MARK NAYDEN (Set Design) has garnered a prestigious reputation and critical acclaim as a designer and design manager for film, television and live events. Nayden’s work in and around NYC includes designs for: Westbeth, The York Theatre Company, The Jewish Repertory, New York Performance Works, The Directors Company, as well as Manhattan School of Music. He was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Set Design of the Invictus Theatre Company’s production of Murder in the First, directed by Michael Parva. He has designed several productions at NJPAC including Sweeney Todd and Carousel which were also performed at the Algonquin Arts in Manasquan NJ.
A guest artist at Montclair State University in 2003, he designed The Shape of Things. He was also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Theatre and Dance (2000-2001), teaching and advising in their undergraduate programs, as well as designing a production of Cloud 9. Previously, Mr. Nayden was an adjunct at The University of Bridgeport in the Graphic Design Department.
Mr. Nayden was the Associate Designer on Broadway productions: The Tony Nominated Indiscretions (Les Parents Terribles); The Drama Desk Award Winner and Tony Nominated An Inspector Calls (Broadway & National Tour); Translations and Wonderful Tennessee and at the New York City Opera on The Visit of the Old Lady, directed by Joanne Akalitis. He has also collaborated with many Broadway designers including Richard Hudson on The Lion King and Paul Gallis on Cyrano the Musical.
He has designed for choreographer Paula Josa Jones on Wonderland at Jacob’s Pillow and the Altogether Different Festival at the Joyce Theatre in NYC; Raving in the Wind at the Majestic Theatre in Boston MA; and for her performance works: Eine Kliene Nachtmusik, The Yellow Wallpaper and Ghostdancer for Lincoln Center Out of Doors.
In addition to his performace work, Mr. Nayden has an extensive resume of industrial and architectural projects including permanent installations with interactive/multimedia elements. He designed and is co-owner of Excelsior, a bar/cocktail lounge in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Zagat Survey’s Brooklyn Guide featured Excelsior as one of the top ten nightspots. It has also been featured in Time Out’s Best Bars 2001, The Best in NY 2000 by New York Magazine and The Village Voice.
Nayden was a designer with DMD Group, a full service design and management company for the entertainment industry founded by Duke Durfee. His industrial show design experience includes live events and video designed for product introductions, press events and promotions for corporate clients around the world including: IBM, SONY, DIGITAL, MCI, DISNEY, PHILIP MORRIS, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, BUICK, TOYOTA, DAIMLER-CHRYSLER, MASTERCARD, SCHERING-PLOUGH, FORD LINCOLN MERCURY, MARITIME OVERSEAS CORP., MOODY’S, COMPUTERWORLD, THE PADDINGTON CORP., NORTEL AVON and BENEFICIAL.
Mr. Nayden received his MFA in Scene Design from Boston University in 1990; his BFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design in 1987 and studied experimental photography in a program at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland.
He lives in NYC and is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829
