Mimi Lien

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.^[1] Lien is also a 2015 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.^[2]

Mimi Lien
Born	1976
Education	Yale University (BA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation	Set designer
Years active	2003–present
Awards	Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical MacArthur Fellowship
Website	www.mimilien.com/work

Education

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. 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.^[3]

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)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2014	Lucille Lortel Award	Outstanding Scenic Design	Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812	Won
2015	MacArthur Fellowship
2016	Obie Award	Special Citation for Collaboration	John by Annie Baker
2017	Tony Award	Best Scenic Design in a Musical	Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Set Design
	Outer Critics Circle Award
	Lucille Lortel Award	Outstanding Scenic Design	Signature Plays	Nominated
2019	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Set Design	Fairview	Nominated
2023	Tony Award	Best Scenic Design in a Musical	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Nominated

See also

• Chinese people in New York City