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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).

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. In 2002, he relocated to Sydney, Australia to study design at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. He graduated in 2004.

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. 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, at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway. 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."

His design for Once On This Island received widespread positive critical acclaim with multiple media outlets describing it as "a fractured paradisiac vision", "lush immersive", "evocative", "ambitious", and "an aesthetic experience unlike anything else on Broadway."

In 2017, Laffrey was awarded the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Set and Costume Design.

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.

Productions

Broadway productions

Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions

Regional productions

International productions

Television productions

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.

In 2006, he was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Set Design for Some Explicit Polaroids (2006). In 2010, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for The Boys in the Band (2010). In 2015, he was nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Scenic Design (Large Theatre) for Spring Awakening. 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

1. "Work". Dane Laffrey. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
2. "Interlochen alumni light up Broadway | Crescendo". crescendo.interlochen.org. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
3. "All alumni". www.nida.edu.au. 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
4. Piepenburg, Erik (2014-05-28). "Dane Laffrey on His Set for 'American Hero'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
5. "For Huntington's 'God of Carnage,' pristine design creates the perfect habitat for destruction - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
6. "Dane Laffrey on Accessible Design". www.huntingtontheatre.org. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
7. "In His Own Words: Dane Laffrey Creates Sets for Spring Awakening, Fool for Love, and More". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
8. "With Spring Awakening's Return to Broadway, its Period Costumes Get a Contemporary Refresh". Fashionista. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
9. ""Ravaged But Being Rebuilt" – A Talk with "Once On This Island" Scenic Designer Dane Laffrey". OnStage Blog. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
10. Gerard, Jeremy (2017-12-04). "Broadway Review: A Glorious, Timely Revival Of 'Once On This Island'". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
11. "Once On This Island". NYMag.com. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
12. "Review: A heartwarming breeze from 'Once on This Island' | Broadway News". Broadway News. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
13. "Once on This Island". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
14. Lewis, Christian (2017-12-04). ""Once On This Island" Revival Creates an Aesthetic Experience". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
15. "Collected Press". Dane Laffrey. Archived from the original on 2018-04-01. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
16. "Obies-Honored Set Designers Took Us To The Moors, Vietnam — and New Jersey". Retrieved 2018-03-31.
17. "About". Dane Laffrey. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
18. "Credits". Dane Laffrey. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
19. "IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". m.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
20. "Dane Laffrey Theatre Credits". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
21. "Dane Laffrey | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
22. "2017 | Obie Awards". Obie Awards. Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
23. "2006 | Sydney Theatre Awards". www.sydneytheatreawards.com. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
24. "2010 Awards – Drama Desk". www.dramadesk.org. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
25. 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

• Dane Laffrey Official Site

• Living people
• American theatre designers
• American scenic designers
• American costume designers
• American lighting designers
• Broadway scenic designers
• Obie Award recipients
• National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni
• Interlochen Center for the Arts alumni