Howard Bay (designer)
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Howard Bay (May 3, 1912 – November 21, 1986, New York City) was an American scenic, lighting and costume designer for stage, opera and film. 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 ...
for Best Scenic Design twice.


Career

Howard Bay was born in
Centralia, Washington Centralia () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, Lewis County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 in Washington, Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a ...
to parents who were teachers; his father was an art teacher, his mother an English teacher. Over 50 years he designed the sets and lighting, as well as occasionally the costumes, for some 105 Broadway plays and musicals as well as operas and television shows."Howard Bay Designs at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"
NYPL, accessed January 27, 2010
Bay designed sets for the
Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal ...
in New York City, for four operas for the National Orchestral Association, performed at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
, 1939–1940 and for the operas ''Capriccio'' and ''Natalya Petrovna'' 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 ...
, 1965.Biography
filmreference.com, accessed January 27, 2010
Bay first designed the sets for Broadway for the play ''Chalk Dust'' in 1936. In the field of musicals, he designed, among others, sets and lighting for ''
Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the per ...
'' (1946), ''
The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...
'' (1957) and '' Finian's Rainbow'' (1955 ets 1960). He designed the original sets, lighting and costumes for '' Man of La Mancha'' in 1965 and all revivals. For dramas, for example, he designed the sets and lighting for '' The Little Foxes'' (1967), ''My Mother, My Father and Me'' (1963), '' Toys in the Attic'' (1960), and ''
The Big Knife ''The Big Knife'' is a 1955 American melodrama film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the 1949 play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod S ...
'' (1949). For television he was the Art director for the ''Fred Waring Show'', CBS, 1953–1955; ''Somerset Maugham Theatre'', CBS and NBC, 1954–1956, and ''Mr. Broadway'', CBS, 1964. He worked on the films ''The Exile'' (1947) and ''Up in Central Park'' (1948), as the production designer. He taught theater arts at
Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
for 14 years. Bay was president of United Scenic Artists for many years.


Personal

He married Ruth Jonas on November 23, 1932, and they had two children, Ellen and Timothy. He died of a
myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
in 1986.


Awards and nominations

*Tony Award Best Scenic Design - ''Cry for Us All'' (nominee) (1970) *Tony Award Best Costume Design - ''Man of La Mancha'' (nominee) (1966) *Tony Award Best Scenic Design - ''Man of La Mancha'' (winner) (1966) *Tony Award Best Scenic Design (Play) - ''Toys in the Attic'' (winner) (1960)


References


External links

* *
Howard Bay designs and technical drawings, 1934-1985
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bay, Howard 1912 births 1986 deaths Drama Desk Award winners Tony Award winners American scenic designers Federal Theatre Project people