Jane Greenwood to Receive Ming Cho Lee Award

Legendary designer and teacher Jane Greenwood will be honored with the Ming Cho Lee Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by the Henry Hewes Design Awards at the 55th annual luncheon ceremony October 7 in New York.

"Jane has been a major influence in theatrical design on both sides of the Atlantic for 50 years," said Ming Cho Lee. "I can think of no one more deserving of this recognition for a lifetime of brilliant designs and dedication to the craft."

Greenwood was honored by the Hewes committee in 1965 for Tartuffe, in 1995 for The Heiress and Sylvia, and for Tartuffe again in 2003. She has been honored by Tony Awards twice for her extraordinary work and is a member of the Theater Hall of Fame.

"It is a pleasure to bestow this honor on such a deserving and talented recipient," said Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, chairman of the Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee. "We look forward to honoring her at our award ceremony in October."

Legendary theatre designer Ming Cho Lee was the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Henry Hewes Design Awards and the award was renamed for him at that presentation ceremony. Lee, who has designed more than 300 productions across the globe, won a Tony Award in 1983 for K2 and taught for 48 years at the Yale School of Drama. He was also the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2013.

Lee previously won three Henry Hewes Design Awards: the first for the 1964 production of Electra at Shakespeare in the Park, the second for Ergo in 1968 at The Public Theater, and the last for K2 in 1983, for which he also won Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Lee is also a member of the Theater Hall of Fame and holds five honorary degrees.

These annual awards honor designers for work in venues on Broadway, off Broadway and off-off Broadway, recognizing not only the traditional categories of Scenic Design, Costume Design and Lighting Design, but also "Notable Effects," which encompass sound, music, video, projections, puppetry, and other creative elements. All nominated designs must have originated in United States productions. The Hewes Awards Committee annually considers more than 200 productions when making its nominations.

Known as the Maharam Awards at their inception in 1965, the Hewes Awards were later renamed the American Theatre Wing Design Awards in honor of the Wing's generous sponsorship. In 1999, they became the Henry Hewes Design Awards in honor of noted critic Henry Hewes, who created the awards and served as a board member of the American Theatre Wing until his death in 2006 at age 89.

The Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee includes theater critics Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, chair; David Barbour; David Cote; Glenda Frank; Helen Shaw; Michael Sommers; and Martha Wade Steketee. The awards are sponsored by the Henry Hewes Foundation for Theater Arts.

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi

To post a comment, you must register and login.