In Memoriam Ming Cho Lee Designer
01 Ming Cho Lee HON ’20 02 Ing Tang and Ming Cho Lee HON ’20
Ming Cho Lee HON ’20, a brilliant artist renowned in the theater, dance, and opera spheres, received many prestigious awards in his lifetime. But his name is not well known by the general public. This amazes and frustrates me. Why, despite all his exquisite designs and trendsetting innovations, was Ming not a household name? Perhaps it’s because he never sought that kind of recognition. Ming Cho Lee’s legacy is securely ensconced because he was one of the best and most influential teachers of
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theater artists. And because this legacy deserves to be more widely celebrated and seen, I’ve spent the past 18 years documenting Ming’s teaching. Never have I heard a clearer account of the creative process than that expressed by Ming Cho Lee. And never have I seen an artist so humble and self-deprecatingly funny, yet so vital for so many years through so many changes of style and approach. In this era of advertisement and selfpromotion, Ming was the rare modest man in a sea of salesmen. He elevated the field as have very few, with skill, high standards, unerring good taste, and the willingness to leap into new territories of expression. And he encouraged his students to do the same. Ming was an exemplary human being— deeply ethical and capable of scouring selfreflection. He was outspoken on censorship, racism, corruption, and hypocrisy. Ming brought both serious intent and fun to class, using a Socratic method of questioning to help his students delve into the text of a play. He was a superb dramaturg without being
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