David Zinn is a costume and scenic designer based in New York, New York. He has been nominated ten times for the Tony Award for both his costume designs and scenic designs, winning two Best Scenic Design for a Play awards for ''The Humans'' in 2016 and ''Stereophonic'' in 2024 and one Best Scenic Design in a Musical award for ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

'' in 2018. He has over 80

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 ...

credits in his lifetime.

Early life

Zinn was born on

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 24,825 at the 2020 census, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. The island is se ...

, near

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. He wanted to be an actor and then moved backstage to start designing in middle school. After using his high school career at Bainbridge High School to work in and around Seattle and Bainbridge Island, Zinn decided to move to New York City.Houlihan, Mary
"It's a Matter of Minutes for Set Designer David Zinn's Latest Work"
''Chicago Sun'', November 11, 2017. Zinn attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

for his MFA in Design for Stage and Film where he said he was most influenced by musicals and by avant-garde theatre like the

Wooster Group The Wooster Group is an experimental theater company based in New York City known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 1980 ...

Career

Soon after leaving NYU, Zinn went to work as a costume designer for regional theater. After a big break at Santa Fe Opera, which featured his scenic and costume designs, he became known for both aspects of his work. He then went on to work in several Off-Broadway theater for years. He also worked closely with Target Margin Theater Company, headed by David Herskovits and graduate school friend Lenore Doxsee. In 2010 Zinn worked on Broadway with his costume designs for '' Xanadu''. He then went on to design costumes on Broadway for ''A Tale of Two Cities'', ''

In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) ''In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)'' is a 2009 play by Sarah Ruhl, published by Samuel French. It concerns the early history of the vibrator, when doctors allegedly used it as a clinical device to bring women to orgasm as treatment for ...

'', ''Good People'', ''

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo ''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'' is a play by Rajiv Joseph. The show is about "a tiger that haunts the streets of present-day Baghdad seeking the meaning of life. As he witnesses the puzzling absurdities of war, the tiger encounters Americans ...

'', ''

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'', ''The Other Place'', ''Picnic'', ''Rocky'', ''

Airline Highway Airline Highway is a divided highway in the U.S. state of Louisiana, built in stages between 1925 and 1953 to bypass the older Jefferson Highway. It runs , carrying U.S. Highway 61 from New Orleans northwest to Baton Rouge and U.S. Highw ...

'', and '' An Act of God'' as well as scenic designs for ''The Realistic Joneses'', ''

Violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Vi ...

'', ''The Real Thing'', '' The Humans'', and ''Present Laughter'', and scenic and costume designs for ''Seminar'', ''The Last Ship'', ''

Fun Home ''Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic'' is a 2006 graphic memoir by the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, author of the comic strip '' Dykes to Watch Out For''. It chronicles the author's childhood and youth in rural Pennsylvania, United States, ...

'', ''

Amélie ''Amélie'' (, , ) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story ...

'', and '' SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical''.

Awards and nominations

Theater

Source:"David Zinn Off-Broadway Credits"
lortel.org

References

External links

David Zinn Internet Broadway database

David Zinn's personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zinn, David American scenic designers Broadway scenic designers Tony Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Bainbridge Island, Washington Tisch School of the Arts alumni Drama Desk Award winners