The scenic route
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Global Times, June 30, 2011
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Stage models for Electra designed by Ming Cho Lee. Photos: Courtesy of Shi Hao |
The road to stage design
He graduated from UCLA and during a visit to New York to see his mother and step-father, Lee was given the opportunity of an apprenticeship with the famous American designer Jo Mielziner in 1954. After five years he became an assistant designer.
"Essentially, I spent eight years as an assistant designer, working for Jo and some other set designers, which is a longer period than many other American designers. That is because I didn't go to Yale, I didn't know a lot of people, and I was known only as an assistant designer," he said.
After a jobless year, he worked for the San Francisco Opera as an assistant designer. Later, he was interviewed, and hired by Joseph Papp from the New York Shakespeare Festival.
1962 saw Lee's first Broadway play The Moon Besieged as a scenic designer, and this was followed by more than 20 Broadway productions.
"The 12 years, from 1962 to 1973, working for Joseph Papp made me become a set designer in my own right," he said.
Because of his long interest in opera, Lee later designed for many opera houses including the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and the San Francisco Opera.
Now long retired from designing, Lee devotes his time to teaching and training. Many successful set designers active in the US and on the world stage today have received instruction from Lee.
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Stage models for Macbeth designed by Ming Cho Lee. Photos: Courtesy of Shi Hao |
Shanghai bonds
An infrequent visitor to Shanghai, Lee returned to China mostly for work projects. In 1978 he visited Suzhou with a curator from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, who was looking for inspiration for a traditional Chinese garden for an exhibition at the museum.
In 1994 Lee came to Shanghai to work on a production of The Joy Luck Club with the Shanghai People's Art Theater. And at the same time, he was designing Nine Songs with Taiwan's famous Cloud Gate Dance Theater (choreographed by Lin Huai-min), and spent this time shuttling back and forth between Shanghai and Taipei.
"I have been Americanized - strictly and completely. I am American educated and trained. I have forgotten my Chinese language, while in some way I'm still aware of my Chinese identity in the background." Lee admitted that as he got older, many of his Shanghai relatives suggested he should present his life's work to the people of his birthplace.
With regards to his inspiration Lee said: "I immerse myself in a story, and ideas emerge from that story as opposed to me contemplating a certain external look."
Han Sheng, president of the Shanghai Theater Academy, commented: "Ming Cho Lee's unique style and creative language have virtually become features of an era. His artistic work has been an influence on the US and worldwide stage design since the 1960s, and has had an impact on the concepts, styles and creative methods of modern Chinese scenic design since the 1980s."
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