6 Design virtuosos you need to know

"Before there is a design, there is a mental image," the costume designer Marcia Dixcy Jory in her book The Ingenue in White.

Related Links: Gary C. Hoff, scenic designer David Korins, scenic designer Stephanie Nelson, scenic designer Emilio Sosa, costume designer Ben Stanton, lighting designer Christal Weatherly, costume designer

"Whether this image proceeds from a lifetime of seeing and accumulating or emanates mysteriously from some unconscious creative spring is interesting to debate." Similarly, this portfolio of six designers of sets, costumes and lighting began with an image: Can you picture the new wave of working designers who've been leaving their distinctive imprint on today's theatre scene?

American Theatre set out to answer that question by asking several design maestros, university professors, directors and artistic heads from across the country to offer their suggestions of designers whose work is worthy of special notice. We scoured publications, reviews and the lists of designers who've won grants and awards. We even closed our eyes and called to mind memorable productions past. And what took shape, part rationally but also quite mysteriously, is this criminally short list of six artists who hail from Los Angeles, New York, the Midwest and the Southland. (The less visual art of sound design will be discussed in a later issue.) Undoubtedly you have your own idea of an on-the-cusp designer who deserves equal mention—for the next time we assemble such a group.

Think of this as a composite that pays a special kind of tribute: It represents a wide diversity of perspective, derivation, aesthetic style and career path. And it holds the theatre's perpetual promise to give its designers a wide-open space to summon up their dreams and discoveries. —Randy Gener