Broadway Lighting Designer Donald Holder: An Award –Winning Designer Sheds Light on His Art.
Donald Holder is my brother. He also happens to be a Tony Award winning lighting designer for the “The Lion King,” and just recently worked on a musical based on the songs of Bob Dylan “The Times They Are A Changing.” Since he graduated Yale Drama School twenty years ago, I have seen him transformed from a gangly post-collegiate to a husband and a doting father to two wonderful kids Josh and Sarah; not to mention one of the top theatrical lighting designers in the world. Over Thanksgiving dinner at his home in Croton-On-The-Hudson, N.Y.; I asked if he would be interested in doing an interview as a follow-up to one we did several years ago. He generously consented.
Dylan is such an enigma...can you tell me what was your first impressions
of the man were when you met him in L.A.?
Based on my one brief encounter, Dylan struck me as a shy and unassuming man. He clearly is a very private person, and doesn't enjoy a lot of attention, at least in the situation I observed him in. I thought this was quite a paradox, given what an iconic and legendary figure he's become.
When we were working on The Times They Are A Changin' in San Diego, there was a lot of speculation among the company members about when and if Dylan would visit. One afternoon, a few minutes before we were going to start a dress rehearsal, I noticed a small and disheveled looking older man sitting in the back row of the theatre: long, unkempt hair sticking out of a black woolen cap, black jeans and overcoat. My first impression was that a homeless guy had wandered into the building. When I looked again, I realized it was Bob Dylan himself. What really gave him away on my second look was the beautiful and much younger blond woman sitting next to him...
Dylan's participation on the project (beyond the few conversations he had with Ms Tharp) was limited to this one viewing of the show. He sat next to Twyla during the run-through, and was clearly enjoying himself. Afterward, he walked up onstage and spoke very quietly to the actors. I could tell he was particularly taken by Thom Sesma, who played the character of the old tyrannous circus leader, and who sings and looks very much like Dylan himself. I heard only bits and pieces of his conversation with the cast... At one point he told them he had never heard his music performed so well, and suggested:”You guys should cut a cast album, and then I could retire..." Twyla introduced me to Dylan on his way out the door: and when hearing that I designed the lighting, he shook my hand and said" it looks good to me..." Not much of an encounter, but exciting just the same. A few moments after we had all said our goodbyes, he suddenly reappeared and pulled Twyla aside to speak with her privately before quickly slipping away once again. Twyla told me later that when he had walked outside into the light of day, he felt the impulse to return to remind her how special he thought the work was, and urged her resist all the imminent critical response and not change a thing.
My first impression was Dylan's music doesn't lend itself to a Broadway
musical treatment, like Joel's did. Your views?
Billy Joel is a master storyteller, and his lyrics lend themselves much more easily to dramatization. In "Movin Out," Twyla told the story and expressed a huge range of emotions largely through her movement and Billy Joel's music.. The piano man located above the playing area who sang all of the 24 songs throughout the evening functioned like a one-man Greek chorus, sometimes helping to tell the story, and other times clarifying or commenting on it. Because Joel's writing can be fairly literal, Twyla was able to craft what actually resembled a classic story ballet (much like Giselle or Swan Lake) told in a very contemporary style. The first act contained a lot more exposition and classic storytelling: the second act was more abstract, probing the emotional underpinnings of the characters, exploring their sense of guilt, anger, loss, and disenfranchisement. Although some audiences were a bit confused at the outset, most eventually connected with the material and enjoyed the evening immensely. The lighting functioned largely on three levels:
1. Create a tangible, naturalistically based environment in the first act to help the audience navigate through the important expositional moments.
2. Create an abstract, emotional landscape that reflected the inward focus the show takes late in the first act and for most of the second act
3. Frame the piece in a contemporary, rock-n-roll concert aesthetic, since the kinetic energy and style of the music demands it. We also felt it allowed a wide audience base to enjoy the show on more than one level: either as rock concert accompanied by dance, a performance art piece with clear social commentary, or as a moving ,heartfelt story told in an innovative and unusual way
Bob Dylan's work is more abstract and esoteric in nature: his words evoke dreamlike images and deep-felt emotions rather than a linear storyline. Twyla responded to the challenge of making a musical that's centered on Dylan's work by creating an abstract dreamscape, located in a desolate, surreal circus reflective of some of the more psychedelic of his songs. Using a cast of real, tangible characters Twyla tried to tell a simple coming-of-age story that also explores the epic themes so often associated with Dylan's lyrics: love, loss, power, greed, faith, war and peace, etc. I think it was a daring, exciting and hauntingly beautiful exploration of Dylan's world, and a very timely commentary on the state of our society today. Because the world of The Times They Are A Changin' was highly abstract and expressionistic, many people left the building confused rather than enlightened, and the critics harshly dismissed the piece.
The lighting was inspired somewhat by our visual research into the traveling carnivals and circuses in the early twentieth century. I also drew some of my inspiration from Fellini's film La Scala and other cinematic works created in the 'film noir' aesthetic. I wanted the light to have a dark, sculptural, expressionistic quality. I was also interested in creating a design that defied the conventional wisdom re: what a Broadway Musical should look like. I wanted the work to at times have a 'spontaneous' look, as if the performers themselves created the light in the space by rolling out some spotlights and focusing them in on the action. There were several 'play within a play' moments that took full advantage of this approach, such as 'God Gave Names to All the Animals'. Other songs, such as 'Simple Twist of Fate' and 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door', were presented as a character's inner monologue, and in these cases the light got increasingly dark and dramatic. In the song ' Rollin' Stone', which in the context of our show was a character's outward expression of frustration/anger after being rejected by an older woman, the lighting felt like a cross between Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey's Circus (which I did light, actually), and a Bob Dylan Concert held at Madison Square Garden.
Twyla Tharp, is known as a brilliant, demanding, innovative, taskmaster.
How is the dynamic working with her? Do you feel it a good fit between you
two?
Those words represent an apt description of Twyla. But she's also a great collaborator, and I think maybe because she's also a mother, she has a tremendous nurturing spirit. Twyla is a brilliant visionary, but she respects the contribution her collaborators can add to the work, and she actively seeks our opinion. Not because she's at all indecisive, but because she trusts our instincts and our particular point of view. In my work with Twyla, she has always encouraged me to express what I think or feel about a particular moment or the work overall, rather than dictating what she feels the work means or how it should look onstage. She clearly realizes that she'll get the best out of her fellow artists by allowing them to be partners in the process, rather than people who merely implement her singular vision.
Twyla never demands things from me, but expects my full attention and commitment to the work.
She's brutally honest and straightforward: if she doesn't like something, she'll tell you, and she'll be very clear about the reasons why. I find this attitude refreshing, rather than intimidating
Twyla is the hardest working person I've ever met, and her laser like focus on the work is extraordinary. She readily admits that her work is her life, and creating new work is what keeps her going. I respect and admire her for her integrity, her vision, her intellect, her sense of humor. And she takes incredible care of herself. At the age of 63 (I think), she goes to the gym every morning at 5:30 or 6, and respects her body just as much now as she did when she was a young woman. She still looks every bit like the dancer she's been for most of her life
. .
Lighting designers (pardon the pun) are rarely in the limelight...how is
that for you?
I'm a lighting designer principally because I'm fascinated with light and love working in the medium. I enjoy the collaborative process, and have always been attracted to the sense of community that is so much a part of working in the theatre. Being a part of new work, collaborating with people who inspire me, being challenged intellectually, and expressing my self creatively are all reasons why I continue to work as a lighting designer. Although I've achieved a certain degree of fame in my profession, that's never been a motivating force for me
You are now the head of lighting at the California Institute for the Arts.
How do the students differ from when you were cutting your teeth? How hard is it
for you to remain cutting edge?
I decided to try teaching on the graduate level because I feel I've come to a point in my professional life where I have something I can pass on to young artists, and I also feel I can be a positive force in their professional development. Over the last several years I've been thinking that I need to do more in my professional life than focus on the advancement of my own career. When the chance to teach at CalArts came along, I felt it would be a good opportunity to help others who share my passion for lighting design. I also remember how important a mentor was for me when I was just starting out, and the idea of mentoring others in the same way seemed like a good thing. to do.
The students at CalArts are not particularly different or in a different place than I was when in graduate school. As did I, most of them need to discard all the pre-conceived notions and bad habits they've acquired over the years when it comes to design, and discover a process for creating work that grows out of the text and the director's vision, rather than raw instinct.
The technology related to lighting and lighting design has changed dramatically since I was a student at Yale, but the principles of good design will always remain the same. What I always stress to the students is that all the new technology available today can be wonderful and very seductive, but it will never take the place of a great idea. And that's what needs to be at the center of all the work that they produce.
What I like about CalArts specifically is that the entire faculty is composed of working artists, and we're encouraged to maintain our professional careers. I have no interest in curtailing my work as a Broadway Lighting Designer for the sake of teaching, but intend to involve my students in my work outside the school .
Upcoming and current projects?
Currently, I'm designing the Broadway revival of Craig Lucas's play Prelude to a Kiss. I just finished designing the lighting for a new Broadway-bound musical based on the movie The Sister Act at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, and Radio Golf, August Wilson's final play of his 10 play cycle at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. In the works is a new play by David Henry Hwang called Yellowface in Los Angeles, a new production of The Lion King in Johannesburg, South Africa, and revival of South Pacific at the Vivien Beaumont theatre at Lincoln Center in New York,
What would you want your artistic legacy to
be? Ten years down the road...where do you want to be?
I want to be known as an artist who brought a unique and inspired approach to each and every project in which he was involved, who never settled for less than the best he could possibly do, who was fun to work with, and who approached all his work with integrity and meticulous detail.
In terms of 'down the road', I love what I'm doing, and from my perspective, there's not a lot more I feel I need to achieve in my profession. 10 years from now, I hope I'm still able to work with people and on projects that stimulate and challenge me. I'd love to do more opera, and maybe get involved with lighting in film or television. I'm really enjoying teaching, so I hope I'm still in a situation where I'll be mentoring students, but maybe at a school that's a little closer to home.
* Previously published in the "Audience Review" magazine.
Doug Holder
