Lap Chi Chu


Lap Chi Chu is an American lighting designer known for his Broadway and Off-Broadway works.

Early life and education

Chu got his B.S. from Northwestern University and M.F.A from New York University.

Career

Teaching

Chu taught at California Institute of the Arts from 2001 to 2020. He is currently a professor and the Head of Lighting at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He also guest taught at Hangyang University in Seoul, South Korea.

Personal life

Chu married Rebecca Wisocky in Boston on October 10, 2015.

Awards and nominations

Chu has received a Tony Award nomination for Best Lighting Design of a Musical for the 2023 Broadway revival of "Camelot." Chu has also received a Drama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical in 2024 for Suffs. Chu's lighting for Mlima’s Tale earned him the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Lighting in 2019 and an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination in 2018. Also in 2018, he received an Obie for Sustained Excellence in Lighting Design and a Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for Dangerous House. In 2009, Chu was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for his lighting of The Good Negro.

Work

Off Broadway

Source:
YearShowTheater
1998Love's FowlNew York Theatre Workshop
1998Shopping and FuckingNew York Theatre Workshop
2009WildflowerMcGinn-Cazale Theatre
2009The Good NegroPublic Theater LuEsther Hall
2012Emotional CreaturePershing Square Signature Center The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
2012An Early History of FireAcorn Theatre
2013Small Engine RepairLucille Lortel Theater
2013stop. reset.Pershing Square Signature Center The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
2014Father Comes Home from the Wars Public Theater Anspacher Theater
2014AppropriatePershing Square Signature Center
2014Father Comes Home from the Wars Public Theater Martinson Hall
2015Lost GirlsLucille Lortel Theater
2015Mr. WolfSouth Coast Repertory
2016The WolvesThe Duke on 42nd Street
2016The Body of an AmericanCherry Lane Theatre
2017Describe the NightLinda Gross Theater
2017Oedipus El RayPublic Theater Susan Stein Shiva Theater
2017God Looked AwayPasadena Community Playhouse
2017At the Old PlaceOld Globe Theater
2018Our Very Own Carlin McCulloughGeffen Playhouse
2018Mlima's TalePublic Theater Martinson Hall
2018An Ordinary MuslimNew York Theatre Workshop
2018Eve's SongPublic Theater LuEsther Hall at Joseph Papp
2018Mother of the MaidPublic Theater Anspacher Theater
2019the way she spokeMinetta Lane Theatre
2020Darling GrenadineHarold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre
2023The Coast StarlightLincoln Center Theater

Broadway

Source:
YearShowTheaterNotes
2023CamelotLincoln Center TheaterTony Nomination for Best Lighting Design of a Musical 2023
2024Uncle VanyaLincoln Center Theater
2024SuffsMusic Box TheatreDrama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical 2024