American scenic designer
Dane Laffrey is an American scenic designer best known for Broadway shows Parade (2023), Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol ( 2022) Once on This Island (2017), Spring Awakening (2015), and Fool for Love (2015), and Off-Broadway shows The Christians (2015), Cloud Nine (2015), and Rancho Viejo (2016). [ 1]
Early life and education
Laffrey was born in Michigan . He attended boarding school at Interlochen Arts Academy for his junior and senior years of high school.[ 2] In 2002, he relocated to Sydney, Australia to study design at the National Institute of Dramatic Art . He graduated in 2004.[ 3]
Career
Laffrey first served as scenic designer and costume designer on Darlinghurst Theatre Company's production of Some Explicit Polaroids and Griffin Theatre Company's production of The Cold Child in 2006 in Sydney, Australia. He was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Set Design for Some Explicit Polaroids that same year. The following year, he again served in both roles for the production of The Colour of Panic at Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia and Det Apne Teater in Oslo, Norway .
In 2007, he relocated to New York City where he began designing sets, costumes, and one time-lighting for multiple Off-Broadway , Off-Off-Broadway , and regional productions.[ 4] [ 5] Notable Off-Broadway productions include Lucas Hnath's The Christians , Dan LeFranc's Rancho Viejo , and Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine . He was nominated for four American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Awards for Off-Broadway productions between 2010 and 2017.
In 2015, he served as the set designer for Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Fool for Love at The Friedman Theatre on Broadway and as both set designer and costume designer for Deaf West Theatre's production of Spring Awakening , performed in American Sign Language ,[ 6] at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway.[ 7] [ 8] In 2017, he served as set designer for Circle in the Square's production of Once On This Island on Broadway. Laffrey and Michael Arden , the show's director, took a research trip he took to Haiti which completely transformed his approach to designing the set for the production. Laffrey stated:
"You cannot begin to describe the effect that trip had on me as a person but also in feeling equipped to responsibly bring this work to Broadway in 2017 in a way that was true to the piece and what it portrays ... Hurricane Maria happened in Puerto Rico and the storms that affected those tiny little islands in the Bahamas . We continued to collect and pull those images because it felt like 'Island' is ultimately dealing with, at its core, how you survive in the face of something like that and the restorative power of storytelling. You feel that connection of the human spirit threaded through all these places."[ 9]
His design for Once On This Island received widespread positive critical acclaim with multiple media outlets describing it as "a fractured paradisiac vision",[ 10] "lush [and] immersive",[ 11] "evocative",[ 12] "ambitious",[ 13] and "an aesthetic experience unlike anything else on Broadway."[ 14] [ 15]
In 2017, Laffrey was awarded the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Set and Costume Design .[ 16]
Laffrey has served as an advisor for Lincoln Center Theatre's LCT3 and as a guest designer at Yale School of Music , the Juilliard School , New York University , Carnegie Mellon University , Interlochen Arts Academy , Western Sydney University , and the National Institute of Dramatic Art .[ 17]
Productions
Broadway productions
Year
Production
Position
Notes
2015
Fool for Love
Set Designer
Spring Awakening
Set Designer, Costume Designer
2017
Once On This Island
Set Designer
Tony Nomination
2022
A Christmas Caro l
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Tony Nomination
2023
Parade
Set Designer
Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions
Year
Production
Position
Notes
2007
Bad Jazz
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Rag and Bone
Set Designer
2008
The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall
Set Designer, Costume Designer
2009
Sixty Miles to Silver Lake
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
American Sadness
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
2010
The Boys in the Band
Lighting Designer
Nominated: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design (2010)
Nominated: American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award (2010)
Whida Peru: Resurrection Tango
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Five Genocides
Set Designer
World premiere
See Rock City...
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Tigers Be Still
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
2011
Exit
Set Designer
World premiere
The Other Place
Costume Designer
World premiere
Benefactors
Set Designer
The Talls
Set Designer
World premiere
The Patsy
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Nominated: American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award (2012)
2012
The Maids
Set Designer
Nominated: American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award (2012)
12 Chairs
Costume Designer
World premiere
Bullet for Adolf
Set Designer
Disgraced
Costume Designer
Won: Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2013)
The Other Josh Cohen
Set Designer
World premiere
2013
Gabriel's Guide to the 48 States
Illustrator
World premiere
Bad Jews
Costume Designer
World premiere
2014
The Hunters
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
Arlington
Set Designer
World premiere
I Remember Mama
Set Designer
Nominated: American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award (2014)
The Few
Set Designer
World premiere
American Hero
Set Designer
2015
Iowa
Set Designer
King Liz
Set Designer
World premiere
The Christians
Set Designer
Cloud Nine
Set Designer
2016
The Glory of the World
Set Designer
World premiere
Indian Summer
Set Designer
World premiere
Sell.Buy.Date.
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
The Harvest
Set Designer
World premiere
Homos, or Everyone in America
Set Designer
World premiere
Rancho Viejo
Set Designer
World premiere
Nominated: American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award (2017)
2017
The Moors
Set Designer
Picnic and Come Back Little Sheba
Set Designer
Strange Interlude
Set Designer, Costume Designer
2018
This Flat Earth
Set Designer
World premiere
Summer and Smoke
Set Designer
Peace for Mary Francis
Set Designer
World premiere
Regional productions
Year
Production
Position
Notes
2008
Reckless
Costume Designer
World premiere
2009
Giant
Set Designer
World premiere
2010
Hurricane
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
2012
God of Carnage
Set Designer
Così Fan Tutte
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Hamlet
Set Designer
My Wonderful Day
Costume Designer
2013
Grace, or the Art of Climbing
Set Designer
World premiere
Single Girls Guide
Costume Designer
World premiere
Clybourne Park
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Fly By Night
Set Designer
World premiere
When the Lights Went Out
Set Designer
World premiere
The Few
Set Designer
World premiere
A Civil War Christmas
Set Designer, Costume Designer
2014
The Legend of Georgia McBride
Costume Designer
World premiere
The Christians
Set Designer
World premiere
Brownsville Song
Set Designer
World premiere
Fool for Love
Set Designer
The Wolfe Twins
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
Uncle Vanya
Set Designer
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Set Designer
The Last Five Years
Set Designer
The Theory of Relativity
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
2015
Spring Awakening
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Nominated: Ovation Award for Best Scenic Design (Large Theatre) (2015)
Be More Chill
Set Designer
World premiere
Dot
Set Designer
World premiere
The Glory of the World
Set Designer
World premiere
Legacy
Set Designer
World premiere
The Christians
Set Designer
2016
4000 Miles
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Swimmers
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
Future Thinking
Set Designer
World premiere
I Remember Mama
Set Designer
I Was Most Alive with You
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
The Chinese Room
Set Designer
World premiere
My Fair Lady
Set Designer, Co-Costume Designer
Collective Rage...
Set Designer
World premiere
Romeo and Juliet
Set Designer
Merrily We Roll Along
Set Designer, Costume Designer
2017
We're Gonna Be Okay
Set Designer
World premiere
Recent Alien Abductions in Puerto Rico
Set Designer
All the Roads Home
Set Designer
World premiere
The Roommate
Set Designer
Benny and Joon
Set Designer, Costume Designer
World premiere
2018
Zoey's Perfect Wedding
Set Designer
World premiere
Sell.Buy.Date.
Set Designer, Costume Designer
Dave
Set Designer
World premiere
International productions
Television productions
Year
Production
Position
Notes
2013-14
The Roast
Set Designer
262 episodes
[ 18] [ 19] [ 20] [ 21]
Awards and nominations
In 2023, Laffrey was nominated for a Tony Awards for his scenic design for Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
In 2018, Laffrey was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his scenic design for Once On This Island
In 2017, Laffrey was awarded the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Set and Costume Design .[ 22]
In 2006, he was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Set Design for Some Explicit Polaroids (2006).[ 23] In 2010, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for The Boys in the Band (2010).[ 24] In 2015, he was nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Scenic Design (Large Theatre) for Spring Awakening .[ 25] He also has received multiple nominations for the American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award , including for The Boys in the Band (2010), The Patsy (2012), The Maids (2012), I Remember Mama (2014), and Rancho Viejo (2017).
References
^ "Work" . Dane Laffrey . Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ "Interlochen alumni light up Broadway | Crescendo" . crescendo.interlochen.org . 22 February 2016. Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ "All alumni" . www.nida.edu.au . 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ Piepenburg, Erik (2014-05-28). "Dane Laffrey on His Set for 'American Hero' " . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "For Huntington's 'God of Carnage,' pristine design creates the perfect habitat for destruction - The Boston Globe" . BostonGlobe.com . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "Dane Laffrey on Accessible Design" . www.huntingtontheatre.org . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "In His Own Words: Dane Laffrey Creates Sets for Spring Awakening, Fool for Love, and More" . TheaterMania.com . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "With Spring Awakening's Return to Broadway, its Period Costumes Get a Contemporary Refresh" . Fashionista . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ " "Ravaged But Being Rebuilt" – A Talk with "Once On This Island" Scenic Designer Dane Laffrey" . OnStage Blog . Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ Gerard, Jeremy (2017-12-04). "Broadway Review: A Glorious, Timely Revival Of 'Once On This Island' " . Deadline . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "Once On This Island" . NYMag.com . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "Review: A heartwarming breeze from 'Once on This Island' | Broadway News" . Broadway News . 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "Once on This Island" . TheaterMania.com . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ Lewis, Christian (2017-12-04). " "Once On This Island" Revival Creates an Aesthetic Experience" . Huffington Post . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "Collected Press" . Dane Laffrey . Archived from the original on 2018-04-01. Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ "Obies-Honored Set Designers Took Us To The Moors, Vietnam — and New Jersey" . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "About" . Dane Laffrey . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "Credits" . Dane Laffrey . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information" . m.ibdb.com . Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ "Dane Laffrey Theatre Credits" . www.broadwayworld.com . Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ "Dane Laffrey | Playbill" . Playbill . Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ "2017 | Obie Awards" . Obie Awards . Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ "2006 | Sydney Theatre Awards" . www.sydneytheatreawards.com . Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
^ "2010 Awards – Drama Desk" . www.dramadesk.org . Retrieved 2018-03-31 .
^ Gelt, Jessica (10 November 2015). "Ovation Awards 2015: Wins for Deaf West's 'Spring Awakening,' Circle X's 'Trevor' " . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2018-04-01 .
External links