5 Favorite Designs by Beowulf Boritt
Six-time Tony nominee and two-time winner, Beowulf Boritt burst on to the Broadway scene in 2005 with his scenic design for The 25th Annual Putnam County County Spelling Bee. Since then, he's designed 32 more productions, including Left On Tenth and Our Town this season. His work is never boring, and when you see his name in the Playbill, you know you are going to see some fascinating scenery. Here's our Friday 5 favorites:
While we had some qualms with the show itself, the set was pretty cool. It felt like we were inside a computer chip...err...The Squip.
I loved the show, even though the critics didn't, and part of that was the dreamy aesthetic that played out in a black and white/sepia tone movie style. It was a sight to behold!
The homey Canadian solitude of Gander was presented on an expansive blue plank set, punctuated by trees whose roots extended into the auditorium. It was simple, but powerful - sometimes a clear September sky, sometimes a pub or Tim Horton's, and sometimes all at once. Magnificent and humble all at once, just like the subject of the show.
For my money, the set was the best thing about the show. As it stretched out into the house, you instantly felt like you were in the seedy 80s nostalgia of the Sunset Strip. The composite effect added to the overall rock and roll vibe.
Still at the top of my list of the great musicals of the 21st century, this show's design might be a surprise to make this Friday 5. It was, after all very bare bones and representational. But that was the real genius of it. A plank and a chair could be a courtroom as easily as it could be a train car. Your imagination filled in the gaps, making you fully engage with the events as they played out. Brilliant.
No comments:
Post a Comment