Kenneth Posner
Quick Facts
Biography
Kenneth Posner is an American theatrical lighting designer, working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in American regional theatre. His most notable designs include the musicals Wicked and Hairspray, two highly regarded musicals of the early 21st century. He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design 10 times, including nods for Merchant of Venice (2011), The Coast of Utopia (2007), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), Wicked (2004), Hairspray (2003), and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (2001). He has also been nominated 10 times for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design, and won both the Tony and Drama Desk award in 2007 for The Coast of Utopia. He also has received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Lighting. He also designed the lights for Little Women.
In 2013, Posner achieved a near-sweep of the nominations for the Tony Award for best lighting design of a musical, garnering nods in three of the four eligible slots (for Kinky Boots, Pippin, and Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella), but did not win.
Posner was educated at SUNY Purchase, where Brian MacDevitt also attended. He is a 1983 graduate of Eastchester High School in Eastchester, New York. He also attended Boston University College of Fine Arts.
Posner is a resident of Verona, New Jersey.