Mimi Lien
The Metropolitan Opera Reveals 2026–27 Season - LINCOLN IN THE BARDO, MACBETH and More (Feb 19, 2026)
The 1/52 Project Opens Applications For Fifth Year Of Designer Grant Program (Feb 3, 2026)
Interview: Jarrett Winters Morley Brings THE HISTORY OF NATASHA, PIERRE... to 54 Below (Jan 16, 2026)
BIO
Mimi Lien is a designer of sets/environments for theater, dance, and opera. Arriving at set design from a background in architecture, her work often focuses on the interaction between audience/environment and object/performer. She is an artistic associate with Pig Iron Theatre Company, and co-founder of JACK, a performance/art space in Brooklyn. Recent work includes Signature Plays, John (Signature Theatre), War, Preludes (LCT3), The Oldest Boy (Lincoln Center), Black Mountain Songs (BAM/Brooklyn Youth Chorus), Appropriate (Mark Taper Forum), and An Octoroon (Soho Rep/TFANA). Mimi's designs for dance have been presented in the Netherlands, Russia, and Taiwan, and her stage designs have been exhibited in the Prague Quadrennial. Lien is a recipient of the Joan and Joseph F. Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity at Lincoln Center, Lucille Lortel Award, American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Award, Barrymore Award, OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence, and a 2015 MacArthur Fellowship.
Photos
Productions
Awards and Nominations
Mimi Lien, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Mimi Lien, Sweeney Todd
Mimi Lien, Fairview
winner
Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
winner
Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
winner
Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Mimi Lien, Signature Plays: Edward Albee's The Sandbox, María Irene Fornés' Drowning, and Adrienne Kennedy's Funnyhouse of a Negro
winner
Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Mimi LienJohn
Mimi Lien, John
Mimi Lien, John
Mimi Lien, An Octoroon
winner
Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
Mimi Lien, The Whale
winner
Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
winner
Mimi Lien
winner
Mimi Lien
Videos
Video: First Look at Steve Carell, William Jackson Harper & More in UNCLE VANYA
by Chloe Rabinowitz - 2024-04-23 14:25:40
VIDEO: Dave Malloy Announces NATASHA, PIERRE, AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 Will Make West Coast Premiere With the Shotgun Players
by Stephi Wild - 2020-06-02 06:22:08
VIDEO: Choreographer Chanel DaSilva Discusses the Choreography of MOBY-DICK at A.R.T.
by Stephi Wild - 2019-11-21 09:22:00
VIDEO: Watch Anatole's Entrance at the Opera and 'The Abduction' From THE GREAT COMET in Brazil
by Stephi Wild - 2018-10-02 09:02:09
TV: Hangin' Backstage with the Winners of the 63rd Annual Drama Desk Awards!
by Nicole Rosky - 2018-06-04 12:03:18
VIDEO: All My Revels Here Are Over: GREAT COMET's Lucas Steele Takes One Last Look at the Imperial
by A.A. Cristi - 2017-09-11 21:06:11
VIDEO: 'Keep Supporting New Work' Rachel Chavkin Gives Final GREAT COMET Curtain Call Speech
by Julie Musbach - 2017-09-03 18:56:09
VIDEO: Goodbye My Gypsy Lovers! Kiss GREAT COMET One Last Time in 360
by Julie Musbach - 2017-09-03 11:20:56
VIDEO: Josh Groban & Cast of 'GREAT COMET' Perform on THE TONYS
by Caryn Robbins - 2017-06-11 23:12:24
2017 Theater Fans' Choice Awards Results! DEAR EVAN HANSEN, GREAT COMET, PLAY THAT GOES WRONG & MISS SAIGON Win Big!
by Robert Diamond - 2017-06-07 15:00:01
Raise Your Voice and Cast Your Vote for the Theater Fans' Choice Awards!
by Nicole Rosky - 2017-06-02 12:00:08
What Are You Waiting For? Cast Your Vote for the Theater Fans' Choice Awards!
by Nicole Rosky - 2017-05-30 14:30:09
There's No Day But Today! Cast Your Vote for the Theater Fans' Choice Awards!
by Nicole Rosky - 2017-05-25 11:01:05
Make Them Hear You! Vote Today for the Theater Fans' Choice Awards!
by Nicole Rosky - 2017-05-22 16:00:01
18 Days to Go! Make Your Voice Heard and Vote for the Theater Fans' Choice Awards!
by Nicole Rosky - 2017-05-18 14:40:35
Tony Awards Close-Up: Mimi Lien Explains the Her Ever-Changing GREAT COMET Designs!
by Nicole Rosky - 2017-05-26 12:00:01
News
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Feb 19, 2026
The Metropolitan Opera has revealed its 2026–27 season, featuring five new and 12 repertory productions, a special 60th-anniversary gala, and performances of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
by A.A. Cristi - Feb 3, 2026
The 1/52 Project has opened applications for its 2026 grant cycle supporting early-career theatre designers from historically excluded groups. Founded by Beowulf Boritt, the OBIE Award-winning program provides financial grants of up to $17,500.
by Rebecca Kaplan - Jan 16, 2026
Read a conversation with Morley about the 1/23 concert, which weaves history about NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 between songs from the show.
by Stephi Wild - Jan 13, 2026
The 2026 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced the Judging Panel for the 48th Annual Award. The Winner of the 2026 Prize will be announced on February 26 in a special invitation-only celebration at London's Royal Court Theatre.
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Oct 22, 2025
Kaatsbaan Cultural Park will present an open rehearsal of TRIBE's work-in-progress Marks of RED on Thursday, October 30 at 6:00 PM. Learn more and see how to join!
by Josh Sharpe - Sep 4, 2025
The Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee has revealed the 2025 Henry Hewes Design Awards Honorees who will be recognized at the 61st annual ceremony on October 20 in New York.
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Aug 18, 2025
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club has revealed the Fall performances of its 64th season–featuring dozens of new works from around the world. See the full lineup here!
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Aug 15, 2025
Little Island has revealed the complete cast and creative team for Galas, the final production in their 2025 summer season starring countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo as 'Maria Magdalena Galas.' Learn more and see how to purchase tickets!
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Aug 12, 2025
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has revealed its 25/26 season of programming, running September 2025 through May 2026. See full programming here!
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Jul 2, 2025
Springboard to Design, a groundbreaking tuition-free theatrical design mentorship and education program for students from underrepresented communities, will be hosted at The Harvey Fierstein Theatre Lab. Learn more!
by Richard Sasanow - Jun 20, 2025
The recent New York premiere of Yuval Sharon’s production of THE COMET/POPPEA at Lincoln Center kicked off the summer’s 5-week residency of the American Modern Opera Company (cheekily known as AMOC, after its penchant for taking a somewhat wild and crazy approach to the art form).
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Jun 3, 2025
The 42nd Annual Elliot Norton Awards ceremony was held at The Huntington Theatre in Boston. See the full list of winners here and learn more about the Awards!
by Richard Sasanow - May 13, 2025
There’s an old expression, “A lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client.” While John Adams didn’t decide to take on the libretto for his latest opera, Monday night’s Met premiere, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, all on his own, I wonder whether he might have bypassed the one resource that might have been most useful: Arrigo Boito.
by Sidney Paterra - Apr 26, 2025
Broadway may be confined to New York City's theatre district, but there's even more going on uptown. One of the word's premiere arts centers, Lincoln Center, is located just a few blocks north, and we're unpacking all that it has to offer...
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Apr 15, 2025
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts will present the fourth annual Summer for the City. The 2025 festival will include world and New York premieres, participatory events, and more.
by Joshua Wright - Apr 9, 2025
The Boston Theater Critics Association announced nominations for the 42nd Annual Elliot Norton Awards, honoring outstanding theater in Greater Boston. Kathy St. George will receive the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence.
by Stephi Wild - Apr 9, 2025
Over 500 alumni, donors and supporters gathered at Cipriani South Street on Monday night for the NYU Tisch School of the Arts 2025 Gala, raising over $1.7 million to support the critical needs of talented Tisch students.
by A.A. Cristi - Apr 3, 2025
Opera Philadelphia has revealed the lineup for its upcoming 2025-2026 Season. February brings the World Premiere of Complications in Sue to the Academy of Music for four performances.
by Stephi Wild - Mar 25, 2025
Works & Process will present The Metropolitan Opera: John Adams's Antony and Cleopatra at Guggenheim New York in the Peter B. Lewis Theater. Learn more about the event here!
by R. Scott Reedy - Mar 7, 2025
Growing up outside Chicago, Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Sarah Ruhl (“The Clean House,” “In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)”) would listen to a cassette of Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” on holiday drives with her family to her father’s home state of Iowa.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Outstanding Scenic Design (Play or Musical) (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Tony Awards) for Sweeney Todd, Outstanding Set Design of a Play (Drama Desk Awards) for Fairview, Best Scenic Design (BroadwayWorld Awards) for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Outstanding Set Design for a Musical (Drama Desk Awards) for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical) (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Outstanding Scenic Design (The Lortels) for Signature Plays: Edward Albee's The Sandbox, María Irene Fornés' Drowning, and Adrienne Kennedy's Funnyhouse of a Negro, Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Tony Awards) for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Outstanding Set Design for a Play (Drama Desk Awards) for John, Outstanding Scenic Design (Play or Musical) (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for John, Outstanding Scenic Design (The Lortels) for John, Outstanding Set Design (Drama Desk Awards) for An Octoroon, Outstanding Scenic Design (The Lortels) for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Outstanding Set Design (Drama Desk Awards) for The Whale, Hewes Design Award (The Hewes Awards) for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Sustained Excellence of Set Design (Obie Awards) and Sustained Excellence of Set Design (Obie Awards).
Mimi Lien has won several prestigious awards for her work on Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. These include Best Scenic Design at the BroadwayWorld Awards, Outstanding Set Design for a Musical at the Drama Desk Awards, Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical) at the Outer Critics Circle Awards, and Best Scenic Design of a Musical at the Tony Awards. She also received Outstanding Scenic Design at The Lortel Awards, the Hewes Design Award from The Hewes Awards, and was honored with Sustained Excellence of Set Design at the Obie Awards.
Videos