Merle Armitage

Merle Armitage (1893 - March 15, 1975) was an American set designer, tour manager, theater producer, opera producer, art collector, author, and book designer.

Biography

Armitage was born in 1893 in Iowa.

Armitage became a theater set designer in New York City. He was the tour manager for the Scotti Grand Opera Company, the Russian Grand Opera Company, and The Beggars Opera. He co-founded the Los Angeles Grand Opera Association in 1924, and he was its manager until 1930. He managed the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium, from 1933 to 1939.

Armitage was the editorial and art director of '' Look'' magazine, and he was the president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1951. He designed and authored many books, including ''Saints and Saint Makers'', ''Operatic Masterpieces'', ''Operations Santa Fe'', and ''Burro Alley''. He authored two books about Igor Stravinsky and a book about George Gershwin, two men whose tours he managed.

Armitage was married four times, and he had a daughter, Chama. He died on March 15, 1975, in Yucca Valley, California, at age 82.

Selected works

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References

1893 births
1975 deaths
People from Iowa
People from Yucca Valley, California
American set designers
Opera managers
American theatre managers and producers
Impresarios
20th-century theatre managers

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