Beowulf Boritt


Beowulf Boritt is a New York City based scenic designer for theater. He is known for his Tony Award winning design for the play Act One in 2014.

Early life

Boritt was born to 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. They reside in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Boritt has two brothers, Jake Boritt who is a film producer and Daniel Boritt who is a biologist specializing in birds.
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 BA 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 really 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 a number of lucky breaks and started building a career.

Then, he received his MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts program for design for stage and film.
He is married to 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 own 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 play Act One and nominated shows The Scottsboro Boys, and Thérèse Raquin.
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 Tina Award for Best Scenic Design.
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 also featured in a New York Times Article about his renovation of his home using his scenic design expertise.

Awards and nominations for theater

YearAwardShowResult
2002AUDELCO Set DesignSaint Lucy's Eyes
2002Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set DesignThe Last Five Yearsrowspan=4
2004Barrymore AwardTalley's Folly-
2006Hewes Design Award for Scenic DesignThe Other Side-
2006Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic DesignThe Other Side-
2007Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Set DesignN/A
2007Hewes Design Award for Scenic DesignLoveMusikrowspan=3
2007Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set DesignLoveMusik-
2008Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set DesignSpain-
2008Barrymore AwardArt
2009Hewes Design Award for Scenic DesignThe Toxic Avengerrowspan=9
2009Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic DesignAnimals Out of Paper-
2010Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set DesignSondheim on Sondheim-
2010Hewes Design Award for Scenic DesignSondheim on Sondheim-
2011Tony Award for Best Scenic DesignThe Scottsboro Boys-
2012Tina Award for Best Scenic DesignThe Blue Flower-
2013Hewes Design Award for Scenic DesignAll in the Timing-
2013Hewes Design Award for Scenic DesignIf There Is I Haven't Found it Yet-
2013Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic DesignIf There Is I Haven't Found it Yet-
2014Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of PlayAct One
2014Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set DesignAct Onerowspan=3
2016 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of PlayThérèse Raquin-
2016 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set DesignThérèse Raquin-