In Memoriam: John Iacovelli

	John Iacovelli

John Iacovelli, a leading West Coast production designer known for his onstage and on screen, died of cancer on April 14. He was 64.

A native of Reno, Nevada, Iacovelli studied scenic design at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, then earned an MFA from New York University. Over the course of a nearly 40-year career, he designed more than 300 productions for an array of theatres including Mark Taper Forum, GeVa, Pasadena Playhouse, American Conservatory Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Magic Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Geffen Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Stage, San Jose Rep, San Diego Rep, Walnut Street Theatre, La Mirada Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Old Globe Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Syracuse Stage, and South Coast Repertory, among others.

Other high-profile projects included the world premiere of Wole Soyinka's adaptation of Oedipus at Colonus for the Cultural Olympiad in Greece and the world premiere of a full-length dance, based on the film Casablanca, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. His Broadway credits included a revival of the musical Peter Pan (1998 and 1998), starring Cathy Rigby, and the drama The Twilight of the Golds (1993). He also served as art director on the film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989).

His extensive film and television credits include Ruby in Paradise (1993), directed by Victor Nunez and starring Ashley Judd, the hit science-fiction series Babylon 5 (1993-98, plus several spinoff films), Resurrection Boulevard (2000), Ed (2000), The Old Settler (2001, starring Phylicia Rashad), The Gin Game (2003, starring Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore), Ripley's Believe It or Not! (2000 - 03), the telenovela Te amaré en silencio (2003 - 04), The Book of Daniel (2006), Lincoln Heights (2007 - 09), and Los Americans (2011).

His honors included an Emmy for the television version of the Rigby Peter Pan, a Bay Area Drama Critics Circle Award, the Backstage West Garland Award, 14 Drama-Logue Awards, a lifetime achievement award from the New York Drama Critics Circle, and a Distinguished Achievement Award from USITT.

Iacovelli was a member of the design faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance at University of California, Davis, and a visiting professor at Shanghai Drama Academy.

Busy until the last -- the night before his death, he attended a performance of 1776 at the Ahmanson Theatre -- he had several projects in the works or recently completed, including the musical Did You See What Walter Paisley Did Today? at La Mirada, Blues in the Night at Laguna Playhouse, The Cripple of Inishmaan at Antaeus Theatre Company, The Joy Wheel at Ruskin Group Theatre, and Two Trains Running at Matrix Theatre.

The Los Angeles Times quoted its theatre critic, Charles McNulty, as saying, "John worked scenic miracles on Los Angeles stages throughout his long and distinguished career. His fertile imagination and practical know-how could endow any work from the repertoire with just the right amount of whimsy, lyricism, and realism. His death represents an incalculable loss for LA's theatre community. He was a pillar of the scene here, a beloved and trusted counselor to fellow artists, an amiably enlightening interlocutor with critics and an impish presence who embodied theatre's Dionysian spirit."

Iacovelli is survived by three sisters, a brother, and several nieces and nephews.