[1] While he was an English major at Brown University, he also directed, wrote, acted, designed sets and costumes, and silkscreened posters for college productions.

After graduating from Brown, he entered the Yale School of Drama where he was trained by Ming Cho Lee, and scenic artist Arnold Abramson; as well as by visiting lecturers Donald Oenslager, Jo Mielziner, and Boris Aronson.

[1] Since then, he has designed sets for more than 115 Broadway productions, including Heartbreak House, Rabbit Hole, The Color Purple, Crimes of the Heart, The Odd Couple, Doubt, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Twentieth Century, Wonderful Town, Dinner at Eight, Morning's at Seven, Proof, Footloose, Ivanov, The Little Foxes, Once Upon a Mattress, Chicago, A Delicate Balance, The Heiress, Redwood Curtain, A Small Family Business, The Most Happy Fella, Ain't Misbehavin', The Octette Bridge Club, Duet for One, Fifth of July, Talley's Folly, The Innocents, Other Desert Cities, Penn & Teller, After Midnight, Disgraced and Sweat.

[7] He has received 13 other Tony Award nominations, for Fifth of July (1981), A Small Family Business (1992), Redwood Curtain (1993), The Heiress (1995), A Delicate Balance (1996), The Little Foxes (1997), Morning's at Seven (2002), Dinner at Eight (2003), Doubt (2005), Rabbit Hole (2006), The Color Purple (2006), The Royal Family (2010) and Other Desert Cities (2012).

[10][1][11] He received a Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics' Circle in 2013 for career excellence in scenic design,[12] won five Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards,[13] and two Joseph Jefferson Awards given for Scenic Design in theatre in Chicago.