32: John Lee Beatty - Set Designer

Set designer John Lee Beatty discusses the business of design, intricacies of retirement planning, and the importance of talking about finances.

 

A titan of American theatre, John Lee Beatty designed his first Broadway show in 1976. It was the play Knock, Knock. 44 years later, his most recent design is Plaza Suite, which hasn’t officially opened because of the COVID 19 shutdown.

The total count of his Broadway designs is 115. He has won two Tony Awards, one for Tally’s Folly in 1980 and the second for The Nance in 2013. He has received an additional 13 Tony nominations, has won 5 Drama Desk awards, and has been nominated for 10 more.

 

Some of those Broadway credits are Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Odd Couple, Other Desert Cities, The Color Purple, and the 1996 revival of Chicago, which is the second longest running Broadway musical of all time, only behind The Phantom of the Opera.

 

John Lee has also designed more than 70 shows at Manhattan Theatre Club and more than 66 productions of Encores! at City Center. Additionally he has designed for tours, West End, and regional productions. He has also made a reputation of working on new plays, which constitutes the bulk of his portfolio and given way to what he is known for: house interiors and exteriors and their attached gardens.

 

John Lee Beatty - IBDB Profile

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/john-lee-beatty-26041#Credits

 

Artistic Finance Show Page::

https://www.artisticfinance.com/episode/OpgExflo4ya6zwKeU8k1

 

Youtube Link:

https://youtu.be/QqZzORzV1j8

 

USA 829 - Design Union:

https://www.usa829.org/

 

USA 829 Pension Plan & 401k Plan - some light reading!

http://usa829funds.benserconj.com/

 

Elite Tax Service - Company that files JLB's taxes:

https://www.manta.com/c/mm57rf5/elite-tax-service-inc

 

AARP Magazine:

https://www.aarp.org/magazine/

 

What is a mutual fund?

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mutualfund.asp

 

Santo Loquasto - JLB is the "poor man's Santo Loquasto":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Loquasto

 

Ken Billington - lighting designer of Chicago:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Billington

 

Jane Greenwood - Costume Designer (was married to Ben Edwards):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Greenwood

 

Ben Edwards - Set Designer (was married to Jane Greenwood):

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/ben-edwards-21271

 

John Singer Sargent - Painter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Singer_Sargent

 

Eduard Vuillard - Painter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Vuillard

 

Franz Kline - Painter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kline

 

Links from the Patron only episode:

 

Broadway Design Exchange - signed John Lee Beatty renderings for sale:

https://www.broadwaydesignexchange.com/collections/john-lee-beatty

 

Ming Cho Lee - Stage designer - JLB's professor at Yale:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Cho_Lee

 

Jo Mielziner - Stage designer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Mielziner

 

Robert Edmond Jones - Stage designer - Author of The Dramatic Imagination:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Edmond_Jones

 

Max Reinhardt - Theatre and Film Director:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Reinhardt

 

Peter Kaczorowski's interview from Episode 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-hPMIYRAY&ab_channel=ArtisticFinance?sub_confirmation=1

 

Interview by Ethan Steimel

 
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