The set was decorated with greenery, flowers and a white house - just how I would imagine a wealthy house setting in Long Island to be.
My professor, Gary Varner, who designs most of our shows during the season came up to me during the fall semester and asked me if I wanted to possibly design a show in the spring. I had taken his set design class a semester before, and I liked it a lot and I did well, but I didn’t think he would ask me to be a student designer. What makes this all the more special is there was usually an interview process for the student designers, but instead, I was asked, which is why I was honored to have the responsibility. I would design for our main stage regular season; our patrons would be paying to see the show and my design. Even more, it was the dinner theatre show which made it cooler because those were our most popular events. I was determined to give Sabrina Fair a beautiful set.
The show had one special need – a live bird on stage. We were lucky to have a student, Emily Rankin, who had trained cockatoo that we could use. Her family were friends with the department and were very happy to help us out. Calvin, the bird, was so fun to watch, because you never knew how he was going to react each night. In the script the bird is supposed to sing, but ignores the command making Sabrina look silly. It cracked up the audience each night and sometimes even the actors on stage.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t scared and a little unsure about doing this very large project. I didn’t want to let my professors down and I wanted to do show my peers that I was capable; I put myself under a lot of pressure… I really shouldn’t have been all that nervous because Gary told me he’d be working with me the whole way through – so the project took the form of a guided study. In December ’07 I started my research for the show, and when I got back to school in January ’08, Gary and I looked over what I had done and then settled on an idea. I started sketching and drafting that month as well. It seemed early to me, but before I knew it the crews needed elevations, color palates, and all the final decisions. It was such a rush to see my drawings and research be built and turned into something real. After the show was up I realized I was silly to be scared. I had the support of the entire department the whole time.
The set was decorated with greenery, flowers and a white house - just how I would imagine a wealthy house setting in Long Island to be.
