Beowulf Boritt

Beowulf Boritt is a New York City-based scenic designer for theater. He is known for his Tony Award winning design for the play Act One in 2014.[1]

Early life

Boritt was born to civil war scholar Gabor Boritt and his wife Elizabeth Boritt an aspiring opera singer. Gabor Boritt fled Hungary for South Dakota after the failure of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[2] They reside in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.[3] Boritt has two brothers, Jake Boritt who is a film producer and Daniel Boritt who is a biologist specializing in birds.

Boritt cites his grandmother Anita Marie Wilson Norseen Hooker as a major inspiration for designing sets, as she was an artist and scenic designer at Wellesley College but was told that it was not appropriate for a woman to do in the 1930s. "She encouraged me artistically to express myself and bought me my first set of oil paints. My parents encouraged me, yes, but my grandmother was the big influence."[4]

Boritt went on to receive his BA from Vassar College where he pursued a degree in literature, not believing he could make it in scenic design:

I honestly don't think I meant to become a professional designer. I'm a little disingenuous for saying that, but I don't think I thought it was possible. I don't know if there was ever a moment where I said I'm going to pursue this. I thought I might become a college professor and teach set design somewhere. To do that I needed a master's degree. I started designing around the city a little bit while I was in graduate school and one thing led to another and I had several lucky breaks and started building a career.[5]

Then, he received his MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts program for design for stage and film.

He is married to Mimi Bilinski.

Career

After meeting Boritt at NYU, Hal Prince asked him to design Daisy Prince's production of The Last Five Years and later Prince's production Paradise Found. Soon after, designing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee launched his career on Broadway.[6]

Since then, he has designed over 20 Broadway shows, including his Tony Award winning play Act One and nominated shows The Scottsboro Boys, and Thérèse Raquin.

In 2007, he was awarded the Obie Award for sustained excellence in scenic design.[7] He has also won the AUDELCO Award for set design in 2002 and the 2012 Tina Award for Best Scenic Design.[8]

In 2016, Boritt was featured in a Microsoft Windows 10 commercial that aired nationwide.[9]

In 2016, he designed Chinese and American cooperated Broadway shows 'Jay Chou's The Secret'.

In 2017, he was also featured in a New York Times Article about his renovation of his home using his scenic design expertise.[10]

Awards and nominations for theater
Year Award Show Result
2002 AUDELCO Set Design Saint Lucy's Eyes Won
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design The Last Five Years Nominated
2004 Barrymore Award Talley's Folly
2006 Hewes Design Award for Scenic Design The Other Side
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic Design
2007 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Set Design N/A Won
Hewes Design Award for Scenic Design LoveMusik Nominated
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design
2008 Spain
Barrymore Award Art Won
2009 Hewes Design Award for Scenic Design The Toxic Avenger Nominated
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic Design Animals Out of Paper
2010 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set Design Sondheim on Sondheim
Hewes Design Award for Scenic Design
2011 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design The Scottsboro Boys
2012 Tina Award for Best Scenic Design The Blue Flower
2013 Hewes Design Award for Scenic Design All in the Timing
If There Is I Haven't Found it Yet
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic Design
2014 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of Play Act One Won
Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set Design Nominated
2016 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of Play Thérèse Raquin
Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set Design

References
  1. "2014 Tony Awards"
  2. "Gabor S. Boritt". neh.gov. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  3. "Gabor S. Boritt"
  4. Peter Filichia, "How Did You Get to Be You, Mr. Boritt?", Filichia on Friday, July 4th, 2014.
  5. Mervyn Rothstein, "Living for Design: Beowulf Boritt Conjures Arresting Scenic Worlds for Chaplin, Grace and More", Playbill, November 2nd, 2012.
  6. Isaac Butler, "Practical Magic: Beowulf Boritt insists on a Single Strong Concept for his Set Designs. The Rest is Negotiable.", American Theatre Magazine, January 2010.
  7. 2007 Obie Award Winners
  8. Lortel Archives
  9. BWW News Desk, "VIDEO: Tony-Winning Set Designer Beowulf Boritt Featured in New Microsoft Windows TV Spot|, BroadwayWorld, October 6th, 2016.
  10. Joanne Kaufman, "Beowulf Boritt, Set Designer, Renovates His Home", New York Times, May 26th, 2017.
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