John Lee Beatty - February, 2010

American Theatre Wing: "Veteran scenic designer John Lee Beatty, currently represented in New York by Time Stands Still, A View from the Bridge and Venus in Fur, talks about why he thinks all American drama is about real estate, making set design particularly integral to every work. He also discusses how he was instantly drawn to set design (as well as flying) when he first saw Peter Pan as a child; his self-education in set design through his college years -- and what he discovered when he entered the graduate design program at the Yale School of Drama; his extensive work with not-for-profit companies including the Manhattan Theatre Club, Mark Taper Forum, Goodspeed Musicals, Circle Repertory Company and Lincoln Center Theater -- plus 50 shows for City Center's Encores! series; his affinity for the Victorian era; why he hasn't done many designs for musicals -- and the musical he'd most like to tackle; how he feels about being 'typecast' for his interiors and exteriors of homes through the years -- and costume designer Jane Greenwood's sage advice on Beatty's particular specialty; how he chooses his projects -- and the kinds of shows he doesn't like to do; what it was like to imagine different parts of the Talley family property in different eras in Lanford Wilson's famed trilogy; and how the design of Proof was actually based on an old sweater."