Wendall K. Harrington to Receive Ming Cho Lee Lifetime Award

Media designer Wendall K. Harrington will be honored with the Ming Cho Lee Award for Lifetime Achievement in Design bestowed by the Henry Hewes Design Awards during the 62nd annual ceremony on October 19, at an award luncheon in New York. A Henry Hewes Design Award honoree for her work on the original Broadway production of The Who's Tommy, Harrington has added imagery to dozens of productions on and Off Broadway, extending back to the 1970s. Her work has made a profound impact on the way designers, directors, and audiences engage with the emotional impact of light, color, and imagery.

Committee member David Barbour noted, “Although people have used projection technology onstage for decades, the modern era of projections on Broadway begins with Harrington's contribution to They're Playing Our Song, which was seamlessly integrated with Doug Schmidt's scenery and Tharon Musser's lighting.” Harrington's contributions only grew from that point on with The Heidi Chronicles, The Will Rogers Follies, Fires in the Mirror, Racing Demon, Hapgood, the original Broadway production of Ragtime, Amy's View, Putting It Together, Grey Gardens, the Signature Theatre revival of Angels in America, Old Hats, and All the Way. Her work has also enhanced dance and opera productions for such institutions as American Ballet Theatre, Doug Varone and Dancers, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Opera, and LA Opera.

Harrington's work on The Who's Tommy, achieved with dozens of projectors, is still one of the great technical achievements of recent decades. Yet Harrington remains focused on the art of projection design, thinking deeply and critically about how projections should be used in a production, or if they are to be used at all. As an educator at Yale for many years, she has pioneered the teaching of projection design, fostering a generation of new talents and modeling for them the true meaning of collaboration.

Her awards include a special Tony Honor, Knights of Illumination Lifetime Recognition Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, American Theatre Wing, TCI Award, Michael Merritt Award, an Obie Award, USITT Education Award, and Players Club Person of the Year. 

“Wendall K. Harrington clearly is one of the legends in theater design,” said Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, chairman of the HHDA committee. “It is with great appreciation for her work and leadership that the Henry Hewes Design Awards committee honors her with the Ming Cho Lee Lifetime Achievement Award.”