Designers' Notes
Scenic Design - Chen-Wei Liao
The scenery creates two worlds in which the play happens, the real world (Man in Chair’s apartment) and a dream world (the musical). The set includes an 8ft. lift and many other surprises.
Costume Design - Gina Cercone
The Man in Chair paints his world as a place of seclusion, surrounded by the material items he holds dearest to himself, indulging in the small things that bring him joy, or relief, or distraction from the outside world… He narrates to us a narrow part of history where there were risqué women, seduction, sequins and sparkles, and to his delight… scandal around every corner.
The Drowsy Chaperone takes a stab at using comedy to highlight the shortcomings of our societal stereotyping. From the Western ignorance of the Eastern society to the stereotypical cameo of female hysteria, Drowsy throws a punch at everyone within reach.
Proportion greatly comes to mind when I think about the costumes for The Drowsy Chaperone and the idea of something compressed exploding. From the greatness of the art nouveau, to the rectilinear nature of Art Deco, the huge “hand crafted” costumes of the follies, to the lack of costumes on Josephine Baker… we see all shapes, sizes, and styles in this time.
The Costume Design team strives to bring about the fun and whimsical side of the 1920’s while bringing in aspects of all different cultures. Through proportion, texture, color, and dimension we hope to develop each character within their specific personalities and bring alive the dream world of Man in Chair!
Please come visit us in the Costume Shop to come take a look at all of the research books and images! You can also find our information on The Box!
The Drowsy Chaperone takes a stab at using comedy to highlight the shortcomings of our societal stereotyping. From the Western ignorance of the Eastern society to the stereotypical cameo of female hysteria, Drowsy throws a punch at everyone within reach.
Proportion greatly comes to mind when I think about the costumes for The Drowsy Chaperone and the idea of something compressed exploding. From the greatness of the art nouveau, to the rectilinear nature of Art Deco, the huge “hand crafted” costumes of the follies, to the lack of costumes on Josephine Baker… we see all shapes, sizes, and styles in this time.
The Costume Design team strives to bring about the fun and whimsical side of the 1920’s while bringing in aspects of all different cultures. Through proportion, texture, color, and dimension we hope to develop each character within their specific personalities and bring alive the dream world of Man in Chair!
Please come visit us in the Costume Shop to come take a look at all of the research books and images! You can also find our information on The Box!
Lighting Design - Jenna Ferree
The balance of evoking the glamour of the Golden Age of Broadway and the spectacle modern audiences have come to expect will be at the core of the lighting design. Given Man in Chair's nostalgic state and potential psychosis, two worlds must exist: his reality which we experience as voyeurs, and the bombastic world of Drowsy. The goal is to marry modern technology with the world of the classic Broadway musical. This includes the integration of lighting elements into the scenery and evoking the geometry of Art Deco design throughout the lighting environment. As an audience we must see his isolation. We must also experience the spectacular build of his musical world.
Sound Design - Yiran Zhang
The Drowsy Chaperone is a hilarious and fun show. So my job is aiming at offering sound support to casual elements in order to exaggerate the fun part of the show and help to build the emotion.
Part of the musical is in the dream world which is fantasized by Man in Chair, the other part is in reality. The two spaces are different but connected. That means it is important for sound to make the transition between that two different worlds.
Figure 1 was a research image for the initial creative meeting. It shows the process of making a record in the 1920s. By looking at the photo, one can easily imagine not only a melody coming out of an old record machine in 1920, but also what the live performance really sounded like at that moment. It is intended that this contrast of recording versus live music will be recreated in the opening sequence of this musical.
In conclusion, the sound designer not only needs to design the sound system to let every audience member hear clearly what the actors said and enjoy the music, but they also need to provide sound support to help to build connections between the two different worlds.
The attached PDF is the initial system drawing.
Part of the musical is in the dream world which is fantasized by Man in Chair, the other part is in reality. The two spaces are different but connected. That means it is important for sound to make the transition between that two different worlds.
Figure 1 was a research image for the initial creative meeting. It shows the process of making a record in the 1920s. By looking at the photo, one can easily imagine not only a melody coming out of an old record machine in 1920, but also what the live performance really sounded like at that moment. It is intended that this contrast of recording versus live music will be recreated in the opening sequence of this musical.
In conclusion, the sound designer not only needs to design the sound system to let every audience member hear clearly what the actors said and enjoy the music, but they also need to provide sound support to help to build connections between the two different worlds.
The attached PDF is the initial system drawing.