American Ballet Theatre’s The Four Marys and Oliver Smith

In 1944, Oliver Smith began his association with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), working on design for Jerome Robbins’ and Leonard Bernstein’s Fancy Free, a wildly successful ballet. In 1945, Smith took on the position of co-director of ABT with Lucia Chase, continuing in that position for the next 35 years, and contributing  greatly to the growth and development of the Theatre as a whole.

In 1965, Smith served as the scenic designer for American Ballet Theatre’s The Four Marys, creating a set evocative of the antebellum setting of the show. The set was composed of five white columns, bringing images of Southern plantation architecture, some fragments of window shades, and a window frame, presumably used within the ballet.

 

More about Oliver Smith

After graduating from Penn State with a focus on architecture, Smith formed strong artistic bonds with the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Carson McCullers, and Jerome Robbins. After designing sets for the Leonide Massine’s Saratoga and Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo in 1941-42, Smith was thrust into the spotlight of Broadway design, working on musicals including Brigadoon; West Side Story; My Fair Lady; Camelot; Hello, Dolly!; and films including Guys and Dolls, The Band Wagon, Oklahoma!, Porgy and Bess, and The Turning Point. 

Smith additionally began to train younger designers, teaching classes at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 1971, Smith co-founded the Lenox Arts Center, an organization in the Berkshires dedicated to innovation in performance and new ideas in the art form.

Smith was awarded many awards throughout his career, including several Tony Awards, Donaldson and Critics’ Circle Awards, the Sam S. Shubert Foundation Gold Medal of 1961, and a Handel Medallion in 1975. Oliver Smith passed away from emphysema in Brooklyn in 1994.

 

Sources:

Ballet: ‘The Four Marys’, The New York Times
Oliver Smith Obituary, The New York Times
Oliver Smith, American Ballet Theatre
Set Designer, Oliver Smith, The WOW Report

Ryan Crants