Rick Paul Collection

Biographical Note

Rick Paul designed his first play in 1951 at the Hubbard Woods Elementary School in Winnetka, Illinois. Forty years and hundreds of productions later, Paul is well known as one of Chicago’s finest designers for plays, ballets, operas and films.

Paul studied set design at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the London School of Film. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he created sets for several of Chicago’s newest off-Loop theaters; Godzilla Rainbow, the Old Town Players, Kingston Mines and Chicago City Players. In 1970-1971, Paul was named the resident designer at the Ivanhoe Theatre under the direction of George Keathley. Paul has also designed for the Goodman Theater, the Black Ensemble, Victory Gardens, the Organic Theater and the Chicago Theatre Strategy. Paul is a co-founder of the Lionhart Gay Theatre, Chicago’s longest surviving company dedicated to gay and lesbian plays.

Arrangement

At the donor’s request, photographs, posters and programs have been filed with their respective theaters rather than kept together under his name. At the archivisits’ insistence, however, the set renderings are foldered and stored together, as they document Paul’s considerable artistry as a designer for the stage. “See also” references provide the researcher with additional information on individual productions.

Related Materials

Chicago Theater Collection-Miscellaneous Programs – Lionheart Gay Theatre

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