What a wonderful human John was! His absolute love of theatre shined through to anyone who met him!

John was one of the most generous friends imaginable. Yes, indeed (as others have said), there are gifts from John in our house almost everywhere we look (not least the tin in which we store our tea, so John pops into our heads every morning). Perhaps, for me, his biggest gifts were the sets he designed that we had the joy to work on - most memorably the wild night at the Disney concert hall with Yuval Sharon: Night and Dreams, and the circus ring he built for our one-person show, Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love (headed to South Korea next year and Malta the year after; so, John, you're still traveling the globe!). John's "blue-sky" imagination created atmospheres into which our acting and directing imaginations dove with delight: nights and dreams and circuses and more. His sets were of the kind that we instantly wanted to play upon, whether we were participants or audience members, so wealthy were the creative possibilities. An Artist of Vision, a Friend of the Heart, a Colleague of Passion: the impression you made on us in dress rehearsals, faculty meetings and tea-parties at your house (with tables bowing beneath the magnificence of the feasts) is utterly indelible. Miles and I miss you, love you and can only imagine the halo you're wearing right now. You paint the skies, dear John!

I worked with John Iacovelli on several shows: Tin Pan Alley Rag at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1997 and The Lion in Winter at La Mirada Theatre in 1998. I loved John’s wit and generosity as well as his sense of play in everything he accomplished; he demonstrated his dedication to finishing the design, sometimes, as in the case of Tin Pan Alley Rag, staying after the rehearsal to finish painting. One night, my ASM, Ando Iovino and I were on our way out the shop door at the Playhouse, and we turned the lights off, which unbeknownst to us, turned the power off to the lift, stranding John 15 feet in the air. As we started to close the door, we heard his faint cries and went back to rescue him. We have laughed about that event many times over the years.

The last two times I saw John, once at Ebony Repertory Theatre at Sheldon Epp’s book signing and at The Stand, across from the PPH where we shared a bite to eat, I was reminded of how much joy and vulnerability he always brought to everything he did. Meticulous joy. The world is less designed without him. A month or so after he died, I went to see Ain't Misbehaving at Ebony Rep and gasped when I went into the theatre to see what was so obviously a John Iacovelli-designed set. It outlived him. 

This is what I posted on facebook when i learned about John's death.  I hope it shares a fraction of how special he was to me.  

The first time I worked with John Iacovelli was on Burn This at Santa Cruz. Marco Barricelli match-made us, and the first time we met we went to see Come Home, Little Sheba. Going to see a play neither one of us had worked on was a great way to get to know a designer I'd never worked with before, and I've done it many time since, but John was the first, and i still remember the razor-sharp intelligence and specificity with which he discussed that design and that production.

The day before tech for BURN THIS, he showed up with a truck full of stuff and invited the actors to help him dress the set. "They're the ones that have to live on it. They should have some say about what goes on it." It was the first time that I had seen a set designer collaborate with and empower actors that way.

After BURN THIS, we did CLEAN HOUSE and BLITHE SPIRIT at Syracuse Stage, and the designs were always thoughtful, meticulous, loving. No job was beneath John. He'd grab a paintbrush or shop a prop. I still use the second choice laundry bag he picked up for CLEAN HOUSE. John also got me the Granada Fellowship at UC Davis, where we created a piece - Zona Rosa - based on his time in Mexico City in the 80s, and the true love of his life, Dr. Francisco Estrada Valle, a gay rights and AIDS activist who was murdered in 1992.

During our many collaborations, John and I became friends. Much more than friends, really. He wasn't a mentor, per se, although he could've assumed that role. But he was more interested in having me be a collaborator, a colleague, a confidante. John always saw your actual worth, not your status.

I have never met someone who loved to work as much. He had three or four full-time careers, simultaneously. When I ran the Hangar, he insisted that I offer him a job there. The designers' fees were embarassingly low, even after I had raised them, and I couldn't imagine he'd say yes. But he produced a XANADU that was as creative and comprehensive as any of his designs. He just loved to work, to be in motion, to go to plays and musuems.

He was the best of friends. Every time I passed through LA to do a book reading, he would come, and usually bring a friend or two as well. He made time for the people he loved. He was generous to a fault. If he didn't have such exquisite taste, he would've been a hoarder. Anyone who's been to his LA home, let alone spent a night there, knows how the exuberance of things all sort of just fit.

After one of my book readings, or maybe it was an opening, John told me that I made him proud to be a queer man. It is a compliment that I hold close to my heart, still, and will continue to for all my years. We bonded, often, about the complexity of gay identity and masculinity, and having John say that gave me a pride I had never felt before.

CLEAN HOUSE has a shadow sequence at the top of Act II, and when we moved into the theatre everything we had worked out in the rehearsal room had to be reimagined. John knew this would freak me out and it did. He told me, "Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright. We're going to figure it out together." And I believed him.

Your final halo, dear dear friend. I can't wait to see what you gather up there.

Back in 1985 I first worked with John.

As the final show of the 10th Anniversary of THE LONG ISLAND STAGE we worked together on a production of THE COUNTRY GIRL.

I was the Production Stage Manager and John was the designer of the scenery.  We were limited by space on the stage at Molloy College, but John created a design that could be loaded in efficiently and represent the various locations required by the script…

…cross fade across the country and the calendar months flying off 37 years later.

My second chance I had the opportunity with  A FEW GOOD MEN for McCoy-Rigby Entertainment and the LaMirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.  Again John was the designer and I was the PSM.  Again John confronted a script that called for cinematic transitions of numerous locations and as always he was able to spin his magic and provide a design that contributed brilliantly to the success of the production. 

My regret is those two shows were the only chances we had to work together but I treasure the time we shared… Thank you John “for the use of the hall.”

I shared many of my very best personal and professional hours with John.  On both sides, I  cherished his great passion for the theatre, his strong opinions, his ongoing support.....And his love of good "dish and tea"!  We did some great work together, and we had many good meals together.   Both equally delicious!  His incredibly generous spirit is no doubt making Heaven sing in several languages even as I write this.  Bravo Giovanni! 

John was the production designer for the two shows I created, Resurrection Blvd. and Los Americans, and he was beginning to help me design the production for the new play of Los Americans when he suddenly passed away.   He was tremendously talented, hard-working, generous and kind and it all showed in everything he did to make those shows the best that they could be.  I last saw John and got to hug him and tell him how much he meant to me, my wife and my career when he came to a screening of the Resurrection Blvd. pilot at UCLA.  If and when the Los Americans play comes to fruition, it will be a world better because of the advice he gave to me about the play, but it will never be the same without John Iacovelli.  

I was a house guest at the Mandell Summer home on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. As the boat approached the shore John was standing there waving I had never met him. He looked at me and said,"we will friends forever". I thought , who is this jerk", but indeed we are...

Everywhere I look in my house I see gifts that were gifts from John.

I was fortunate to have worked with John many times over the last 39years.  He was such a great human being.  I was always surprised by his fountain of creativity.  From the sizzle piece we worked on for Captain Power & the Soldiers of the Future, three films for Lockheed and the US Air Force, The Wild West, Babylon 5, Crusade and ultimately exhibits for the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum & Parks Janeway Carriage House.  His artistic gifts and sensibility elevated every project he worked on with me.  John would come up with solutions to production issues that were often breath taking and often in directions that were not considered before.   I think of him everyday and miss him greatly.  Godspeed, John, I know you are off on a grand adventure.

John Copeland

So sad to loose a great designer and human being, always kind and helpful.

The Summer I met John

Unfortunately I cannot make the trip to be at the event. I will be there in spirit. John was a good friend with a generous and loving heart.

Joe Tilford

John! What an incredible talent, wonderful teacher, good great and amazing human being. The world is a better place for your having been among us. Miss you!

Lunch with John

John Iacovelli had that lively twinkle in his eye when he was a professor in the early 1990s  He was working on Babylon 5 and instructing courses as well. His students at UC Davis, UC Riverside and other universities adored him, because John had that passion for creating sets to tell a story. He was a kind man who expanded for his students the edges of the world of possiblities. Opened people’s hearts to show them people with a passion for their profession. John fed that bright flame in souls, the creative flame of story telling. He lit the hearts of students by letting his students visit the sets of shows or plays if they were so inclined.  There's a difference between reading about a set and being able to walk onto a Sun Valley sound stage into some dark fantastically realistic spaceship set.  To see there is no ceiling needed and that the spaceship doors are opened manually. 

John had a benevolent stimation of the world and he took the time to share the wonders of set design for movies and theater for others. He encouraged learning and using design to help tell stories, to uplift, to encourage others, and to inspire talent. Godspeed. And God bless. 

Credits:  the above is 10% my words and 90% the eulogy penned by the incredibly talented and underpaid writers of Succession's episode "Church and State".  I needed to lean on the greats to talk about a great man. I interacted with him only briefly 3 decades ago, but his generosity and unusual name made me remember him instantly when reading the LA Times obtituary.   May John rest in peace and may we all encourage each other as John did for us.

Sure you are flying high in Neverland John!🧚‍♀️I love you. The world surely lost a truly talented soul.🥺 💔