Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2021 - 13

American Shakespeare Theatre to his
memorable King Lear as the principal designer for Joe Papp's New York
Shakespeare Festival in the '60s and
early '70s.
The next question he asked was to see
our theatres, a 600-seat proscenium hall,
a 250-seat laboratory theatre, and an 80seat black box. Later in the workshop,
Ming spoke about " theatre of two rooms "
and " theatre of one room " and how that
affects design choices and sightlines.
Many of the students presented designs that featured floors and walls and
decorative elements. Ming emphasized
that they needed " something to stop the
eye from wandering up, " suggesting scenic elements such as a ceiling or beam
that would frame the setting. Students
fortunate enough to be in that design studio on that day had an experience tantamount to a class at Yale School of Drama
with a master scenographer of the 20th
century.

Ashley Bellet

Assistant Professor of Costume Design, Purdue
University

When I was in graduate school, my scene
design professor always raved about
Ming Cho Lee. I didn't have a lot of historical or contemporary context at the time,
but I understood how influential he was.
To me, he was a legend-a name that carried weight because of an artistry I admired but did not fully comprehend yet.
My cohort and I decided to go to
USITT that year for the first time, and
of course it was in snowy Toronto! I was
filled with energy and confidence-wandering from session to session carrying
my giant portfolio and a pile of resumes
for the employers I was sure were eager to meet me. When I sat down in the
back of a large session hosted by the
Education Commission, chairs filled,
and I quickly got caught up in the highspirited discussion about maintaining
flexible deadlines. An older gentleman
at the side of the room pointed out how
a designer's preparedness could deeply
influence a director's commitment to a
concept. I had just completed what I considered to be a successful project that
had evolved multiple times over the design process, so I thrust my hand in the
air, leapt to my feet, and began a counterdiatribe on designer flexibility. The room
grew quiet and I realized that he and I
were the only people standing, staring at

names to drop or read about in textbooks.

James DePaul

Director of Undergraduate Theatre Studies,
1993-1996, Yale School of Drama

Ming Cho Lee in 2004. | Photo courtesy of USITT.

Ming was a
" humanitarian
who always
loved and
respected art
and craft and
was never
disappointed in
the theatre. "
each other-myself and Ming Cho Lee.
The realization hit me and I sank back
into my chair mid-sentence. I had loudly
and quite determinedly told one of the
greatest American scenic designers that
he was wrong, and I'd done it in front of
more than 100 people.
All it took was a single raised eyebrow
and suddenly I knew my place in the
great history of American theatre design.
I was young, new, and passionate. I was
determined and confident. I had bumped
heads with one of the greats. After the
session, I shook his hand, thanked him
for engaging in such lively discussion,
and went about paving my own way in
theatre. That day I learned to stop and
listen and to see great designers as future colleagues and inspiration, not just

Ming was a great friend and colleague. I
first met Ming when I was a junior faculty
member at Oberlin College in 1986. He
was touring liberal arts colleges and presenting an inspiring lecture about the importance of theatre. In his lecture, he told
a wonderful story about disappointment.
He said in your lives as young artists
and citizens, you will be disappointed in
many things. You will be disappointed in
your work, your personal progress, your
colleagues, your politics, your life, your
relationships, and your contributions to
society. But in those times, remember the
theatre. You will never be disappointed in
the theatre.
Ming was wonderful. He recommended my production to the New York
Shakespeare festival and Joe Papp. It
showed me the importance of a mentor
and colleague who was so supportive of
the theatre and the process of creating
important work. Later, when I was the executive producer of a project at Southern
Methodist University, I engaged Ming to
be the one of the keynote speakers for the
Southwest Theatre Conference. Again,
he was a brilliant inspiration to an eager
group of colleagues in Dallas where he
talked about the importance of our art,
teaching theatre, and being a theatre
maker. His talk centered around his work
as a designer, and he candidly critiqued
his own journey as an artist.
Finally, when we were colleagues at
Yale, Ming came up the street to Theatre
Studies to give a lecture (with Michael
Yeargen and Mel Gussow from The New
York Times) to the undergraduate students, some of whom had been invited
into Ming's design class. The room was
packed with about 80 inspired theatre
studies majors. Mel Gussow was writing
about Ming and, as usual, Ming was extremely generous when complimenting
the work we were performing and accomplishing in theatre studies. He started his lecture by looking over at me and
saying, " I remember where I met your
teacher. It was at Oberlin and James had
directed a production of A Midsummer
Night's Dream. And I remember it was
very good. "
I thanked him and said, " I am going
to leave you with these students. " He had

WINTER 2021 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

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Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2021

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