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Meet David Korins: 2024 Tony nominee

2024 Tony nominee, creative director and set designer David Korins chatted about his latest endeavors.

David Korins
2024 Tony nominee David Korins. Photo Courtesy of David Korins.
2024 Tony nominee David Korins. Photo Courtesy of David Korins.

2024 Tony nominee, creative director and set designer David Korins chatted about his latest endeavors.

‘Here Lies Love’

Korins has been nominated for the 2024 Tony Award for “Best Scenic Design of a Musical” for his work in “Here Lies Love.” This marks his fourth career Tony nomination. “I felt successful just getting the show ‘Here Lies Love’,” he said.

He was previously nominated in this Tony category for such shows as “Beetlejuice” (2019), “War Paint” (2017), and “Hamilton” (2016). “I loved that project.”

“‘Here Lies Love’ was the first show in the history of Broadway theatre that had 315 audience members standing up and moving around the venue during a show. The producers trusted us to do this and make this kind of theatre on Broadway. That felt so satisfying and so successful,” he acknowledged.

“Alex Timbers is a visionary director and David Byrne is a genius, so when I got a phone call for it 13 years ago, I was just flabbergasted just to get the call to begin with,” he added.

Speaking of “Beetlejuice,” he noted that it used to be the most difficult set to design. “And then, I did the set for ‘Here Lies Love’,” he said with a sweet laugh.

On scoring yet another Tony nod, he said, “It felt extraordinary. It felt so good, in particular, though, because the show ‘Here Lies Love’ has been closed for a while.”

‘The Who’s Tommy’

Most recently, he did the set design for “The Who’s Tommy.” “To get asked to do ‘Tommy’ also felt extraordinary. This show is iconic; I had never worked with Des McAnuff before so I felt honored to get that phone call,” he said. “To be honest, I felt really trusted because visually, it looms so large in people’s minds.”

“It was a huge challenge to do this… what Des did with Tommy was kind of amazing,” he admitted.

The digital age

On being a part of the digital age, Korins said, “I’ve been doing non-theater things for a long time. I do all sorts of other experiences that are not theatrical. In my theater work, live captures of theater work have been kind of iffy.”

“My experience with streaming, in particular, with theater has been so great because it really builds a whole new audience. I actually think it really does cultivate a whole new audience for people who wouldn’t necessarily see the show,” he added.

Advice for young and aspiring people that wish to go into theater

For young and aspiring people that wish to go into the theater, he said, “I just love the theater so much. It is a really challenging business for all the reasons that are boring. To me, you are not going to find a warmer and more inclusive, imaginative and collaborative community.”

To learn more about David Korins, follow him on Instagram and check out his Linktree page.

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 22,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

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