The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Heather Gilbert will join the Department of Theatre & Drama as a professor this fall. Gilbert is an award-winning lighting designer with robust Broadway experience and numerous regional, national, and international productions within her portfolio.
“This is just a dream job for me,” said Gilbert. “To teach and make theatre with the students, faculty, and staff at SMTD and University Productions is an amazing opportunity, and I cannot wait to get started.” “The students at U-M are so talented and engaged; having the privilege to help them develop their creative and production skills is one I take seriously. The future of culture in this country is theirs, and I’m excited to be part of their journey.”
Gilbert recently designed Good Night and Good Luck on Broadway, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play. The play was also broadcast live from the Winter Garden Theatre on CNN, reaching an audience of 7.3 million viewers. She also designed the new musical Dead Outlaw, which was nominated for Best Musical.
Gilbert’s prior work includes the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Parade, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award. The Broadway production of The Sound Inside at Studio 54 earned her a Drama Desk Award. Additionally, the production was an honoree for the Outer Critics Circle and a Tony Award nominee.
Gilbert’s credits also include the design of Leslye Headland’s Cult of Love for Second Stage at the Helen Hayes Theatre; Our Town at the Almeida Theatre in London; Bug at Steppenwolf Theatre, which won a Jeff Award for Best Lighting Design; A Streetcar Named Desire at Writers Theatre and Williamstown Theatre Festival; and Rent at American Theatre Company/AboutFace Theatre in Chicago.
Gilbert works frequently with acclaimed directors such as David Cromer, Lili-Anne Brown, Jonathan Berry, Ron OJ Parson, and many others. She has been a recipient of the Michael Merritt Award for Excellence in Design Collaboration, the 3Arts Award in Chicago, and the NEA/TCG Career Development Grant for Designers from the Theatre Communications Group.
“Pedagogically, Heather Gilbert mentors the design student’s aesthetic imagination while curating their access to both vintage and advanced tech resources, setting them up to realize their vision across a range of venues and contexts,” said Tiffany Trent, chair and associate professor of the Department of Theatre & Drama. “Professionally, industry colleagues have recognized Heather with Tony nominations, Drama Desk Nominations, and five different lifetime achievement awards. And she is a field leader whose design work with museum exhibits and public park projects in Chicago exemplifies the dynamic reach of her career.”
Gilbert previously served on the faculty at Columbia College Chicago and Louisiana State University. She is a proud member of the United Scenic Artists and a member of Design Action, an intergenerational coalition of BIPOC and white designers working to end racial inequities in the North American theatre. She received her BA from Trinity University and her MFA from the Theatre School at DePaul University.