Rouben Ter-Arutunian (Ռուբէն Տէր-Յարութիւնեան) (July 24, 1920 – October 17, 1992) was an American-Armenian costume and scenic designer for dance, opera, theater and television. Anderson, Jack
Rouben Ter-Arutunian, 72, Dies; Designed City Ballet 'Nutcracker'"
''The New York Times'', October 19, 1992

Biography

Born in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(now

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, he attended the Reimann Art School (Berlin) from 1939 to 1941, studied film music at the Hochschule fur Musik (Berlin) and took courses at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University (Berlin), 1941–43, and at the University of Vienna, 1943-44. He first designed costumes for dancers of the

Berlin Staatsoper The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte (locality), historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was bui ...

in 1940, going on to design for the Dresden Opera and the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

. He moved to New York in 1951, which started his twenty-five year association with

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

and

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

. In 1964 he designed the sets for the

production of ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

''. He worked with 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 ...

company, Hamburg State Opera,

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

in Milan, the Opera-Comique in Paris and the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He designed either costumes or sets, sometimes both, for 24 Broadway productions. His first production on Broadway was ''

Measure for Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604. It was published in the First Folio of 1623. The play centers on the despotic and puritan Angelo (Measure for ...

'' in 1957, and his last was ''Goodbye Fidel'' in 1980.

Awards and legacy

He won the 1959 Tony Award for Best Costume Design for the musical '' Redhead'', and was nominated for the Tony Award three times for Scenic Design and one other Tony for Costume Design. The Rouben Ter-Arutunian Design Portfolios and the Rouben Ter-Arutunian Papers are held by the

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 ...

.New York Public Library listing
danceheritage.org, accessed July 3, 2009

Broadway work (selected)

* ''

'' (1957) * '' Redhead'' (1959) — Tony Award for Best Costume Design *''Advise and Consent'' (1961) — Tony Award Best Scenic Design (Dramatic) (nominee) *'' A Passage to India'' (1962) — Tony Award Best Scenic Design (nominee) *''

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago mobster, and his attempts to control the cauliflower ra ...

'' (1964) — Tony Award Best Costume Design (nominee) *''

Goodtime Charley ''Goodtime Charley'' is a musical with a book by Sidney Michaels, music by Larry Grossman, and lyrics by Hal Hackady. A humorous take on actual historical events, it focuses on the Dauphin of France, who evolves from a hedonistic young man en ...

'' (1975) — Tony Award Best Scenic Design (nominee) * ''Goodbye Fidel'' (1980)

References

External links

*
Biography at filmreference.comInternet Off-Broadway Database listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ter-Arutunian, Rouben Ballet designers 1920 births 1992 deaths Artists from Tbilisi Soviet emigrants to the United States *Rouben Ter-Arutunian Reimann School (Berlin) alumni Soviet expatriates in Germany Primetime Emmy Award winners