| Title: | Howell Binkley Papers |
| Creator: | Binkley, Howell |
| Repository: | ECU Manuscript Collection |
| Languages: | English |
| Extent: | 8.25 Cubic feet, 369 items . |
December 4, 2009, (unprocessed) 232 items, 6.25 cubic feet; Papers (1993-2004) documenting the work of a noted theatrical lighting designer & East Carolina University graduate, including his lighting specifications on the following musicals & plays: Dracula The Musical; Grease; How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Jekyll & Hyde; My Thing of Love; Pera Palas; Sacrilege; Taking Sides; The Full Monty; & Whistle Down the Wind, performed on Broadway in New York, & elsewhere in the United States, Canada, Australia & United Kingdom, including Contact Lists, Production Calendars; Theatre Information; Shop Orders; Submasters & Groups; Cues; Magic Sheets; Cheat Sheets; Channel Hookups; Instrument Schedules; Vari*Lites; Followspots; Cue Books; Scripts; Set Design Plates; Tour Plans; Lighting Design Plans, Plots, Elevations, Sections & other drawings; Computer Diskettes; & Compact Diskettes, etc. See preliminary inventory attached. 14 boxes. 232 items. 6,258 p. (ca. 6.25 cubic feet) Recd. 10/23/2009. Notes: Mr. John Shearin, ECU School of Theatre and Dance transferred the collection to the Special Collections Department on behalf of Mr. Binkley. Donor: Howell Binkley
April 19, 2010, (unprocessed addition 1), 137 items, 2.00 cubic feet; Papers (1994-2007) documenting the work of a noted theatrical lighting designer & East Carolina University graduate, including his lighting specifications on the following musicals & plays: Circque Ingenieux, Expecting Isabel, Hollywood Arms, Necessary Targets, LoveMusik, Pied Piper, Sarah, Sarah, Seusical: The Musical, The Spitfire Grill, Tamicanfly & Tick, Tick . . . Boom!, performed on Broadway in New York, & elsewhere in the United States, including Contact Lists, Production Calendars; Theatre Information; Shop Orders; Cues; Magic Sheets; Cheat Sheets; Channel Hookups; Instrument Schedules; Cue Books; Scripts; Set Design Plates; Lighting Design Plans, Plots, Elevations, Sections & other drawings; Computer Diskettes; Compact Diskettes; oversized materials, etc. See preliminary inventory. Donor: Howell Binkley.
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Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Howell Binkley Papers (#1156), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Encoded by Jonathan Dembo, December 03, 2009
Howell Binkley grew up in Winston-Salem and attended East Carolina University from 1974 to 1978 when he graduated. It was while he attended ECU that he decided to make "theatrical stage production" his career. He got his start working on ECU student dance productions. Since his graduation, Howell has become one of the top three lighting directors in the world.
Over his career, Binkley has won several major awards. He has won the Helen Hayes Award four times and won nominations at least 11 times. In 1993, alone, he received a Tony Award nomination, the Sir Lawrence Olivier Award, and the Canadian Dora Award for his work on "Kiss of the Spider Woman." In 2006, he won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a musical for Jersey Boys.
Binkley has worked with many well-known Broadway figures, including the prolific directors Hal Prince and Des McAnuff. He is also a collaborator and co-founder of David Parsons' Parsons Dance Company. Binkley has worked on more than 60 productions on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theaters across the United States, Great Britain and Europe Binkley. He has worked at regional theaters in La Jolla & San Diego, California, at the Shakespeare Theatre, in Washington, DC, at the Old Globe Theatre, the Guthrie Theater, The Goodman Theatre, and Hartford Stage. Binkley is also co-founder of the Parsons Dance Company.
Binkley's characteristic style involves the use of heavy color, accented by clear and L201 hues. He frequently uses smoke or haze to accent scenes and for the use of cross focusing to make diamond effects. He has drawn inspiration from the work of Craig Miller and Tom Skelton's.
He has worked on the following plays & musicals:
Below is material taken from a preliminary inventory and represents content from the collection that is unprocessed.