Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1999 - 75

and the critics. He has garnered several Tony Awards and
Drama Desk nontinations in New York. I otable productions of
Showboat, The Life, and Four Baboons Adoring The Sun
have won critical acclaim. The Life won a Tony and Showboat
won the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Circle Critic's Award in
IYC, the Dora Award in Toronto, and the Jessie Richardson
Award in Vancouver.
His book, Stage Lighting Design: TheArt, The Craft, The
Life, published in 1997, was nontinated for the 1998 USIIT
Golden Pen Award and won a 1998 Theatre Craft's international "Lighting Product of the Year" award.
We are thrilled that he has chosen to honor us with ltis
presence and so willingly share ltis expertise with the mem-

bers of SlIT. He has been an inlportant participant in tltis
Toronto conference. We also thank ltis wonderful wife, Molly
Pilbrow, and his associate, Dawn Chiang, for participating in
the conference this week.
In 1982 Richard Pilbrow received the USIIT Award for
"Itis many years of contribution to the art of lighting, as a designer, author, entrepreneur and consultant in both England
and America."
This year, USITT proudly presents Richard Pilbrow \\~tll tlle
Distinguished Acltievement in Lighting Design Award for 1999.
For a lifetime of outstanding and distinguished achievement in
lighting design for the theatre and ltis impact on the field of
lighting as a whole.

Nadine Char/sen presents award

Lester Polakov

to Lester Po/akov.

Distinguished
Achievel1'l.ent Award in
Scenery, 1999
Nadine Charlsen, presenter
In 1936 a young portrait artist
named Lester Polakov was
given tile chance to paint a
portrait of Abral1am Lincoln
for a stage production of
White Trash at Columbia University in New York City. His choice was to continue his life in
the theatre as a scene designer and scenic al1ist. Here is a
short exanlple of the stOlies he tells in his book We Live to Fly
Paint Again. When Mr. Polakov was asked to design Calf Me
Mister in 1946 he followed the producer's and director's concept that the scenery ought to look as if it had been painted by
the guys and gals in the cast. The scenic artists looked at the

sketches and asked if they were to "clean it all up and straighten
out the perspective." He told them "No, paint it all exactly like the
elevations." When the first backdrop was painted, they called Mr.
Polakov to approve it. The master scenic artist pointed to a fingel~
print he had left in the elevation and then to the drop. "There it is,"
he said. "How do you like it?" Mr. Polakov's fingerprint was now
twenty-four times larger and nicely rendered. Mr. Polakov's response, "I approve!" Tltis is an abbreviated version of the stories
we have shared this week with Lester Polakov. We thank him for ltis professional
contributions to the American theatre and his development of tlle Fomm and Studio
of Scene Design in lew York City. His contIibutions in teaclling students in drawing,
painting, and design will continue to influence our scene design and painting helitage
for many years. The Scene Design Commission is very proud to award, by choice
and not by chance, its Distinguished Acltievement Award in Scenery 1999 to Lester
Polakov.

Abe Jacob
Distinguislll~d

Achievement
Award in Sound
Design, 1999
Richard Thomas,
presenter

Richard
Thomas
presents
award to Abe
Jacob.

I first met Abe Jacob at
a SlIT conference in
the early 1980s. I was
a young impressionable grad student and Abe was already a
tlleatre legend. Lmagine sitting down to lunch with the man
who pioneered and introduced the field of sound design to the
Broadway Theatre, in such legendary shows as Hair, jesus
Christ Superstar, Pippin, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Dancin',
Evita and Cats. He talked about creating the sound for pop
idols Jimi HendrLx, and the Mamas and the Papas. He shared

stories about frantically running out on stage to save ltis precious Neuman nticrophones from a guitar smashing Pete
Townsend. He also passed on to me the most important piece
of professional advice he had received from his mentor.
"Rick," he Said, taking on the dialect of his teacher. "In every
production there is always a \\~ctum. DOl 'T be the wictum."
Abe never stopped. 1\venty years later he designed the
1986 Liberty Concert in ew York's Central Park before the
largest audience ever gathered for a live pelformance. ClII~
rently he is working on the new Broadway mUSical, The
Gershwins' Fascinating Rh)lthm. Perhaps more importantly,
Abe saw the need early on to protect, develop, and improve the
work of young theatre sound designers who followed him, and
was instrumental in formation of IATSE Local 922, the Theatrical Sound Designer's Association, for wltich he still serves as
executive secretary.
When considering the many pOSSibilities for the inaugural Distinguished Achievement Award in Sound Design, it is
hard to imagine a better wictuIl1. Congratulations, Abe.
TZ>&T

,\1

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