Company, Follies, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd. These popular Broadway shows, and iconic sets can be seen like never before in a pop-up installation that opened September 17, 2021, at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, thanks to artist Henry Lee of Lego Broadway Sets. Brick By Brick, Putting It Together: The Broadway Set Miniatures of Henry Lee showcases Lee’s intricate, miniature reimaginings of set designs built with LEGO® bricks. It runs at the Library through December 10, 2021.
The six set models will be complemented with archival materials from the Library’s collections related to each show. Boris Aronson’s original Broadway and touring set models for Company, A Little Night Music, and Follies will all be displayed next to Lee’s renditions. This will mark the first time both Company set models will be on view together. The installation will also feature video footage from the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT), and set pieces from Evita and Sweeney Todd, as seen in Prince of Broadway. Photographs from the Billy Rose Theatre Division’s photography collection will also illustrate how the sets came to life on stage. Many of the archival materials on display give visitors an opportunity to see selections from the exhibition In the Company of Harold Prince: Broadway Producer, Director, Collaborator, which the Library closed early in March of 2020 due to the pandemic.
“Lego Broadway Sets was founded as my love letter to the American musical,” said Lee, “a heartful homage to iconic productions embodied through a popular, and most importantly, accessible medium during a time when theater artists like myself had virtually no creative outlets. To now be collaborating with the world-renowned Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in creating this incredible multimedia installation celebrating my absolute favorite works and creatives of all time is an unbelievable honor and privilege.” Lee is an actor/singer currently pursuing his BFA in Music Theatre Performance (minor in dance) from Western Michigan University (graduating summer 2023). He also directs, designs, and teaches theatre, currently serving as teaching artist at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre.
“I loved watching Henry’s set designs become an online sensation early in the pandemic,” said Doug Reside, Lewis and Dorothy Cullman Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, “not only for their playful take on Broadway sets, but because inspiring creativity is part of the Library for the Performing Arts’ mission, and Henry’s sets are so creative. It is an absolute pleasure to display his works here at the Library alongside the materials that inspired him, and a delightful opportunity to welcome visitors back into our space.” Learn more about Lego Broadway Sets on Instagram: @legobroadwaysets.
The Design Winners at the 74th Annual Tony Awards
The pandemic delayed 74th annual Tony Awards were finally presented on Sunday, September 26, 2021 live and in-person at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City. The musical Moulin Rouge! and the play A Christmas Carol swept the design awards for the musical and play categories respectively. Interestingly both productions enveloped the audience in the two very different worlds of each show. Moulin Rouge! brought us into grand spectacle while A Christmas Carol evoked Dickens’ England in a sparse but no less effective manner. The Moulin Rouge! design honorees included Justin Townsend for Best Lighting Design in a Musical; Best Scenic Design in a Musical went to Derek McLane; Best Costume Design in a Musical went to Catherine Zuber; and Peter Hylenski took home the Best Sound Design of a Musical Tony. The design honorees for A Christmas Carol, included Best Lighting Design in a Play to Hugh Vanstone; Rob Howell took home both the Best Scenic Design and Best Costume Design in a Play Tony Awards; and Simon Baker was awarded the Best Sound Design in a Play honor. Stage Directions on behalf of PLSN congratulate all the nominees and winners. Further information from the Tony Awards: www.tonyawards.com.
SMA Announces New Leadership
The Stage Manager’s Association of the United States (SMA) welcomed 10 new directors to its first board meeting of the 2021-22 SMA term, who had not served on the board in the past. New to the leadership team are Alfredo ‘Fredo’ Aguilar, an active committee member located in the Central Region, Chicago, and R. Christopher Maxwell who has served as a NYC Regional Rep; both elected to serve at large. Also elected are Amy Paige, Treasurer, Allison Baker, Recording Secretary, and Casey Hagwood as Corresponding Secretary. Joining Rachel Harrison in the East are Regional Directors, Maegan Burnell, Central; Ben Shipley and Talia Krispel, Western; and Jhanaë Bonnick and Rachel Zucker for New York Metro (NYM) Region.
In 2021 the SMA is implementing a structural leadership change, eliminating second Vice Chair, and adding a Chair-Elect. Ross Jackson, from Los Angeles has been elected as Vice Chair of the Association. Jackson has previously served as 2nd Vice Chair, Western Regional Director, and chair of the SMA Social Media Committee. Adrienne Wells will serve a year as chair-elect in preparation for taking over the leadership of the Association in July 2022. Stage Managers may know Wells for her six years serving as the corresponding secretary for the SMA and from many conferences and recruiting trips.
An exciting new development for the SMA is the addition of a Director of Education. This position will be responsible for developing and representing all education efforts of the SMA while working and guiding the Education Committee and its multiple projects. They are very pleased to announce that Amanda Spooner, who helmed the very successful Year of the Stage Manager campaign and previously has served as Vice Chair, has been appointed to this two-year position on the SMA Board. She will be working with all various working groups and subcommittee programs for the SMA moving into the future. As the SMA enters this transitional year, they plan to lean into many of the changes and adjustments they made for 2020 and continue to work to address the many needed changes highlighted in the industry overall. Learn more about the Stage Managers’ Association at www.stagemanagers.org
Go Virtual with Utah Shakes’ Prop Talks
COVID-19 restrictions forced the cancellation of Utah Shakespeare Festival’s popular in-person Prop Seminars this summer, but like all good theatermakers, USF’s Properties Director Benjamin Hohman came up with a solution to spread the love for the props that he and his team created this season. Hohman and company put together a series of video seminars, Prop Talks, highlighting many of his favorite 2021 season creations. They include behind-the-scenes images and the secrets to how Hohman and his prop crew created the props for a range of shows including those for the two-person show, The Comedy of Terrors, which is set on the “empty” stage of a theatre. But the stage is actually far from empty with lights, trunks, ladders, and various theatrical minutiae. Other shows and props that Hohman highlights includes for The Comedy of Errors, with a “pillow fish,” a fountain that really works, a Bible and staff that do tricks, light sabers, a huge grape arbor, and lots of flags, plants, pots, and other set dressings. For Intimate Apparel he highlights a bed and quilt that both are full of surprises, some beautiful screens, a piano, an old sewing machine, and more. The team created an octopus, tombstones, ribbons, and flowers for The Pirates of Penzance; lots of Americana, a piano, an early-twentieth-century movie camera, old newspapers, dynamite, and a coffin for Ragtime; a LOT of trunks for Cymbeline; Richard the III included a large funeral bier, numerous weapons, banners, and an elaborate throne; and Pericles’ props list included a ghoulish “head rack and heads,” various shields (each distinct to the knight who carries it), a “slightly gaudy but appropriate” brothel curtain, some chairs and thrones, and a coffin.
You can see the eight episodes of USF’s Prop Talks on this YouTube Playlist here: www.bit.ly/SD_USFPropTalks.
