Mimi Lien (born 1976) is a Chinese American set designer, best known for the scenic design of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. In 2017, she received a Tony Award for her work with the Broadway production. Lien is also a 2015 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.
Early life and education Lien is from New Haven, Connecticut.
Lien graduated from Yale University in 1997, and she then attended New York University, where she earned her MFA in design from Tisch School of the Arts in 2003.
Career Much of Lien's education is centered around architecture, which contributes to the large scale of her set designs. She has designed over 100 shows, operas, and installations, including two Broadway premieres. Lien is currently teaching as an adjunct professor in Set Design at NYU Tisch.
Personal life Lien is married to writer and director Alec Duffy. Together, Lien and Duffy are co-founders of JACK, a performing arts space in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Theater An Octoroon (2015) Preludes (2015) The Long Walk Opera (2015) John (2015) Memory Palace (2015) Lost in the Meadow (2015) War (2016) A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (2016) Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (2016) Pelleas et Melisande (2017) Four Nights of Dream (2017) A Period of Animate Existence (2017) Memoirs of a Unicorn Fairview (2018) Lifespan of a Fact (2018) True West (2018) Die Zauberflöte (2019) The Secret Life of Bees (2019) Fairview (2019) Superterranean (2019) The Thin Place (2019) Moby-Dick (2019) Help (2020) Love Unpunished (2021) Suffragist (2022) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2023) Marks of RED (2026) – scenic design for Shamel Pitts | TRIBE; a large-scale immersive environment commissioned by the Walker Art Center and Northrop at the University of Minnesota, conceived as an enveloping "womb space" realized in red stretch fabric.
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryWorkResult2014Lucille Lortel AwardOutstanding Scenic DesignNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812rowspan=6 2015MacArthur Fellowship2016Obie AwardSpecial Citation for CollaborationJohn by Annie Baker2017Tony AwardBest Scenic Design in a MusicalNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Set DesignOuter Critics Circle AwardLucille Lortel AwardOutstanding Scenic DesignSignature PlaysBessie AwardsOutstanding Visual DesignA 24-Decade History of Popular Music by Taylor Mac 2018Memoirs of a ... Unicorn 2019Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Set DesignFairview2023Tony AwardBest Scenic Design in a MusicalSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
See also Chinese people in New York City
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