Magic of Theatre Design at LLGAF Gallery Nov.14-Dec.22

A dazzling array of some 150 theatrical set and costume design models and sketches will be on display in StageStruck: The Magic of Theatre Design at Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation Gallery (26 Wooster, between Grand & Canal, SoHo, NYC) from November 14 to December 22.

StageStruck celebrates the creative genius of dozens of set and costume designers, both male and female-all of whom happen to be gay-working with authors, composers and choreographers who are also gay. Original sketches, models and props have been gathered from a variety of sources, including numerous private collections and from many of the designers themselves. There will be a public reception for the opening of the exhibit from 6 to 8PM on Wednesday, November 14. Additionally, there will be an invitation only celebrity preview Tuesday, November 13.

If you have ever wondered exactly what goes into creating the look of a ballet, opera or Broadway show, the many original sketches, scale models and prop objects on display in this exhibition will reveal the splendor and often hidden complexity of these artistic achievements, while finally giving the credit due the many unsung creators of these works. The guest curators of this exhibit, Peter Harvey and David Noh, have painstakingly assembled more than 150 items spanning 60 years in the world of theatre, opera, and ballet from the 1940s right up through the 2007 Broadway season, including designs for Grey Gardens, The Fantasticks, and Curtains.

Historic productions represented in the show include Fancy Free, Hello Dolly!, Boys in the Band, Lips Together Teeth Apart, and Delicate Balance, works by choreographer Jerome Robbins, composer/lyricist Jerry Herman, and playwrights Mart Crowley, Terrence McNally and Edward Albee respectively. Among the 60 designers represented in this exhibition are such familiar names as David Hockney, Oliver Smith, Cecil Beaton, John Lee Beatty, Santo Loquasto, Rouben Ter-Arutunian, William Ivey Long, Martin Pakledinaz, Oliver Messel, Desmond Heeley, Ed Wittstein and Paul Cadmus.

While Stage-Struck: the Magic of Theatre Design specifically highlights the myriad contributions to the theatrical world by gay set and costume designers, this show is a must-see for anyone, regardless of sexual preference, who is interested in the theatre and theatre arts-from scholars and critics, to occasional show goers, to the truly "stage struck" fan.

Peter Harvey is a well-known New York-based theatrical designer. His career reached a new high in 1999 with the recreation of his 1967 production of George Balanchine's Jewels for the Marinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. Other highlights of his more than 30 years in theater design include the full length Balanchine ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Zurich Opera, the New York and London productions of the breakthrough drama Boys in the Band, and the hit musical Dames at Sea. Harvey now devotes his time to the art of oil and watercolor painting.

David Noh was born in Hawaii and lives in Manhattan, where he is an arts writer. He has a regular column in Gay City News, reviews movies for Film Journal International and has contributed to Opera News and a number of other publications. Garbo as Anna Karenina, costumed by Adrian, was probably what began his lifelong fascination with theatre and film design.

The Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation (LLGAF) is a non-profit foundation established in 1990 to provide an outlet for artwork that is unambiguously gay and which, often, is denied access to most mainstream venues. The Foundation mounts 6 exhibitions annually of art in all media by gay and lesbian artists that emphasize subject matter that speaks directly to queer sensibilities, including works with erotic, political, romantic and social imagery. LLGAF also provides special support for emerging and underrepresented artists through The ARCHIVE (a quarterly art journal); an artists slide registry; and a Permanent Collection of more than 3,000 works, including pieces by artists Duncan Grant, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Jean Cocteau and Robert Mapplethorpe.

Original art designs: Beatty's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof set-design; Martin Pakledinaz's costume design for Kiss Me Kate