{"id":7042,"date":"2016-05-02T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/architizer.wpengine.com\/ming-cho-lee-moca\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T09:04:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T13:04:18","slug":"ming-cho-lee-moca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/inspiration\/industry\/ming-cho-lee-moca\/","title":{"rendered":"A Set-Design Odyssey \u2014 From Shakespeare to Martha Graham"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn his own designing, Lee is the enemy of decoration, of effects, of anything that detracts or distracts from the drama,\u201d Mel Gussow wrote of Ming Cho Lee in American Theatre <\/i>magazine. \u201cThe idea that theatergoers might actually applaud a set offends his scenic sensibility.\u201d Yet, one could hardly ignore the striking stage designs Lee has created for productions ranging from New York City\u2019s open-air Shakespeare in the Park to Metropolitan Opera performances. While it\u2019s impossible to experience these sets firsthand today, a new exhibition brings us pretty close.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStage Design by Ming Cho Lee,\u201d originally shown at Yale\u2019s School of Architecture, opened last week at the Maya Lin\u2013designed Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in New York City, affording a wider audience glimpses into the 60-year-long career of one of the most influential set designers in the US. Lee, a professor at the Yale School of Drama, has trained many of today\u2019s stage designers and won accolades including the National Medal of Arts in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2013.<\/p>\n

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This retrospective displays more than 50 original maquettes, anywhere between 1\/8-inch- and \u00bc-inch-scale, all of which depict every minute detail down to placement of the principals and each venue\u2019s seating and stage lights. The styles transition from neo-expressionism in Lee\u2019s early career to super-realism in his later years.<\/p>\n

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Many are architectural in nature, while some hint at Lee\u2019s training as a landscape painter before immigrating to the US. What they all share is certain, intentional lack of decoration. \u201cHe does not like excessive or useless scenery that makes its own architectural statement and does not complement the play,\u201d wrote Gussow.<\/p>\n

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At the opening of the MOCA show last week, Lee spoke of his retirement from actual stage design. But, as he continues to teach at Yale, he inspires and educates younger designers, and they, reciprocally, enrich his design mind. He has stated, \u201cTeaching allows me to be in constant contact with the younger generation of theater artists, to become immersed in their thoughts, their frustrations, their needs and aspirations, and hopefully this keeps me from isolation and from doing the same thing over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn his own designing, Lee is the enemy of decoration, of effects, of anything that detracts or distracts from the drama,\u201d Mel Gussow wrote of Ming Cho Lee in American Theatre magazine. \u201cThe idea that theatergoers might actually applaud a set offends his scenic sensibility.\u201d Yet, one could hardly ignore the striking stage designs Lee…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"architizer_featured_type":"projects","architizer_featured_image":"1586713","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[],"architizer_project":[],"architizer_brand":[],"architizer_firm":[],"architizer_product":[],"class_list":["post-7042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry","category-inspiration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Set-Design Odyssey \u2014 From Shakespeare to Martha Graham - 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