Adrianne Lobel
Encyclopedia
Adrianne Lobel is an American
scenic designer and producer for theatre, opera, and dance known for her "very daring and creative sets."
Lobel was raised in Brooklyn
and took classes at the art school at the Brooklyn Museum
, then worked as a draftsman
at film studios. She later attended the Yale Drama School, where she studied with set designer Ming Cho Lee
.
Lobel has designed sets for Broadway
, off-Broadway
, and regional theater productions and has worked with the Yale Repertory Theatre
, Arena Stage
, and the Guthrie Theatre. She designed the sets for the 1987 Houston Grand Opera
production of Nixon in China
and the television broadcast the following year, as well as the 1991 PBS Great Performances: Dance in America
staging of The Hard Nut by Mark Morris
. Additionally, she designed the sets for the 2005 Metropolitan Opera
adaptation of the Theodore Dreiser
classic An American Tragedy
directed by Francesca Zambello
and the 2008 Mark Morris Dance Group work "L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato."
Lobel's first producing credit, the musical A Year With Frog and Toad
, was a family affair. It was based on books by her late father, children's author Arnold Lobel
, and starred her husband Mark Linn-Baker
, whom she married in June 1995.
for Passion and the Tony Award for Best Musical
for A Year With Frog and Toad. She is the recipient of the 1984 Obie Award
for Scenice Design for her contributions to All Night Long and The Vampires and the 1998 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic Design for On the Town.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
scenic designer and producer for theatre, opera, and dance known for her "very daring and creative sets."
Lobel was raised in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and took classes at the art school at the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, then worked as a draftsman
Draughtsman
A draughtsman or draftsman , is a person skilled in drawing, either:*drawing for artistic purposes, or*technical drawing for practical purposes such as architecture or engineering...
at film studios. She later attended the Yale Drama School, where she studied with set designer Ming Cho Lee
Ming Cho Lee
Ming Cho Lee is a Chinese-born American theatrical set designer and a longtime professor at the Yale School of Drama....
.
Lobel has designed sets for Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
, and regional theater productions and has worked with the Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Repertory Theatre
The Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of the Yale School of Drama in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the...
, Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
, and the Guthrie Theatre. She designed the sets for the 1987 Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
production of Nixon in China
Nixon in China (opera)
Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by the 1972 visit to China by US President Richard Nixon. The work premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987, in a production by Peter Sellars with...
and the television broadcast the following year, as well as the 1991 PBS Great Performances: Dance in America
Great Performances
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...
staging of The Hard Nut by Mark Morris
Mark Morris
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
. Additionally, she designed the sets for the 2005 Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
adaptation of the Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
classic An American Tragedy
An American Tragedy
-Plot summary:The ambitious but immature Clyde Griffiths, raised by poor and devoutly religious parents who force him to participate in their street missionary work, is anxious to achieve better things. His troubles begin when he takes a job as a bellboy at a local hotel. The boys he meets are...
directed by Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello is a leading American opera and theatre director. Zambello lived in Europe when she was a child, learning to speak French, Italian, German and Russian. Zambello is of Italian descent, the daughter of Jean , an actress and Charles C. Zambello, a former actor who became head of...
and the 2008 Mark Morris Dance Group work "L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato."
Lobel's first producing credit, the musical A Year With Frog and Toad
A Year with Frog and Toad
A Year With Frog and Toad is a musical written by brothers Robert and Willie Reale , based on the Frog and Toad children's stories written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel...
, was a family affair. It was based on books by her late father, children's author Arnold Lobel
Arnold Lobel
Arnold Stark Lobel was a popular American author of children's books. Among his most popular books are those of the Frog and Toad series, and Mouse Soup, which won the Garden State Children's Book Award from the New Jersey Library Association.Lobel won the 1981 Caldecott Medal for his book...
, and starred her husband Mark Linn-Baker
Mark Linn-Baker
Mark Linn-Baker is an American actor and director famous for his role as Larry Appleton on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers.-Early life and career:...
, whom she married in June 1995.
Additional stage credits
- King of Schnorrers (1979)
- A... My Name Is AliceA... My Name Is AliceA… My Name Is Alice, is a musical revue conceived by Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd, first produced in 1983. It won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Revue...
(1983) - My One and OnlyMy One and OnlyMy One and Only is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and Timothy S. Mayer and music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin.Written to incorporate classic Gershwin tunes from Funny Face and other popular shows into one evening of entertainment, the plot, set in 1927 America, revolves around Capt...
(1983) - PassionPassion (musical)Passion is a musical adapted from Ettore Scola's film Passione d'Amore . The book is by James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Central subjects include obsession, beauty, power, manipulation, passion, illness, and love...
(1994) - The Diary of Anne FrankThe Diary of Anne Frank (play)The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl. The play is a dramatization by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. It opened at the Cort Theatre, Broadway, on October 5, 1955, in a production by Kermit Bloomgarden, directed by Garson Kanin and designed by Boris...
(1997) - On the Town (1998)
- The AlchemistThe Alchemist (play)The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature...
(2000) - Little House on the PrairieLittle House on the Prairie (musical)Little House on the Prairie is a book musical adapted from the children's books, Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The creative team includes Rachel Sheinkin , Rachel Portman , Donna di Novelli , and Francesca Zambello...
(2008)
Awards and nominations
Lobel was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set DesignDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee composed of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
for Passion and the Tony Award for Best Musical
Tony Award for Best Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
for A Year With Frog and Toad. She is the recipient of the 1984 Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for Scenice Design for her contributions to All Night Long and The Vampires and the 1998 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic Design for On the Town.