She's created looks for secret policemen and silent film stars,
Greek heroes and geeky writers, star-crossed lovers and internet
hook-ups, not to mention eight neurotic reindeer. She's taken
audiences to finest salons in Paris and the humblest farmhouses
in Ireland, to AIDS wards and basketball courts in the projects,
to the bedroom of a giant bug and a shootout in the Old West.
In more than 100 productions since the mid-1990s, designer Meganne
George has invited us to visit for an evening some of the most
fascinating and compelling worlds imaginable.
 Many
of Meganne's most daring projects in recent years have been designs
for avant garde director Lee Breuer and Mabou
Mines Theatre Company. Her first project with Breuer was
Two Little Indians,
an intimate story of two men hospitalized with AIDS in the early
days of the epidemic. Her second collaboration with Breuer, Mabou Mines' Dollhouse,
caught fire with its New York premiere in 2004. This daring adaptation
of Ibsen's classic, A Doll's House, emphasizes the injustice
of male-dominated society by casting little people in the male
roles, opposite actresses of average stature in the female roles.
Dollhouse was an immediate critical success, receiving
an Obie Award and front-page
coverage in the Village Voice. Since its New York
premiere, Dollhouse has toured the United States and the
world, playing to packed houses in cities such as Paris, Edinburgh,
Bogata, Oslo, Los Angeles, Jerusalem, Chicago, Hong Kong, Stuttgart,
Brisbane, Seoul, and Madrid. Between engagements with Dollhouse,
Meganne collaborated with Breuer on two more innovative shows--Mabou Mines' Red Beads,
which Breuer co-directed with acclaimed puppeteer Basil Twist,
and Choephorae, an original
production which debuted at the 2006 European Capital of Culture
festival in Patras, Greece.
 Balancing
Meganne's works in avant garde theatre over the past several
years have been her designs for classic operas in the New York
City area. Working with Bronx
Opera, she's designed sets for classics like La Boheme
and La Traviata, as well
as less familiar operas such as The
Consul and the American premiere of l'Equivico Stravagante.
Her sets for Boheme Opera
New Jersey's production of Susannah brought to the
stage the lives of the rural poor in the early 20th century.
Her scenic designs have thrilled audiences Manhattan, Long Island,
the Bronx, and New Jersey, challenging the conventions of opera
while respecting its timeless traditions.
Meganne graduated from Ohio University with a dual Master's
degree in both Scenic and Costume Design, then came straight
to New York to begin her professional theatric career. Soon after
her arrival, she became the resident costume designer for the
daring and innovative adobe theatre company. Meganne soon found
herself enjoying similar opportunities with a wide variety of
creative downtown theatre companies, including Chain Lightning,
New
Perspectives, Monster(less), And
How!, Widemouth, and Double Helix. With these companies and
many others, Meganne collaborated on many of the most exciting,
challenging, and entertaining productions presented to New York
audiences over the past decade.
 Meganne's
hundred-plus designs have attracted considerable attention throughout
her career. Her first distinction was an Oobr Award for Outstanding
Design for The Flapper Queen, awarded by Off-Off Broadway
Review in 1994. She's since received design nominations for
an American Theatre Wing Hewes Award (Mabou
Mines' Cara Lucia, 2003) and a New York Innovative
Theatre Award (Little Suckers, 2005). Her design for Chain
Lightning Theatre Company's production of Beyond the Horizon
was profiled in two theatre-industry publications, T.C.I.
Magazine and Backstage. She designed sets and costumes
for the New York premiere of Lemon
Meringue Facade, a play written by and featuring former
Love Boat star Ted Lange, and sets for the premiere of
More than a Soap Opera, a new musical with music and lyrics
by Ray Davies of the classic rock group The Kinks. In December
of 2005, Meganne designed the costumes for The Actors' Fund benefit
production of the musical, A Wonderful Life, produced
by Steven Yuhasz, and starring Brian Stokes Mitchell, David Hyde
Pierce, and Phylicia Rashad. Meganne looks forward to many exciting
new projects in the years to come.
Photos (top to bottom): Kevin Kennefick,
Nancy Santos, Jeff George, Jeff George.
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