A titan of his field and one of the key figures in modernizing Broadway set design, Robin Wagner's credits spanned from 1961 to 2012, and included such landmarks as the original productions of A Chorus Line, Angels In America, Crazy for You, City of Angels, On the 20th Century, Promises Promises, Jelly's Last Jam, Hair and JCS, and flops like Ballroom, Mack & Mabel, Merlin, and Leap of Faith. Among his most frequent collaborators were Michael Bennett, Gower Champion, David Merrick, Susan Stroman, Joe Papp, George C. Wolfe, and Michael Blakemore.
His death has been confirmed by those close to him, including producer/attorney John Breglio.
Here he is in Theater Talk a few years ago, in which he and David Rockwell talk about their approaches to design and their respective productions of On The 20th Century.
It's also worth noting that in the past 15 months we have lost 3 of the set design titans who challenged and evolved Broadway in the shift out of the Golden Age in the 60s-70s: Tony Walton, Eugene Lee, and now Robin Wagner. There are very few left of that ilk.
Sorry to hear this. He was the last living member of Michael Bennett's "Dream Team" (Robin Wagner, Theoni V. Aldredge, and Tharon Musser). I was always completely fascinated and obsessed with his designs. Especially A CHORUS LINE, DREAMGIRLS, and ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/17
I loved his 2010 Dreamgirls revival set
His ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY sets and designs were perfection…for the original Broadway production. I still remember that train, adorned with Imogene Coca, about to plow into the audience!
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