Nigel Levings
Biography
Nigel Levings is one of Australia’s leading theatre lighting designers. In a distinguished career he has lit over 400 original productions including 110 operas and 20 musicals.
Significant work includes:
THE KING AND I on Broadway (winner Outstanding Lighting Design Award at the Outer Circle Critics Awards, nominated for Drama Desk and Tony Awards for Best Lighting Design) and at The London Palladium.
Neil Armfield’s productions of Rubinstein’s THE DEMON for the Bregenz Festival and for Opera Zürich and BILLY BUDD for Welsh National Opera, Opera Australia, Canadian Opera and for English National Opera. His lighting of this production for the Canadian Opera Company won the 2000 Dora Award for Outstanding Lighting Design.
Barrie Kosky’s productions of NABUCCO (including a broadcast and video for ABC TV) and WOZZECK for Opera Australia and ORFEO for the Innsbrucker Festwochen and for the Deutsche Staatsoper at Unter den Linden, conducted by René Jacobs.
The Baz Luhrmann productions of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Best Opera Production Australia 1993 and Best Production 1994 Edinburgh Festival) for the 1994 Edinburgh Festival and LA BOHEME for Opera Australia and on Broadway.
Ian Judge’s productions of WEST SIDE STORY (Best Musical Mo awards 1995), A CHRISTMAS CAROL for The Royal Shakespeare Company, LA BELLE VIVETTE for English National Opera, MACBETH for The Sydney Theatre Company, SIMON BOCCANEGRA (1857 version) for The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (the last new production ever to open on the old Royal Opera House stage) and SIMON BOCCANEGRA (1883 version) for Washington Opera and for Dallas Opera.
At the Sydney Olympics Arts Festival he lit Stephen Baynes’ ballet PERSONAL BEST for The Australian Ballet and the Bayne’s ballet REQUIEM which was awarded Best Dance Production at the 2001 Helpmann Awards.
Mr Levings lit LA BOHEME at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and FALSTAFF conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner at Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris.
THE QUEEN OF SPADES for Dallas Opera and IDOMENEO, TURANDOT and THE BARBER OF SEVILLE for Houston Grand Opera.
For television he has lit 16 Operas for broadcast and video including two productions of LA BOHEME. A 1988 version, winner of an International Emmy Award, and a more recent version by the Australian film director Baz Luhrmann.
Most recent work includes DON CARLOS for Welsh National Opera.
SIR JOHN IN LOVE for English National Opera.
The World Premiere of the stage version of DIRTY DANCING.
SIMON BOCCANEGRA and DON GIOVANNI for Houston Grand Opera.
For the Los Angeles Opera ROMEO ET JULIETTE with Rolando Villazon and Anna Netrebko in the title roles and THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO with Barbara Bonney.
ROMEO ET JULIETTE for Lyric Opera of Chicago.
The world premiere of Richard Mills’ new opera THE LOVE OF THE NIGHTINGALE.
DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER for Baden Baden Festspielhaus and the Mariinsky Theatre, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
His lighting for the Baz Luhrmann production of LA BOHEME on Broadway won all three 2003 Broadway lighting awards – the Outer Circle Critics Award, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design and the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design as well as the Los Angeles Ovation Award for 2004.