Donald Oenslager (March 7, 1902 – June 11, 1975) was an American

scenic designer Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation *Airwave Scenic, an Austrian pa ...

who won the

Tony Award for Best Scenic Design This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design for outstanding set design of a play or musical. The award was first presented in 1947. In 1960, 1961, and since 2005, the category was divided into Scenic Des ...

Biography

Oenslager was born in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

and attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, graduating in 1923. He became interested in design while studying in Europe and his first work as designer was for the ballet "Sooner or Later" in 1925. He had started as an actor in the 1920s at the Greenwich Village Theatre and the Harrisburg Playhouse.Donald Oenslager papers and designs, 1922-1982
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

, retrieved March 5, 2010 He designed sets and often lighting for more than 140 Broadway productions between 1925 and 1975. In 1959 he was awarded the

for his work on

Leonard Spigelgass Leonard Spigelgass (November 26, 1908 – February 15, 1985) was an American film producer and screenwriter. During his career, Spigelgass wrote the scripts for 11 Academy Award-winning films. He himself was nominated in 1950 for the story for '' ...

's play ''

A Majority of One ''A Majority of One'' is a play by Leonard Spigelgass. The 1959–1960 Broadway production was directed by Dore Schary and ran for three previews and 556 performances, with Gertrude Berg, Cedric Hardwicke, and Ina Balin. Plot The play is a d ...

''. He had received a Tony nomination two years earlier for his work on the play ''

Major Barbara ''Major Barbara'' is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns an idealistic young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in ...

''. He taught scenic design at the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

for many years and the institution continues to award an annual scholarship for stage design in his name. Among his notable pupils was

John Lee Beatty John Lee Beatty is an American scenic designer who has created set designs for more than 115 Broadway shows and has designed for other productions. He won two Tony Awards, for ''Talley's Folly'' (1980) and ''The Nance'' (2013), was nominated for ...

. Oenslager's papers are held by the

, although a number of his scenic design sketches are part of the permanent collection at the

Museum of the City of New York A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

. The Museum had an exhibition of his designs in 2008.Setting the Stage: Scenic Designs by Donald Oenslager
Museum of the City of New York, retrieved March 5, 2010 He brought "a new emphasis on symbolism over realism to American theater design."

Selected works

*'' Good News'' (1927) *''

The New Moon ''The New Moon'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. The show was the third in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg (after ''The Student Prince'' (1924) ...

'' (1928) *''

Follow Thru ''Follow Thru'' is a 1930 American pre-Code musical romantic comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was the second all-color all-talking feature to be produced by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the hit 1929 Broadway mu ...

'' (1929) *''

Girl Crazy ''Girl Crazy'' is a 1930 musical by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Ethel Merman made her stage debut in the first production and co-lead Ginger Rogers became an overnight star. Rich in song, ...

'' (1930) *''

You Said It ''You Said It'' is a musical by Harold Arlen (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics) that uses a musical book by Yellen and Sid Silvers.The musical opened at the Chanin's 46th Street Theatre in New York City on January 19, 1931 and ran for 192 perform ...

'' (1931) *'' America's Sweetheart'' (1931) *''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...

'' (1934) *'' The Farmer Takes a Wife'' (1934) *''

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

'' (1935) *''

Stage Door ''Stage Door'' is a 1937 RKO film directed by Gregory La Cava. Adapted from the play of the same name, it tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film ...

'' (1936) *''

Red, Hot and Blue ''Red, Hot and Blue'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It premiered on Broadway in 1936 and introduced the popular song " It's De-Lovely," sung by Ethel Merman and Bob Hope. ...

'' (1936) *'' Johnny Johnson'' (1936) *'' You Can't Take It with You'' (1936) *''

I'd Rather Be Right ''I'd Rather Be Right'' is a 1937 musical with a book by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and music by Richard Rodgers. The story is a Depression-era political satire set in New York City about Washington politics an ...

'' (1937) *''

Skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

'' (1939) *''

The Man Who Came to Dinner ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' is a comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939, at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran until 1941, closing after 739 performances. It then enjoyed a number of N ...

'' (1939) *'' My Dear Children'' (1940) *'' Claudia'' (1941) *'' Born Yesterday'' (1946) *''

Present Laughter ''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''T ...

'' (1946) *''

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...

'' (1946) *'' The Fatal Weakness'' (1946) *''Years Ago'' (1946) *'' Angel in the Wings'' (1947) *'' Life With Mother'' (1948) *''

Goodbye, My Fancy ''Goodbye, My Fancy'' is a 1948 play by Fay Kanin. A comedy in 3 Acts and 4 scenes, the work premiered at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario on October 21, 1948 for tryout performances before the production moved to Broadway in New York City. ...

'' (1948) *''

The Rat Race ''The Rat Race'' is a 1960 American drama film adapted from the play of the same name by Garson Kanin. Directed by Robert Mulligan, it stars Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as struggling young entertainment professionals in New York City. Film ...

'' (1949) *'' The Velvet Glove'' (1949) *''

Sabrina Fair ''Sabrina Fair'' (subtitled "''A Woman of the World''") is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor and produced by the Playwrights' Company. It ran on Broadway for a total of 318 performances, opening at the National Theatre on November ...

'' (1953) *'' The Prescott Proposals'' (1953) *''

Dear Charles ''Full Circle'' (previously ''Dear Charles'') is a play by Alan Melville adapted from "Les Enfants d'Edouard" by Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon and Frederick J. Jackson. It also was produced in 1944 with the title ''Slightly Scandalous'', lasting only one ...

'' (1954) *'' Janus'' (1955) *''

'' (1957) *''

The Pleasure of His Company ''The Pleasure of His Company'' is a 1961 comedy film starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds, directed by George Seaton and released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the 1958 play of the same name by Samuel A. Taylor and Cornelia Otis S ...

'' (1958) *''

The Marriage-Go-Round ''The Marriage-Go-Round'' is a 1958 play written by Leslie Stevens. The 1961 film adaptation of the same name, written and produced by Stevens, stars Susan Hayward, James Mason and Julie Newmar, who reprised her role from the play. The play wa ...

'' (1958) *''

'' (1959) *''

A Far Country ''A Far Country'' is a play by Henry Denker. The work premiered on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on April 4, 1961, where it closed on November 25, 1961, after 271 performances. Produced by Roger L. Stevens and Joel Schenker, the production ...

'' (1961) *''

A Case of Libel ''A Case of Libel'' is a 1963 novel by the British writer John Bingham John Armor Bingham (January 21, 1815 – March 19, 1900) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican representative from Ohi ...

'' (1963) *'' Spofford'' (1967)

References

External links

Donald Oenslager papers and designs, 1922-1982Donald Oenslager set designs, 1934-1967
*

Donald Oenslager Papers (MS 1416).
Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oenslager, Donald 1902 births 1975 deaths American scenic designers Broadway set designers Tony Award winners Harvard University alumni