Anna Louizos Dead: Broadway Scenic Designer Of ‘Avenue Q’ Was 69

Anna Louizos, a prolific, three-time Tony nominated Broadway scenic designer whose work brought vivid life to such productions as Avenue Q,  Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, School of Rock, Steel Magnolias and the 2012 revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, died Wednesday, May 25, in New York City of multiple myeloma. She was 69.

Her death was announced by her wife, producer Robyn Goodman, who noted that Louizos’ death followed a series of health challenges stemming from a horseback riding accident while on vacation in Greece last year.

Born June 24, 1957, in Marysville, California, Louizos moved to New York City to pursue a degree in acting at NYU. As her talent for the visual arts emerged, she shifted her studies to Scenic Design, graduating with an MFA from Tisch School of the Arts.

One of her first major assignments was to serve as art director of the Tony Awards telecast in 1993, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination. Her early years as associate scenic designer on Broadway during the 1990s and early 2000s included such shows as The Red Shoes, Scarlett Pimpernel and, under the tutelage of her beloved mentor Tony Walton, Taller Than a Dwarf and Uncle Vanya.

She was the principal scenic designer on the 2003 breakout hit and surprise Tony winner Avenue Q, and her designs would continue with the show as it moved to Off Broadway, London, Las Vegas and on tour. Her design of a rundown outer borough NYC city block would become a visual staple of Avenue Q, and can currently be seen in the West End revival.

Louizos was nominated three times for the Tony Award – High Fidelity (2006), In The Heights (2008) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012). For those productions, she created, respectively, an old-school vinyl record store, the vibrant streets of contemporary Washington Heights, and a 19th Century English cathedral city.

In a social media post, Miranda, wrote, “I will never forget the first time [his wife] Vanessa saw the set of In The House, tears streaming down her face: ‘How did you get MY block on that stage?’ It was a refrain I would hear again and again from Washington Heights residents AND people all over the world: That’s MY block. That’s MY home. That was the gift of Anna Louizos, our unforgettable and brilliant set designer and friend….She built us a set and a home so real that it still reverberates in every production since.”

He added, “And I’m looking out my window this morning, on the same block where my wife grew up, still in awe that she got it all on that stage. She built our home. Thank you, Anna. Alabanza. Para siempre.”

Her other Broadway credits included included fairy tale glamour of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Cinderella, Honeymoon in Vegas, Curtains, White Christmas, Steel Magnolias, Holiday Inn, Golda’s Balcony, The Performers, Dames at Sea, All About Me, Baby It’s You, To Be Or Not To Be and It Shoulda Been You, all during the first two decades of the 2000s.

She also was art director in 2003 for several episodes of Sex and the City.

Louizos also designed for regional theater and Off Broadway, including Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick…Boom!, Sons of the Prophet, Olive and Charles Busch’s The Bitter Herbs, Crimes of the Heart and The Foreigner.

Most recently Louizos designed the set for the Broadway-bound musical Regency Girls in its world premiere this year at the Old Globe in San Diego. Other recent regional productions include Fiddler on the Roof with Jason Alexander, West Side Story, Peter Pan and 18 shows at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania

In 2011, Louizos created the Broadway Design Exchange, a space where artists, designers, artisans and craftspeople of the entertainment community could share their work. The organization paid tribute to Louizo on its Instagram page: “Fifteen years ago, Anna had a dream: to create a place where the incredible artists, designers, artisans, and craftspeople of our entertainment community could share their work with the people who love it. That dream became Broadway Design Exchange. But Anna created so much more than a marketplace. She created a community. A place where designers could be celebrated for the extraordinary work that so often happens behind the scenes. A place where fans and collectors could own a little piece of the magic. And, perhaps most importantly, a place that felt like family.

“Anna was our fearless leader,” the statement continues, “our champion, our creative force, and our friend. Her generosity, humor, talent, and enormous heart touched so many people. We are devastated by this loss.”

Louizos and Goodman, a couple for 29 years, were married in 2013. In addition to her wife, Louizos is survived by mother Diana Louizos, brother Nikolas Louizos and sister Justina Woltman.