's one-man outings in 2003 and 2005. His latest project is Legally Blonde: The Musical (2007).
Since 2001, Miller has been the lighting director for the New Year's Eve
celebration in Times Square
. He recently designed impressionist Gordie Brown's new show at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas
.
Miller has been a guest teacher at the Theatre School at DePaul University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham
, and Youngstown State University
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatrical lighting designer
Lighting designer
The role of the lighting designer within theatre is to work with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create an overall 'look' for the show in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety and cost...
.
Born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Miller studied music and piano performance before attending the Theatre School (formerly known as the Goodman School of Drama) at DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
to study lighting design in 1982. He began his career in 1990 lighting for regional theatre
Regional theatre in the United States
Regional theaters, or resident theaters, in the United States are professional or semi-professional, theater companies that produce their own seasons. The term regional theatre most often refers to professional theatres outside of New York City...
s and off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
productions, including Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
and Dan Goggin
Dan Goggin
Dan Goggin is an American writer, composer, and lyricist for musical theatre.Goggin began his career as a singer in the Broadway production of Luther, which starred Albert Finney...
's Nunsense II
Nunsense
Nunsense is a musical comedy with a book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin. Originating as a line of greeting cards, Goggin expanded the concept into a cabaret that ran for 38 weeks, and eventually into a full-length musical...
and Balancing Act.
Miller made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut as the assistant lighting director for Titanic
Titanic (musical)
Titanic is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone that opened on Broadway in 1997. It won five Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical...
in 1997. Additional Broadway credits as assistant, associate and designer include The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
(1998), On the Town (1998), Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever (musical)
This is an article about the stage musical. For the article on the 1977 film, see Saturday Night FeverSaturday Night Fever is a musical with a book by Nan Knighton and music and lyrics by the Bee Gees.Based on Nik Cohn's 1975 New York Magazine article "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" and...
(1999), The Price
The Price
The Price may refer to:* The Price , by Arthur Miller* The Price , by Jim Starlin* The Price by Neil Gaiman, originally published in his book Smoke and Mirrors...
(1999), The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
(2000), The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
(2001), Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
(2002), Little Women
Little Women (musical)
Little Women is a musical with a book by Allan Knee, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, and music by Jason Howland.Based on Louisa May Alcott's classic 1869 semi-autobiographical novel, it focuses on the four March sisters - brassy, tomboy-like, aspiring writer Jo, romantic Meg, pretentious Amy, and...
(2005), Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd (musical)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
(2005), Three Days of Rain
Three Days of Rain
Three Days of Rain is a play by Richard Greenberg that was commissioned and produced by South Coast Repertory in 1997. The title comes from a line from W. S. Merwin's poem, "For the Anniversary of My Death"...
(2006), and Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
, as well as Jackie Mason
Jackie Mason
Jackie Mason is an American stand-up comedian and movie actor.-Early life:Born Yacov Moshe Maza in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City....
's one-man outings in 2003 and 2005. His latest project is Legally Blonde: The Musical (2007).
Since 2001, Miller has been the lighting director for the New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
celebration in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
. He recently designed impressionist Gordie Brown's new show at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
.
Miller has been a guest teacher at the Theatre School at DePaul University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Alabama at Birmingham
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a public university in Birmingham in the U.S. state of Alabama. Developing from an extension center established in 1936, the institution became an autonomous institution in 1969 and is today one of three institutions in the University of Alabama System...
, and Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University, founded in 1908, is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2010, there were 15,194 students and a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. It is recognized as being one of the premier schools in the country, comparable to Ivy League...
.