Christine Jones (scenic designer)
Christine Jones | |
|---|---|
| Education | Concordia University (BFA) New York University (MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Scenic designer, professor |
| Spouse | Dallas Roberts |
| Children | 2 |
Christine Jones is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist for theater, opera, public art, and digital media. Beyond her Broadway, Off-Broadway, and West End Scenic Design, including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Tony Award, Olivier Awards), American Idiot (Tony Award), and Spring Awakening (Tony Nomination), Jones is invested in inclusive public art and the wide reach of the digital realm. Her critically acclaimed initiative Theatre for One,[1] a mobile performance space designed for a single audience member and actor in collaboration with LOT-EK Architects, has held residencies at the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Arts Brookfield, Cork Midsummer Festival, the Times Square Alliance for Public Art, and universities across the globe.[2] Theatre for One’s accompanying digital platform, co-created with Jenny Koons, and designed by OpenEndedGroup, was launched during the pandemic.
From curating Radiohead’s digital art exhibition KID AMNESIA to designing La Traviata and Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera, Jones works across mediums and genres. She conceived and co-directed SOCIAL! the social distance dance club with Steven Hoggett and David Byrne (Time Out's Best Event of 2021) at the Park Avenue Armory, where she is an artist-in-residence, and directed Queen of the Night, an immersive nightclub dining experience at the Paramount Hotel (Drama Desk Award for Best Unique Experience). Her video piece, Chorus of Us, was exhibited in the Armory’s digital celebration 100 Years, 100 Women, and her designs were featured in Curtain Call: Celebrating a Century of Women Designing for Live Performance at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Jones’ forthcoming project Hamlet Hail to the Thief, which she is co-directing with Steven Hoggett, is a fusion of Shakespeare's masterpiece scored by Thom Yorke, with music from one of Radiohead’s seminal albums.
Alongside Brett Banakis, Jones started the collective AMP, which amplifies and supports emerging and underrepresented designers through equitable collaborations. AMP’s debut project is the musical adaptation of The Outsiders, (Tony Nomination), co-designed with Tatiana Kahvegian and currently on Broadway. The collective will feature a different designer joining Jones and Banakis on each project.
Jones served as the Denzel Washington Guest Chairperson for Fordham University’s Theatre Department, received an Obie for Sustained Excellence, and was honored with an Award of Distinction from Montreal’s Concordia University. She has lectured at Princeton University and teaches at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.[3]
Education[edit]
After graduating from the creative arts, literature and languages program at Marianopolis College in 1985, Jones earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in design for theatre at Concordia University in 1989.[3][4] She later earned her Master of Fine Arts at New York University.[3]
Off-Broadway work[edit]
Jones has designed for many productions Off-Broadway:[3]
- Mr. Fox
- Burn This
- Coraline
- Debbie Does Dallas
- First Love
- Flesh And Blood
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Nocturne
- People Be Heard
- The Onion Cellar
- True Love
- Cyrano, a 2019 musical production starring Peter Dinklage
Awards[edit]
In 2015, Jones was awarded the Obie Award presented by the American Theatre Wing for sustained excellence in set design.[5]
Broadway[edit]
Jones made her Broadway scenic design debut in 2000 with her design for The Green Bird, directed by Julie Taymor.[3] Jones designed the set for the 2007 Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design but lost to Bob Crowley for Mary Poppins.[6] Jones designed the set for the 2010 musical American Idiot,[7] for which she earned her first Tony Award. Jones has said, "It's just great to be recognized for doing something that you love, with people you love."[8] Jones also designed the set for the 2011 musical revival of "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" starring Harry Connick Jr.[9][10] and the 2016 production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London's West-End.[11][12]
Awards[edit]
| Year | Show | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Tony Award | Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Play | Won |
| 2016 | Critics' Circle Theatre Award[13] | Best Designer | Won | |
| 2015 | Let the Right One In | Drama Desk Award | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design | Nominated |
| n/a | Obie Award | Sustained Excellence in Set Design | Won | |
| 2010 | American Idiot | Tony Award | Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Musical | Won |
| 2007 | Spring Awakening | Tony Award | Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Musical | Nominated |
| 2000 | The Green Bird | Drama Desk Award | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design | Nominated |
Personal life[edit]
Jones is married to actor Dallas Roberts. They have two children.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ "Profile: Christine Jones - Tony-winning designer for American Idiot". The Charlebois Post - Canada. 26 December 2011. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ Cote, David (1 May 2015). "The most intimate play you'll ever see: Theatre for One returns to New York". Time Out New York. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "Christine Jones" tisch.nyu.edu
- ^ [1] Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine concordia.ca
- ^ 2015 Winners obieawards.com
- ^ "2007 Tony Award Winners". www.broadwayworld.com.
- ^ "Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT on Broadway – A New Musical – Official Site - Team". Archived from the original on 2010-05-22. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Jones, Kenneth (6 October 2011). "Tony Winner Christine Jones Will Design On a Clear Day; Kerry O'Malley, Drew Gehling Among Cast". Playbill. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ Brantley, Ben (11 December 2011). "Reincarnation All Over Again". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ Barraclough, Leo (26 June 2015). "Harry Potter Play to Open in London Next Year". Variety. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ Finnan, Jack (6 June 2016). "Harry Potter And 'The Cursed Child' - Everything We Know About The Eighth Story And West-End Play". New Musical Express (NME). Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- ^ "2016 Results | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards". 2017-01-31. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
- ^ "Designer Christine Jones on American Idiot and Theater for One | Theater Talk". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2010-05-16.