NetWorks Rhode Island and the Chazan Collection Exhibition, WaterFire Arts Center (2024) Bio:
Eugene Lee (1939-2023) was a set designer for theatre, film, and television. He is currently represented on Broadway by the musical Wicked. Other Broadway credits include Candide, Sweeney Todd, Show Boat, and Ragtime. Eugene’s film work includes Coppola’s Hammett, Huston’s Mr. North, and Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street. For NBC, Eugene designed over 45 seasons of Saturday Night Live, as well as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers. Regional theatre credits include Long Wharf Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Arena Stage, Seattle Rep, The Goodman Theatre, and Trinity Rep, where he was resident designer for over 50 years. He lived in Providence with his wife, Brooke, and their 2 sons.
Original NetWorks Catalogue Bio:
Eugene Lee is a Tony Award-winning set designer who has been resident designer at Trinity Rep since 1967. Born in 1939 in Wisconsin, he received BFA degrees from Carnegie Mellon and the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale School of Drama. Set designs for New York theater have included Sweeney Todd, Candide, Showboat, Ragtime, Wicked, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Glengarry Glen Ross. He has been the production designer at NBC’s Saturday Night Live since 1974. Films include Coppola’s Hammett, Huston’s Mr. North, and Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street. He is an inductee in the New York Theater Hall of Fame, and has been awarded three honorary doctorates. His studio and home are in Providence.
Source: NetWorks 2011-2012 Catalogue
Inkjet print, graphite on vellum, 24 x 36 in.
Credits:
Video: Richard Goulis
Saturday Night Live on-air clips copyright 2012 NBC Studios, LLC
Distributed by Broadway Video Enterprises, Courtesy of Broadway Video Enterprises and NBC Studios, LLC
Saturday Night Live Photographs courtesy of Edie Baskin, copyright 2012
A Christmas Carol Photographs by William L. Smith and Lawrence S. Millardz
Other Trinity Rep Photography: Constance Brown
Goodman Theatre photograph courtesy of Goodman Theatre
Streetcar Production Stills: Ken Howard
Many Photographs of Drawing excerpted from “The Adventures of Eugene Lee” written by Eugene Lee copyright 2012, Theatre Communications Group Publishing
Music: Ted Lee, Steven D’Agostino, Jeffrey Gagnon
Special Thanks: Patrick Lynch, Kevin Miller, Edward Pierce, N. Joseph DeTullio, Steve Paone, Michael Stiegelbauer
Executive Producer: Joseph A. Chazan, M.D.
Additional resources:
- Eugene Lee on IBDB
- Wicked the Musical
- Saturday Night Live
- Saturday Night Live: 41 Years of Backstage Secrets, from the Man Who Lived Them – Vanity Fair, Joanna Robinson, September 1, 2016
- A Week in the Life of Saturday Night Live’s Production Designer – Architectural Digest, Elizabeth Stamp, September 14th, 2016
Highlighting the work of selected artists who have played vital roles in shaping the contemporary visual arts community in Rhode Island. This collection of brief video portraits provides a window into the lives, practices, and cultural contributions of professional artists.
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