Design for the Stage: John E. Bielenberg, will open at the Clifford Gallery on Friday April 8, with a public reception from 5 to 7 pm. The exhibit will continue through Friday April 29.

John Bielenberg has degrees from Carroll College, Northwestern University and Ohio State University (PhD), all in Theatre.  He taught at Eastern Illinois University before beginning his long association with the State University of New York at Binghamton, now Binghamton University. He was Chairman of the Theatre Department there from 1976 to 1992, during which time he founded the Cider Mill Playhouse in Endicott, New York, and served as its Producing Director for sixteen years. The Playhouse is still flourishing more than 30 years later. Though principally a scenic designer, with more than 200 productions to his credit, he has also enjoyed numerous acting and directing opportunities, including an18 season run as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Cider Mill’s annual presentation of his adaptation of A Christmas Carol.  He is a Professor Emeritus at Binghamton University and lives in Belfast.

Bielenberg writes that “A scene design exhibit is, first and foremost, an opportunity to view some “lost art,” for stage settings are nearly as ephemeral as the performances they enhance. With the notable exception of sets created for long-run, commercial “hits,” most scenery is destroyed within a few weeks after completion. Though this is an accepted reality for designers working in theatre, considering the amount of creative energy, time and money expended, it is, nevertheless, an unfortunate reality. Production photos, while not the form in which the original designs were meant to be experienced, do provide us with the means to recapture a bit of the original “stage magic.”

Clifford Gallery hours are 10am to 5pm Tuesday through Friday and by appointment; to arrange call 338-2222. 

October Light Stage Set - John Bielenberg