What is your role on Summer and Smoke? My role in this production is Set Co-Designer (with Alli Ross) and Master Painter. Alli and I worked together and with the Director to establish the needs for the set. We then created a scale model and ground plan of the set. We have a great Master Builder (Pierre Valois). The wonderful team of builders got the basic set built in four days! As Master Painter, I’ll work with my paint crew to paint the set pieces and some of the furniture to create the desired effect.
What drew you to this show? I’ve always loved Tennessee Williams’ plays, so I was eager to be involved when Mary-Ellen asked me to design the set. Since there’s always some crossover with set and props in terms of furniture, I wanted to work closely with Alli (Props), so we decided to co-design the set. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the other production people who are involved with this show, so I’m having a great time working with this team.
What is your background in theatre? I majored in Art Education in University, and planned to teach art in a high school in Ohio, where I was raised. At that time, the art teacher was responsible for creating sets for the drama productions that all of the schools did. In my last year of University, I decided to take an introductory theatre course to learn how to build a flat. I was lucky to work with an amazing husband-and-wife team who did the set design and technical direction for the theatre department plays. My involvement that year led to an invitation to do a Master’s Degree in Set Design and Technical Theatre. How could I turn that down???? I did audition for one play, but the director said he needed me to build the set. I figured that meant I’d made the right choice to do behind-the-scenes work. I really have no desire to try to act….
At Walterdale? I’ve designed six previous sets at Walterdale (Cyrano, Mail Order Bride, Rabbit Hole, The Love of the Nightingale), painted on 21 sets, helped with props for 12 shows, and helped with costumes for 16 shows. What I love most about Walterdale, besides the chance to design and paint, is working with and learning from so many amazing people — it’s a true community in which we work and play and laugh together. Maybe a bit less laughter in tech week, but that’s another story!
Share with us a favorite memory involving either summer or smoke. I grew up in southern Ohio, where the summers were endless and filled with sunshine and humidity. My dad had a sailboat, so our family spent every weekend in the summer sailing on Indian Lake. My brothers and sister and I all learned to sail. One of the biggest thrills was for us to take the sailboat out by ourselves, leaving our parents on shore to watch. Our family also did night sailing, which was even more magical, since there were no powerboats around. The whole fleet would go out, with people playing guitars and singing, and all of us shining flashlights on the sails to let others know where we were. Another fun event was the watermelon race. The committee powerboat dumped watermelons along a course, then the sailboats would follow. The idea was to scoop up as many watermelons as possible, which is a lot harder than it sounds. My mom was one of the best watermelon scoopers, so we always got a prize. We kids just ate the watermelons, but the adults bored holes in them and added rum before they ate them, which we kids thought was just a terrible waste of a perfectly good watermelon on a hot summer day!
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