Background
Tharon Myrene Musser was born in Virginia in 1925. The daughter of a clergyman, she often recalled that her family couldn"t afford electricity, so she grew up with candles and gaslights.
Theatre consultant Theatrical lighting designer
Tharon Myrene Musser was born in Virginia in 1925. The daughter of a clergyman, she often recalled that her family couldn"t afford electricity, so she grew up with candles and gaslights.
Bachelor of Arts, Berea College, 1946; Doctor of Humanities, 1979; Master of Fine Arts, Yale University, 1950; Doctor of Humanities, Emerson College, 1980.
She was termed the "Dean of American Lighting Designers" and is considered one of the pioneers in her field Musser was best known for her work on the musicals A Chorus Lincolnshire and Dreamgirls. A Chorus Lincolnshire was the first production of Broadway to use a fully computerized lighting console instead of manually operated "piano boards".
Her first Broadway lighting cr was José Quintero"s staging of Eugene O"Neill"s Long Day"s Journey into Night in 1956 at the original Helen Hayes Theatre.
She designed on Broadway from 1956 to 1999 and her long list of credits include Li"l Abner, Shinbone Alley, Once Upon a Mattress, Here"s Love, Any Wednesday, Golden Boy, Flora, The Red Menace, Kelly, Mame, Hallelujah, Baby!, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, Applause, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Creation of the World and Other Business, The Sunshine Boys, A Little Night Music, Romantic Comedy, Mack and Mabel, The Good Doctor, Pacific Overtures, The Acting, Chapter Two, They"re Playing Our Song, Ballroom, 42nd Street, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Jerry"s Girls, The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues, Lost in Yonkers, The Goodbye Girl, and Laughter on the 23rd Floor. She was nominated for Applause, A Little Night Music, The Good Doctor, Pacific Overtures, The Acting, Ballroom, and 42nd Street.
She was honored as a USITT Distinguished Lighting Designer in 1996. Two nights later Broadway theatres dimmed their lights to honor her.
Member United Scenic Artists, Society British Theatrical Lighting Designers, United States Institute Theatre Technology.
Life partner, Marilyn Rennagel.