Clifton Taylor

Clifton Taylor has created lighting, projection, and scenic designs for theater, dance, and opera companies around the world for over 32 years. Taylor has designed a number of unique concert music events for major orchestras, solo musicians and large-scale venues. His work has been commissioned on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, and in 17 countries outside the United States.

Taylor has previously taught at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, the New York Choreographic Institute, Boston University, The Juilliard School, the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and at the University of Iowa.

His Broadway credits include Frozen, Jay Johnson: The Two and Only, and Hot Feet.

Taylor has designed for the repertories of Paul Taylor Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Martha Graham Dance Company, the Dance Theater of Harlem, and Sardono Dance Theater in Indonesia; for ballet works for American Ballet Theatre and ballet companies in Boston, Washington, and San Francisco and abroad in Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, and France.

Taylor is the author of the lighting design book Color and Light, Navigating Color Mixing in the Midst of an LED Revolution.

Taylor’s nominations include 2010 Henry Hewes Nomination for White Woman Street at the Irish Rep., directed by Charlotte Moore; a 2004 Lucille Lortel Nomination for Frozen, directed by Doug Hughes; and a 1992 Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award Nomination for Miss Evers’ Boys, directed by Benny Sato Ambush.

He has received the Column Award for The Tempest at the Dallas Theater Center for Best Lighting Design of a Play (2011), the Connecticut Theatre Critics Award for Journey’s End at the Westport Country Playhouse (2005), the Garland Award for The Two and Only’s Los Angeles pre-Broadway run (2005), and the Knight of Illumination Award Winner for his design of Four Quartets at the Barbican Theatre in London (2019).

Taylor is an United Scenic Artists Local 829, member, a USITT Professional Member, and is part of the AFAS Artists Collective, Winston-Salem.