John Arnone


John Arnone is an American set designer. He won a Tony Award in 1993 for set designs for the production of The Who's Tommy.

Early career

John Arnone studied at SMU to become an actor. He then moved to New York with a group of friends that included Garland Wright, Jack Hefner, Powers Boothe and Kathy Bates. In 1976, Arnone started designing sets, primarily for Jack Hefner’s Vanities, which ended up running for five years. He started taking night classes at the Parsons School of Design.

Career highlights

He has done set designs for Tommy Tune, playwright Edward Albee and choreographer Twyla Tharp. He’s worked at the Guthrie, the Mark Taper Forum and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.
Arnone is also co-founder of the New York’s Lion Theatre Company, where he has designed numerous productions on and off Broadway.
Arnone has also designed for several television sets and films such as Mondo Beyondo with Bette Midler on HBO in 1982.

Awards