Nicholas Georgiadis
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
( el, Νίκος Γεωργιάδης; 14 September 1923 – 10 March 2001) was a Greek painter,
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
and
costume designer
A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...
, best known for his work in ballet, particularly in collaboration with Sir
Kenneth MacMillan
Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...
.
Early life
Georgiadis studied architecture at the National
Metsovian University, receiving his degree in 1946, and later won a
Fulbright Post-Graduate Scholarship to
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, New York (1952). The following year, he came to London to study Painting and Stage Design at the
Slade School of Fine Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
, on a grant from the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
.
Professional career
In 1955, he won the school’s First Prize for Stage Design, which led to his discovery by Dame
Ninette de Valois
Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...
and his commission to design for the
Sadler's Wells Theatre, London. This marked the beginning of a professional partnership between Georgiadis and Kenneth MacMillan that was to last for almost four decades.
From 1956 to his death in 2001, Georgiadis worked on some of the most acclaimed productions in ballet,
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
and theatre. For MacMillan, he designed a great number of ballets, including ''
Noctambules'' (1956), ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' (1965), ''
Manon'' (1974), ''
Mayerling
Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), southwest of Vienna. From 1550, it was in t ...
'' (1978), ''Orpheus'' (1982) and ''
The Prince of the Pagodas
''The Prince of the Pagodas'' is a ballet created for The Royal Ballet by choreographer John Cranko with music commissioned from Benjamin Britten. Its premiere took place on 1 January 1957 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, conducte ...
'' (1989). Many of these productions continue to be performed to this day, both at the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
, London, and internationally. He also collaborated closely with
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
on such works as ''
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
'' (1966), ''
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...
'' (1968), ''The Tempest'' (1982) and
Michael Conway Baker
Michael Conway Baker (born March 13, 1937) is a Canadian composer and music educator of American birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1970 and has lived more or less continuously in the Vancouver area since.
Life and career
Baker wa ...
's ''Washington Square'' (1985).
Sir John Tooley, former General Director of the Royal Opera House (1970–1988), described him as "one of the most outstanding stage designers of the past century ... a giant and a poet amongst designers
hodominated the second half of the twentieth century in the way that
Léon Bakst and
Alexandre Benois
Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois; ,Salmina-Haskell, Larissa. ''Russian Paintings and Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum''. pp. 15, 23-24. Published by ...
had done in the first part."
[Georgiadis, Evgenia (2004) ''Nicholas Georgiadis: Paintings, Stage Designs (1955–2001)'' Athens: Olkos.]
Georgiadis worked actively up until his death on 10 March 2001 in London. He was never married.
Outside his work in the theatre, he was an accomplished painter who had exhibited in Venice and London. He also had a passion for cinema and worked on a number of film projects, the most famous of which is ''
The Trojan Women
''The Trojan Women'' ( grc, Τρῳάδες, translit=Trōiades), also translated as ''The Women of Troy'', and also known by its transliterated Greek title ''Troades'', is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced in 415 BC duri ...
'' (1971), starring
Katharine Hepburn,
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...
and
Irene Papas
Irene Papas or Irene Pappas ( el, Ειρήνη Παππά, Eiríni Pappá, ; born Eirini Lelekou ( el, Ειρήνη Λελέκου, Eiríni Lelékou, link=no); 3 September 1929 – 14 September 2022) was a Greek actress and singer who starred ...
.
Achievements and awards
He received the
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
for his contribution to the arts in 1984. He had been awarded the London
Evening Standard Ballet Award the previous year for his work on ''Orpheus'' and ''The Tempest'' — the first time a designer had received this outstanding achievement award. In 1999, he was admitted to the Greek Academy of Arts.
References
External links
Obituary ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', 17 March 2001.
Obituary the guardian.com. Accessed 24 January 2023.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgiadis, Nicholas
1923 births
2001 deaths
English scenic designers
British costume designers
Artists from Athens
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Ballet designers
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
20th-century Greek painters
Greek emigrants to the United Kingdom
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom