CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Tony-Winning Theatre Designer Ming Cho Lee Dies at 90

Playbill: World-renowned theatre designer Ming Cho Lee, who designed more than 300 productions across the globe, passed away October 23 of natural causes at the age of 90. Born October 3, 1930, in Shanghai, Mr. Lee moved to the United States in 1949 and attended Occidental College. He would go on to become one of the foremost set designers in the country, receiving the National Medal of Arts in 2002. His extensive credits included work in opera, dance, and theatre.

1 comment:

Sarah Bauch said...

While I have never met Ming Cho Lee, I have met many people that have had him as a professor or mentor and know how great of an impact he had on their lives and careers. Broadway costume designer William Ivey Long had visited my Undergrad my freshmen year to give a guest presentation and go out to dinner with the Technical Theatre students. I remember so vividly how he had stressed the importance of going to school at Yale and learning from the incredible Ming Cho Lee, and how he felt that he wouldn’t be the artist he is today if they had never met. I think whenever a person dies who has given so much of their passion, heart, and talent to their work and served as a professor or mentor, their passing is particularly harder to come to terms with. He has changed the lives of so many students across the world, and has shared his amazing gifts of art and design to thousands of people who has seen his work come to life on stage. He will be very missed, but his stories and art will live on through the many people who had the pleasure of knowing him.