Schuylkill Haven native's award-winning Broadway set designs will be on display

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ALBRIGHT COLLEGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Originally published in the Pottsville Republican-Herald on January 27, 2022.

Allen Moyer, a Schuylkill Haven native and award-winning Broadway set and costume designer, is the focus of a new art exhibit at Albright College in Reading.

“Confronting the Empty Space: The Stage Designs of Allen Moyer” opens Sunday and will be on display in the college’s Freedman Gallery until April 15.

The exhibit features scale models, sketches, photos and videos of Moyer’s sets and costumes, which have appeared in 14 Broadway shows and in opera houses across the country.

To highlight the exhibit’s opening, Albright Senior Artist in Residence Jeffrey Lentz will interview Moyer at 2 p.m. Sunday in Albright’s Wachovia Theater. The event is free and open to the public.

“I am continually captivated by the sheer breadth of Moyer’s creative imagination” said Lentz, who has known and worked with Moyer for almost 40 years. “His designs feel more like art installations, all of them without exception deserving attention in their own right for succeeding to visually represent the world of a play. Allen Moyer doesn’t just design sets, he designs worlds in which the plays take place.”

Moyer grew up in Schuylkill Haven and attended Albright College for two years. He received his bachelor’s degree from Penn State and his master’s degree from New York University.

He first designed for Broadway in 1996, for the play “Tartuffe.” Ten years later, his work for the musical “Grey Gardens” won him the prestigious Obie Award, as well as Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations.

After Sunday’s interview, there will be a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. with refreshments in the Freedman Gallery.

“There is something very captivating about miniature, scale models that draws a view into the space in a very intimate way,” said David M. Tanner, director of Albright College Center for the Arts. “The Freedman has never had a show focused on scale models like this. It will be something you might not see again.”