Howell Binkley passed away on August 14 at the age of 64.
Mirvish Productions mourns the death of Howell Binkley, one of the premier lighting designers in the world. He died August 14, 2020 in North Carolina, his wife, Joyce, told the Winston-Salem Journal. He was 64 and had lung cancer. In honour of Howell Binkley, the lights of the Royal Alexandra and Princess of Wales Theatre will be dimmed on Tuesday, August 18 at 8 pm.
When theatres were closed by the pandemic, Howell had shows playing in theatres around the world. In Toronto, he had three shows on stage: Come From Away at the Royal Alexandra; Hamilton at the Ed Mirvish, and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical at the Princess of Wales Theatre. Howell made his Broadway debut as the lighting designer for Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1993, earning his first Tony nomination. That production began in Toronto in 1992. He went on to work on over 100 shows, including Avenue Q, In The Heights, Come From Away, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations, Escape to Margaritaville, Prince of Broadway, Allegiance, Memphis, The Full Monty, and revivals of Gypsy, West Side Story, and Jesus Christ Superstar.Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Howell attended East Carolina University before moving to New York City in 1978. In 1985, he and choreographer David Parsons founded the modern dance company - Parsons Dance Company.
Howell's designs used saturated colour, accompanied by white or slightly cool highlights, smoke or haze to draw attention to angles, and cross focussing to create diamond effects. He was a frequent collaborator with directors Des McAnuff, Hal Prince and Thomas Kail.
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