Quick Facts
Biography
David Zinn is a costume and scenic designer based in New York, New York. He has been nominated seven times for the Tony Award for both his costume designs and scenic designs, winning oneBest Scenic Design for a Play award for The Humans and one Best Scenic Design in a Musical award for Spongebob Squarepants . He has over 80 Off-Broadway credits in his lifetime.
Early life
Zinn was born on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, Washington. He wanted to be an actor and then moved backstage to start designing in middle school. After using his high school career at Bainbridge High School to work in and around Seattle and Bainbridge Island, Zinn decided to move to New York City. Zinn attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for his MFA in Design for Stage and Film where he said he was most influenced by musicals and by avante-garde theatre like the Wooster Group.
Career
Soon after leaving NYU, Zinn went to work as a costume designer for regional theater. After a big break at Santa Fe Opera, which featured his scenic and costume designs, he became known for both aspects of his work. He then went on to work in several Off-Broadway theater for years. He also worked closely with Target Margin Theater Company, headed by David Herskovits and graduate school friend Lenore Doxsee.
In 2010 Zinn worked on Broadway with his costume designs for Xanadu. He then went on to design costumes on Broadway for A Tale of Two Cities, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Good People, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Other Desert Cities, The Other Place, Picnic, Rocky, Airline Highway, and An Act of God as well as scenic designs for The Realistic Joneses, Violet, The Real Thing, The Humans, and Present Laughter, and scenic and costume designs for Seminar, The Last Ship, Fun Home, Amélie, and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.
Awards and nominations
Theater
Source:
| Year | Award | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Costume and Set Design | N/A | Won |
| Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design | The Four of Us | Nominated | |
| Henry Hewes Design Award, Scenic Design | |||
| 2009 | Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design | Chairs | |
| 2010 | Tony Award for Costume Design | In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) | |
| Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design | The Pride | ||
| Henry Hewes Design Award, Costume Design | Circle Mirror Transformation | ||
| Henry Hewes Design Award, Scenic Design | |||
| 2011 | Henry Hewes Design Award, Scenic Design | Middletown | |
| Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Costume Design | Other Desert Cities | ||
| 2012 | Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design | The Select (The Sun Also Rises) | |
| Henry Hewes Design Award, Scenic Design | The Submission | ||
| Henry Hewes Design Award, Costume Design | Look Back in Anger | ||
| 2013 | Henry Hewes Design Award, Scenic Design | The Flick | |
| Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play | |||
| 2014 | Henry Hewes Design Award, Costume Design | Fun Home | |
| 2015 | Tony Award for Scenic Design of a Musical | ||
| Tony Award for Costume Design of a Play | Airline Highway | ||
| 2016 | Henry Hewes Design Award, Costume Design | Fondly, Collette Richland | |
| Henry Hewes Design Award, Scenic Design | The Humans | ||
| Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design | |||
| Tony Award for Scenic Design of a Play | Won | ||
| 2017 | Tony Award for Costume Design of a Play | A Doll's House, Part 2 | Nominated |
| 2018 | Tony Award for Costume Design of a Musical | SpongeBob SquarePants | Nominated |
| Tony Award for Scenic Design of a Musical | Won |
