Winner of the 2014 George Freedley Memorial award.
"A gorgeous volume [that] celebrates the legacy of Lee." Time
Out New York
"Whether working in theater, opera or dance, Ming Cho Lee has
made an incalculable contribution to the performing arts in
America. This elegant coffee table book, written by Arnold
Aronson, pays tribute in prose and photographs to his singular
career." Los Angeles Times
"A comprehensive, compassionate and intelligent book... A book of
major importance, a must-read for all theatre folk, indeed for
anyone drawn to the mysteries of making art." Theatre Design &
Technology
Ming Cho Lee is not only one of the most important American
designers of the twentieth century, but one of the most
significant influences on American theatre. As a designer, he
drew upon his training in Chinese watercolor, the aesthetics of
his mentors, Jo Mielziner and Boris Aronson, and the post-war
developments in German design to develop a new approach to stage
design that radically altered American scenography. He broke new
ground, combined existing motifs in startling new ways and
continued to explore new ideas throughout his entire career. Lee
introduced a sculptural style with soaring verticality that had
been largely unknown to American stages. The painterly image was
replaced with a decidedly modern and industrial scenic vocabulary
that emphasized stage-as-stage.
Lee has designed more than 300 productions of theatre, opera and
dance, beginning with his first student work, The Silver Whistle
at Occidental College in 1952, through his last productions in
2005. Unlike his predecessors, Lee did not make his mark on
Broadway. Rather, it was achieved through some forty productions
with the New York Shakespeare Festival, including eleven seasons
at the Delacorte Theater from its opening in 1962; thirteen
productions for New York City Opera, beginning with its inaugural
production at Lincoln Center; five mainstage productions for the
Metropolitan Opera, including Boris Godunov, which stayed in the
repertoire for more than thirty years; twenty-one productions for
Arena Stage in Washington D.C., and numerous other productions at
regional theatres including the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles,
Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., Long Wharf
Theatre in New Haven, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and
Actors Theatre of Louisville; and ten pieces for the Joffrey
Ballet, as well as productions for Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey,
Elliot Feld, the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Cloud Gate Dance
Theatre of Taiwan.
Called the dean of American set designers” by the New York
Times, Lee had an impact that goes well beyond his own work. As a
teacher, including more than forty years at the Yale School of
Drama, Lee shaped generations of theatre artistsnot only set
designers, but costume and lighting designers, as well as
directors, writers and dramaturgs. It is through these students
that he helped transform not only American scenography but the
larger aesthetics of American theatre.
For this richly detailed exploration of Lee’s work, theatre
historian Arnold Aronson spent hundreds of hours interviewing Lee
at his legendary New York apartment. The book is both a study of
and a conversation with Ming Cho Lee. Each image selected for
this book was chosen personally by Lee from thousands of photos,
drawings, sketches, renderings and models, all carefully
cataloged by Lee’s wife and lifelong archivist, Betsy. Lee’s work
has been showcased at the New York Public Library and the Yale
School of Architecture, and his honors include a Tony Award for
best scenic design of a play, an Outer Critics Circle Award,
three Drama Desk Awards, a special Tony Award for lifetime
achievement and the National Medal of the Arts, the highest
national award given in the arts.