Michael Levine (set designer)

Last updated
Michael Levine
Born (1961-11-06) November 6, 1961 (age 59)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation Set designer

Michael Levine (born 6 November 1961) is a Canadian set designer. He is best known for his work in opera, including the scenic design for the Canadian Opera Company's 2006 production of Wagner's Ring Cycle, directed by Atom Egoyan. Levine has also designed productions for Theatre Passe Muraille, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vienna State Opera, English National Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Dutch National Opera, Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Opera House, and the National Theatre.

Contents

Biography

Born in Toronto, Levine attended Thornton Hall, where he received a grounding in the history and principles of art. He originally hoped to be a painter and completed a foundational year at the Ontario College of Art, but became interested in designing for the theatre while working on friends' productions. [1] After completing the year, he moved to study theatre design at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London, England, and obtained his degree in 1981. He was hired as resident designer at the Glasgow Citizen's Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland and became adept at designing on a small budget and timeframe. Levine returned to Canada after one season in Glasgow, designing for the Tarragon Theatre production of Uncle Vanya and for the Shaw Festival. Levine gained notoriety for his bold, grotesque design for the CentreStage Company's production of Spring Awakening, directed by Derek Goldby, and was hired by Lotfi Mansouri to design two productions for the Canadian Opera Company in 1986. [1]

Levine's designs are the result of a collaborative creative process with directors, choreographers, and performers and a close reading of the text and music of a given play or opera. [2] He frequently collaborates with Canadian opera director Robert Carsen, with whom he designed the Grand Théâtre de Genève's production of Mefistofele and The Magic Flute for the Opera National de Paris, and also with director Robert Lepage. His opera designs often draw on the physicality of the chorus members, who become part of the scenography, as in his design for Oedipus Rex. [3] Levine's work also frequently incorporates outsize elements such as a huge metal ship for The Flying Dutchman with the English National Opera.

Outside of his opera work he has worked extensively with English theatre director Simon McBurney and his company Complicite on productions such as Nemonic, The Elephant Vanishes, A Disappearing Number and The Encounter.

Michael Levine is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada, and his designs were featured as part of the Canadian delegation to the Prague Quadrennial in 1999.

Stage productions (selected)

Accolades

Bibliography

Kareda, Urjo. "Architect of Dreams." Canadian Art, 1994, pp. 100–107.

Lewsen, Simon. "Pulling Strings ." The Walrus, 26 June 2016, thewalrus.ca/pulling-strings/.

"Michael Levine." National Ballet of Canada, national.ballet.ca/Meet/Creative-Team/Michael-Levine?.

Rewa, Natalie, and Bridget Cauthery. "Michael Levine." The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, 2 Dec. 2012, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michael-levine/. Accessed 31 May 2017.

See also

Related Research Articles

Tarragon Theatre Theatre in Toronto, Canada

The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. Located near Casa Loma, the theatre was founded by Bill and Jane Glassco in 1970. Bill Glassco was the artistic director from 1971 to 1982. In 1982, Urjo Kareda took over as artistic director and remained in that role until his death in December 2001. Richard Rose was appointed artistic director in July 2002, and Camilla Holland was appointed general manager in July 2006.

Canadian Opera Company

The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. For forty years until April 2006, the COC had performed at the O'Keefe Centre.

Brian Ronald Macdonald was a Canadian dancer, choreographer and director of opera, theatre and musical theatre.

Urjo Kareda was an Estonian-born Canadian theatre and music critic, dramaturge and stage director.

László Marton (director)

László Marton was a Hungarian contemporary theatre director. Marton was the artistic director of the Vígszínház and professor of the University of Theatre, Film and Television in Budapest. Marton was known for directing classics through a new lens and his productions have been seen in more than 40 cities throughout the world.

November Theatre is a Canadian theatre company that started in Edmonton, Alberta but is now based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company's Artistic Producer is Michael Scholar, Jr.

Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre

Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (LNOBT) is an opera house and ballet theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is the largest theatre of the country, committed to organising the creation and production of scenic works for musical theatre and assuring their public performance on the highest artistic level. The theatre operates as an institution founded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.

Anthony Ward is a British theatre designer specializing in set and costume design. He studied theatre design at Wimbledon School of Art.

Àlex Ollé

Àlex Ollé is one of the six artistic directors of La Fura dels Baus. Prominent works from its early period include Accions (1984), Suz/O/Suz (1985), Tier Mon (1988), Noun (1990) and MTM (1994), which established La Fura dels Baus as a top company among both critics and the public.

Motley Theatre Design Course is a one-year independent theatre design course in London. It was founded at Sadler's Wells Opera in 1966.

Toronto Theatre District

The Toronto Theatre District is a part of the Toronto Entertainment District in Downtown Toronto that contains the largest concentration of stage theatres in Canada. It is the third largest English-speaking theatre district in the world, after West End in London and Broadway in New York City.

Robert Carsen O.C. is a Canadian opera director. He was born in Toronto and is the son of philanthropist Walter Carsen.

Tim Goodchild is a set and costume designer from Great Britain.

Patrick Charles Kinmonth is an Anglo-Irish opera director and designer, filmmaker, writer, painter, interior designer, art editor, creative director and curator. He is widely known for his many stage, costume, interior and architectural designs and has been recognised internationally for the breadth and depth of his creative interests. His many collaborations have yielded landmark opera, ballet and dance productions, books and exhibitions. Kinmonth is working principally as an opera director and has been awarded and acknowledged for the quality of his work as exhibition curator, designer in many fields and general creative force. He has been described as "a contemporary example of the Renaissance man" and "one of the most indefinable personalities of contemporary art".

Peggy Baker

Peggy Laurayne Baker is a Canadian modern dancer, choreographer and teacher. She has been awarded the Order of Canada and she was the first person to receive the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Walter Carsen was a German-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist, mainly known for his support of the arts.

Desmond Heeley was a British set and costume designer who had an active international career in theater, ballet and opera from the late 1940s through the 2010s.

Dáirine Ní Mheadhra is a cellist, conductor, and founder of the Queen of Puddings Music Theatre.

Astrid Janson is a Canadian set designer and costume designer. Best known for her work in theatre, she has also designed for television, opera, dance, film and exhibitions.

Sue LePage is a Canadian set designer and costume designer based in Toronto. She has designed for over 100 theatre productions including ballet and opera.

References

  1. 1 2 Kareda, Urjo. "Architect of Dreams". Page 105. Canadian Art, Fall 1994.
  2. Theatre Museum Canada (2011-04-21), Palette and technology and design (part 5 of 9) , retrieved 2017-05-31
  3. Rewa, Natalie. "Michael Levine". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  4. Announcement: Recipients for the 2016 Dora Awards Announced, TAPA , Toronto, June 27, 2016