Broadway to Dim Lights on Tuesday for Tharon Musser

The Broadway community mourns the death of Lighting Designer Tharon Musser, who died on April 19th at age 84 after a long illness.

The marquees of Broadway theatres in New York will be dimmed in her memory on Tuesday, April 21st, at exactly 8:00pm for one minute.

Nominated for ten Tony Awards for Best Lighting Design, Ms. Musser won three for her work on the original productions of Follies (1972), A Chorus Line (1976), and Dreamgirls (1982). She received Tony Award nominations for: Applause, A Little Night Music, The Good Doctor, Pacific Overtures, The Act, Ballroom, and 42nd Street.

Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League, said, "Tharon Musser was an innovator in the field of Lighting Design. Her artistic contributions spanning five decades enhanced the talents of renowned creative teams and made unforgettable Broadway magic."

Ms. Musser's first Broadway show was the premiere of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night
and continued through 1999's The Lonesome West. She worked on over 150 Broadway shows including: Mother Courage, Peer Gynt, A Delicate Balance, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Real Thing, The Wiz, The Birthday Party,and Mame.

A Chorus Line was the first Broadway show to utilize a completely computerized lighting console instead of the manually operated "piano boards." Her lighting for A Chorus Line was also used in the show's 2006 Broadway revival.

Throughout her career Ms. Musser collaborated with leading musical theatre talents including Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, John Kander and Fred Ebb, and director Michael Bennett. She is survived by long-time partner Marilyn Rennagel, also a noted lighting designer.