Scenic Designer Derek McLane Will Receive Hasty Pudding's Order of the Golden Sphinx Award

The Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770 has just announced that Tony and two-time Emmy award winner, Derek McLane, will be the 2018 recipient of the Order of the Golden Sphinx award. Mr. McLane will be honored and presented with the prestigious award at the annual Order of the Golden Sphinx Gala to be held at The Pierre in New York City on April 16th, 2018.

The Order of the Golden Sphinx, named for a traditional symbol of the Hasty Pudding Institute, is the highest honor bestowed by the Institute and recognizes individuals in the entertainment industry for their extraordinary contributions to the performing arts. The recipient represents the Institute's mission to support and foster the performing arts within its membership, at Harvard, and the community at large. Previous recipients of the Order of the Golden Sphinx award include Michael Lynton, Chairman of Snap, Inc. and former CEO of Sony Entertainment; David Heyman, producer of Gravity and the Harry Potter film universe; Clive Davis, legendary music producer and Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music; Daryl Roth, ten time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer; and two time Emmy award-winner Paris Barclay, who recently completed his second term as President of the Directors Guild of America.

Announcing this year's honoree, Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770 Chairman Andrew L. Farkas said: "In continuing the tradition of honoring those who have excelled in the field of the performing arts, the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770 is proud to honor an individual whose extraordinary contributions to the arts have been largely 'behind the scenes.' Derek McLane has spent his career designing and creating the scenes and sets themselves for many extraordinary productions. Whether you've encountered Derek's work on a Broadway stage or at this year's Oscars, you're sure to have seen it. And so we are privileged to present the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770's highest honor, The Order of The Golden Sphinx, to Derek McLane, a man who creates the striking visuals and impressions that stay with us long after a show ends."

"My work as a set designer actually began in Harvard's dining halls when I was an undergrad, and so it is with tremendous gratitude that I accept the Order of the Golden Sphinx award," replied Derek McLane, "In addition to my fond memories of the Hasty Pudding, I have long admired their passionate commitment to performing arts education-and drag shows! It is a privilege to be included amongst such esteemed honorees."

Derek McLane, Tony and two-time Emmy award-winning scenic and production designer, has designed more than 350 productions for Broadway, Off-Broadway, the West End, live television, opera houses and regionally across the United States and around the world.

Derek received a Tony Award for his design of 33 Variations on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include the upcoming Moulin Rouge, Children of a Lesser God, The Parisian Woman, The Price, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Fully Committed, Noises Off, Gigi, Anything Goes, Ragtime, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Heiress, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Follies, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime, The Pajama Game, and I Am My Own Wife. Off-Broadway credits include Jerry Springer: The Opera, If I Forget, Love Love Love, The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Charity, Buried Child, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Spoils, Into the Woods, Ruined, Macbeth, and Hurlyburly.

He has served as production designer for "The Oscars" for six consecutive years, including the 90th Anniversary awards in 2018, earning four consecutive Emmy nominations and winning in 2014. Other television credits include the live NBC musicals "The Sound of Music," "Peter Pan," "The Wiz", and "Hairspray," for which he has received three Emmy nominations, winning for "Hairspray."

Derek has also received three Obie, a Drama Desk, three Lucille Lortel, and two Art Directors Guild awards. He is on the board of directors at The New Group and Fiasco Theater and has been a mentor for TDF's Open Doors program for the past 16 years.

The Order of the Golden Sphinx Gala unfolds as a dinner with special performances by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals' and Harvard Krokodiloes' undergraduates and alumni, produced by Amanda Lipitz Productions and written and composed by Nell Benjamin (Mean Girls, Legally Blonde: The Musical) and Larry O'Keefe (Legally Blonde: The Musical, Heathers: The Musical), both alumni of the Pudding.

TO PURCHASE A TABLE for the gala contact James Patrick Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@hastypudding.org or visit hastypudding.org/buy-a-table for more information.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos