Robin Samuel Anton Wagner (August 31, 1933 – May 29, 2023) was an American scenic designer. He won Tony Awards for his work on the Broadway productions of City of Angels, On the Twentieth Century, and The Producers.
Biography Wagner was born in San Francisco, the son of Phyllis Edna Catherine (née Smith-Spurgeon) and Jens Otto Wagner. His mother was from New Zealand and his father was from Denmark. He attended art school and started his career in theatres in that cityPlaybill.com, February 23, 2007 with designs for Don Pasquale, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Tea and Sympathy, and Waiting for Godot, among others. In 1958, he relocated to New York City, where he worked on numerous off-Broadway productions before making his Broadway debut as an assistant designer for the Hugh Wheeler play Big Fish, Little Fish in 1961. His first solo project was a short-lived 1966 production of The Condemned of Altona by Jean-Paul Sartre.
Wagner's many Broadway credits include Hair, The Great White Hope, Promises, Promises, Gantry,"Foresight" Gantry (1970), Ted Thurston, YouTube, posted March 7, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g74V0h0Hsb0 Jesus Christ Superstar, Seesaw, Mack & Mabel, A Chorus Line, Ballroom, On the Twentieth Century, 42nd Street, Dreamgirls, Song and Dance, City of Angels, Victor/Victoria, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Angels in America: Perestroika, The Producers, The Boy from Oz, and Young Frankenstein. His work in London's West End includes Crazy For You and Chess.
Wagner's other theatrical work ranges from off-Broadway and regional theatre productions to ballet and opera, including sets for the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and the New York City Ballet.
Wagner won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design six times out of eleven nominations and the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design three times out of ten nominations.
Wagner served on the Theatre Advisory Committee for the New York International Festival of the Arts, as a trustee of the New York Shakespeare Festival, and taught in the graduate theatre arts program at Columbia University. In 1998, Wagner was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
Personal life and death Wagner firstly married to Joyce Workman of San Francisco. They had 3 children: Kurt, Leslie, and Christie. Then later married studio executive Paula Wagner (née Kauffman).
Wagner died at his home in New York City on May 29, 2023, at the age of 89.
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryWorkResultRef.1971Drama Desk AwardsOutstanding Set DesignLenny1972Tony AwardsBest Scenic DesignJesus Christ Superstar1975Mack & Mabel1978On the Twentieth CenturyDrama Desk AwardsOutstanding Set Design1982Tony AwardsBest Scenic DesignDreamgirlsDrama Desk AwardsOutstanding Set Design1983Drama Desk AwardsOutstanding Special EffectsMerlin1990Tony AwardsBest Scenic DesignCity of AngelsDrama Desk AwardsOutstanding Set Design1992Tony AwardsBest Scenic DesignJelly's Last JamDrama Desk AwardsOutstanding Set DesignCrazy for YouOuter Critics Circle AwardsOutstanding Scenic Design1993Tony AwardsBest Scenic DesignAngels in America1996Drama Desk AwardsOutstanding Scenic Design of a MusicalVictor/Victoria2000Tony AwardsBest Scenic DesignKiss Me, KateDrama Desk AwardsOutstanding Scenic Design of a MusicalOuter Critics Circle AwardsOutstanding Scenic Design2001Tony AwardsBest Scenic DesignThe ProducersDrama Desk AwardsOutstanding Scenic Design of a MusicalOuter Critics Circle AwardsOutstanding Scenic Design2008Tony AwardsBest Scenic Design of a MusicalYoung FrankensteinDrama Desk AwardsOutstanding Scenic Design of a MusicalOuter Critics Circle AwardsOutstanding Scenic Design
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