StageStruck: The Magic of Theatre Design, Nov.13

Dick Scanlan, Tony-nominated lyricist and librettist of 2002's Thoroughly Modern Millie, will host the VIP preview of StageStruck: The Magic of Theatre Design at the Leslie/Lohman Gallery on Tuesday, November 13. The host committee for the event includes actors Alan Cumming and Sondra Lee, Tony Award-winning costume designer Willa Kim, famed dancer/choreographer Robert LaFosse and Tony-nominated scenic designer Ed Wittstein. This invitation-only preview launches the start of an extraordinary exhibition of theatre design that will run through December 22. The following evening, Wednesday November 14 from 6PM to 8PM, there will be a public reception to mark the opening of the exhibit.

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," explain press notes.

The show will open with a public preview and reception from 6 to 8PM on Wednesday, November 14. Additionally, there will be an invitation-only celebrity & press 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 curator of this exhibit, Peter Harvey, has 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 theatre 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.