Ming Cho Lee (; October 3, 1930 – October 23, 2020) was a Chinese-American theatrical

set designer Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

and professor at the Yale School of Drama.

Personal life

Lee was born on Oct. 3, 1930, in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China to Lee Tsu Fa and Tang Ing. Lee, whose father (Lee Tsu Fa) was a Yale University graduate (1918), moved to the United States in 1949 and attended Occidental College. Lee married Elizabeth (Rapport) Lee in 1958. They had three sons Richard, Christopher, and David.

Career

Lee first worked on Broadway as a second assistant set designer to Jo Mielziner on '' The Most Happy Fella'' in 1956. His first Broadway play as Scenic Designer was ''The Moon Besieged'' in 1962; he went on to design the sets for over 20 Broadway shows, including '' Mother Courage and Her Children'', ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'', '' The Glass Menagerie'', '' The Shadow Box,'' and ''

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''. He also designed sets for opera (including eight productions for the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

and thirteen for the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

), ballet (including Firebird, Carmina Burana, Silver Lining and Swan Lake for Pacific Northwest Ballet), and regional theatres such as Arena Stage, the Mark Taper Forum, and the

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions among Sir Tyrone Gut ...

. He designed over 30 productions for

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp is a pioneering figure in American theater, known for creating Shakespeare in the Park, which aimed to make classi ...

The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

, including the original

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of

Hair (musical) ''Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical'' is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot. The work reflects the creators' observations of the hippie Counterculture of the 1960s, count ...

. Starting in 1969, Lee taught at the Yale School of Drama, where he was co-chair of the Design Department. In February 2017, he announced that he would be retiring at the end of the fall semester. He was on the Board of Directors for The Actors Center in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Lee is the subject of ''Ming Cho Lee: A Life in Design'' by Arnold Aronson, which was published by TCG Books in 2014. In 2013, the Yale school of Architecture and School of Drama staged a retrospective of his work at the architecture gallery.

Awards and honors

*Lee was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1998. *He was awarded the

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...

in 2002. *In 1995, he won the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence for his consistent and valuable contributions to the theatrical community. *He won the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

in 1983 for the play ''K2''. *Lee was awarded a lifetime achievement Tony Award in 2013. * Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design * The Helen Hayes Award: * Six awards for Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production, from 1996-2002. * The Helen Hayes Tribute Award (2006)

References

Bibliography

*Aronson, Arnold. ''Ming Cho Lee: A Life in Design''. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2014.

External links

Yale Bulletin biography, March 21, 2003
*
Costume and Scenic Design Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...