Broadway lighting designer Allen Lee Hughes will be honored with the Henry Hewes Design Awards’ Ming Cho Lee Lifetime Achievement Award October 14. Hughes’ most recent work was seen in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of A Soldier’s Play.
"It is especially gratifying to honor Allen Lee Hughes, whose nearly five decades of work in lighting design demonstrates the power of light and shadow to strengthen the dramaturgical core of every production on which he works," said Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, chair of the Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee.
Hughes is a three-time Tony nominee, for his work on the original Broadway productions of K2 and Once On This Island as well as the 1985 revival of Strange Interlude. Beyond the Main Stem, his lighting designs have been seen Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Lincoln Center Theater, and at a number of regional venues. In 2015, the National Black Theatre Festival honored him with the Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design Award.
On top of his work as a designer, Hughes was chosen as this year’s recipient because of his dedication to helping new talent develop their craft while teaching at NYU’s Tisch School and Arena Stage’s fellowship program (named after Hughes).
The virtual award ceremony will take place October 14 via Zoom, hosted by Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and Illinois Theatre at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As previously announced, Justin Ellington, Isabella Byrd, Nikiya Mathis, and more will also be honored for their work last season.
