Natasha Katz is an American lighting designer for the theatre, dance, and opera.[1]
A New York City native, Katz trained at Oberlin College, and early in her career was mentored by Roger Morgan,[2] a lighting designer and theatre consultant. Her first Broadway production was as lighting designer for the play Pack of Lies in 1985.[citation needed]
Katz was nominated for a 2017 Tony Award for Hello, Dolly![3] and a 2017 Olivier Award for The Glass Menagerie.[4] She won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play for her work on Long Day's Journey Into Night.[5] She has won eight Tony Awards out of 19 total nominations.[1]
Among her over 60 Broadway credits include designs for Frozen, Springsteen on Broadway, Meteor Shower, Cats, School of Rock, Gigi, Skylight, An American in Paris (2015 Tony Award), Aladdin, The Glass Menagerie (2014 Tony Award), Motown: The Musical, Once (2012 Tony Award), Follies, Sister Act, Elf, Collected Stories, The Addams Family, Hedda Gabler, The Little Mermaid, The Coast of Utopia: Salvage (2007 Tony Award), A Chorus Line (revival), Tarzan, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Sweet Smell of Success, Aida (2000 Tony Award), Twelfth Night, Beauty and the Beast, and Gypsy.[1]
She has lit the performances of Bette Midler, Zachary Quinto, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mike Tyson, Jessica Lange, Helen Hunt, Mary Louise Parker, Christopher Plummer, Elaine Stritch, Cathy Rigby, Nathan Lane, Bernadette Peters, Claudette Colbert and Sir Rex Harrison.[6] She has also designed concert acts for Shirley MacLaine, Ann-Margret, Tommy Tune, and most recently Prince’s 2014 SNL appearance.[6]
In the world of dance, Katz is a frequent collaborator with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, with projects including Tryst, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Winter's Tale, all for The Royal Ballet in London.[7] Other collaborations with Wheeldon include Continuum (San Francisco Ballet),[8] Carnival of the Animals (New York City Ballet),[9] An American in Paris (New York City Ballet, Théâtre du Châtelet, Broadway, London),[10] Swan Lake (Pennsylvania Ballet),[11] Cinderella (Dutch National Ballet),[12] and The Nutcracker (Joffrey Ballet).[13] Her other dance work includes American Ballet Theatre's production of Don Quixote[14] and productions with companies including San Francisco Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, and National Ballet of Canada.
For the opera stage, her credits include Cyrano de Bergerac for the Metropolitan Opera,[15] Die Soldaten for the New York City Opera,[16] two productions of Norma for Dame Joan Sutherland: the Opera Pacific (in Costa Mesa, California) and the Michigan Opera Theatre (in Detroit). She worked with The Royal Opera on Cyrano de Bergerac, directed by Francesca Zambello.[7]
Her film work includes Barrymore starring Christopher Plummer and Mike Tyson: The Undisputed Truth.[17] She lit the HBO television specials Mambo Mouth and Spic-O-Rama starring John Leguizamo[17] and scenes from two episodes of Girls[6] shot inside the Belasco Theatre on 44th Street in New York City.
Her work may be seen in filmed performances of The Winter's Tale, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland[7] and An American in Paris[18] as well as the PBS documentary "Making a New Nutcracker"[19] and the American Theatre Wing documentary Working in the Theatre: Lighting Design.[20]
Her permanent audio-visual shows include The Masquerade Village at the Rio Casino, Las Vegas, the Big Bang at the Hayden Planetarium in New York, and the Niketown stores in New York City and London.[21][6]
She is currently a mentor for the Theatre Development Fund's Wendy Wasserstein Project (formerly known as Open Doors).[6]