Beowulf Boritt is a New York City-based scenic designer for theater. He is known for his scenic design for the play Act One, which earned him the 2014 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play.

Early life Boritt was born to American 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. The family resided in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Boritt has two brothers, film producer Jake Boritt and Daniel Boritt, executive director of the Indiana Wildlife Foundation.

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."

Boritt went on to receive his A.B. 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.

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

He is married to actress 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.

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

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

In 2015, Boritt designed the set for the Broadway debut of Helen Edmundson's play Thérèse Raquin.

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

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

In 2017, he was featured in a New York Times article about his renovation of his home using his scenic design expertise.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Show Result 2002 AUDELCO Set Design Saint Lucy's Eyes Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design The Last Five Years 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 Hewes Design Award for Scenic Design LoveMusik Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design 2008 Spain Barrymore Award Art 2009 Hewes Design Award for Scenic Design The Toxic Avenger 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 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set Design 2016 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of Play Thérèse Raquin Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set Design 2022 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Scenic Design Flying Over Sunset Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Musical Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play POTUS 2023Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a MusicalNew York, New YorkDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Scenic Design in a MusicalOuter Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Scenic Design (Play or Musical)Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Video or Projection Design (Play or Musical) (with Christopher Ash)

Other In 2022 Boritt founded The 1/52 Project, a financial grant program to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups.

References

External links Beowulf Boritt IBDB