Robert Alan 'Bob' Knuth (born May 15, 1967) is an American scenic designer and art director based in the Chicago, Illinois area. Knuth is currently the Creative Director of Marketing & Brand for

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...

Inc (Chicago, Hollywood, Toronto) and UP Comedy Club in Chicago. Knuth began his tenure as Art Director for The Second City in 2005. Knuth has been nominated for 15 Joseph Jefferson Awards and is a two (2) time award winner. In 2004, Chris Jones, Chief Theater Critic for The Chicago Tribune wrote about Knuth's body of work in Chicago storefront theaters, "Perhaps more than any other set designer working in the Chicago area, Knuth has solved the aesthetic problems inherent in the prosaic, end-on storefront where audience members sit in narrow rows and stare over the backs of heads at a rectangular stage without much depth or height. Normally, that's as constraining as trying to build a postmodern dwelling on a single Chicago lot. But as Knuth proves again in his very bold, striking and endlessly inventive production of "Jane Eyre" (the talented fellow directs as well as designs), it does not have to be that way."

Biography

After attending undergraduate school at the

University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

(1985-1990) and completing two years of graduate studies in Design for the Theatre at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

(1990-1992), Knuth began his career as the Managing Artistic Director for CenterLight Sign and Voice Theatre in Northbrook, Illinois, in 1993. Knuth was the Senior Graphic Designer at The

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

from 1998-2005. Besides working as a freelance scenic and graphic designer, Knuth was Producing Director and resident Scenic/Graphic Designer for

Circle Theatre Chicago Circle Theatre Chicago founded in 1985 by Wayne Buidens, Joe Bass, and Karen Skinner is a theatre company in Oak Park and Chicago, Illinois. They chose the name "Circle Theatre" to represent both Circle Avenue (Forest Park's main thoroughfare) a ...

in Forest Park from 2001-2013 before stepping down to pursue freelance work and focus on his career at The Second City. During his tenure as Producing Director, Circle Theatre had hosted visits from many notable entertainment luminaries (

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Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa (born July 24, 1962) is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for musically esoteric shows such as '' Hello Again'', ''Marie Christine'', '' The Wild Party'', and ''See Wha ...

Marvin Hamlisch Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only seventeen people to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. This collection of all four is referred to as an " EGOT ...

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), mounted World and Chicago Premieres and built a thriving subscriber base. Other scenic design credits include Mercury Theatre Chicago's productions of ''

The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...

'' (2015 JEFF Award for Outstanding Musical Production) and ''The Color Purple''. The Second City's mainstage productions of ''Let Them Eat Chaos, Depraved New World Panic on Cloud 9'' and for The Second City's E.T.C. ''39th Revue''. Fox Valley Rep's (formally Noble Fool Theatre at Pheasant Run Resort) ''Let's Misbehave'', ''Breaking Up is Hard To Do'', ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'', and ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood''.

Other awards

In 2003, Knuth was also nominated for a

Joseph Jefferson Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater star ...

for Outstanding Direction of a Musical for ''The Secret Garden''. "The Secret Garden" was nominated for a total 10 Jeff Awards that season and won for Outstanding Production - Musical, and three additional awards including Actress In A Supporting Role (Sarah Swanson), Choreography (Kevin Bellie), Costumes (Jeffrey Kelly). In 2015 and 2017, Knuth received In-House Design Merit Awards from HOW Design Magazine for poster designs promoting the 103rd and 104th mainstage revues at The Second City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knuth, Bob 1967 births Living people American scenic designers American art directors University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni Northwestern University alumni