In Memoriam: Gil Wechsler

Lighting designer Gil Wechsler died July 9 in Warrington, Pennsylvania. The cause was complications from dementia. He was 79.

Born in Brooklyn, Wechsler first discovered his fascination with theatre while attending summer camp in New Jersey, according to an obituary in the New York Times. He graduated from Midwood High School in Brooklyn, then attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for three years before switching to New York University, where he received a degree in theatre in 1964, followed by an MFA from Yale in 1967.

In New York, he assisted scenic and lighting designer Jo Mielziner and designed two Broadway productions -- Staircase (1968) and the Georges Feydeau farce There's One in Every Marriage (1972). The latter production came from Canada's Stratford Festival, where Wechsler designer other productions, including The School for Scandal, Cymbeline, Much Ado About Nothing, The Duchess of Malfi, Volpone, King Lear, As You Like It, She Stoops to Conquer, Lorenzaccio, Love's Labor's Lost, Trumpets and Drums, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Off Broadway credits included the protest musical Viet Rock (1966) and a 1997 revival of Cyrano de Bergerac (1997).

Most famously, Wechsler was the first resident lighting designer at The Metropolitan Opera, beginning his long tenure there in 1977. He designed more than 100 productions at the Met, where, as per former general manager Joseph Volpe, he was known as the "prince of darkness" for his restrained approach. According to the Times, he instituted a record-keeping program for keeping track of repertory productions. He also presided over the installation of the company's first computerized lighting console in 1979.

Wechsler's designs for the Met included Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos, Tosca, La Fanciulla del West, Adriana Lecouvreur, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, La Bohème, Billy Budd, Turando, and La Clemenza di Tito, among many others. He retired from the company in 1996, but some of his designs remained in the company's repertory as of 2019.

For Lyric Opera of Chicago, his credits included I due Foscari, Die Walküre, La Traviata, and Un Ballo un Maschera, among many others. At the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, his productions included The Taming of the Shrew, The Diary of a Scoundrel, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Of Mice and Men, and The Relapse. He also designed for dance, including Prodigal Son and Raymonda at American Ballet Theatre.

A statement from the Metropolitan Opera reads, "The Metropolitan Opera mourns the death of Gil Wechsler, the first resident lighting designer in the company's history. From 1977 to 1996, Gil designed the lighting for 112 Met productions of which 74 were new stagings. His artistry and professionalism were critical factors in the transformation of stagecraft that began with the Met's move to Lincoln Center and continued evolving for several decades. We extend heartfelt condolences to his husband, Doug, and to all his family and friends."

Wechsler lived in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his husband, the artist Douglas Sardo.

For more information: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/arts/music/gil-wechsler-dead.html