'Parade' at the Brown/Trinity MFA Program, 2011
For director Talya Klein's thesis, we took on Jason Robert Brown's epic musical, 'Parade'. Designer Tilly Grimes sought to create a timeless environment in the massive space at the Pell-Chafee Performance Center. The space had a life before it was a theatre, as a long-lasting bank and financial office. As the shadows of the past brought the true story of the place to life, we saw bits and pieces of our own pasts reflected in the space, reminding us just how relevant this story still is today.
To fill the space with a sense of an 'abandoned warehouse', I literally gathered up half of our own props warehouse and trucked it to the Pell-Chafee Theatre. 110 unique chairs made up the audience seating, bringing the sense of the past to each and every audience member. All corners of the space were stacked with bits of furniture, wood, pallets, saw dust, old instruments, ladders, and more. The entry foyer of the theatre, where Pell and Chafee's photos are displayed, was covered with portraits and images of the people and places in 'Parade'.
It's incredibly hard to grasp the scope of the space and the things in it when looking at the photos below, as much of the environment was outside the main playing space behind the audience. To put it all in perspective, it took 2 trips in a 30' truck to get it all back to storage when the show was done!
To fill the space with a sense of an 'abandoned warehouse', I literally gathered up half of our own props warehouse and trucked it to the Pell-Chafee Theatre. 110 unique chairs made up the audience seating, bringing the sense of the past to each and every audience member. All corners of the space were stacked with bits of furniture, wood, pallets, saw dust, old instruments, ladders, and more. The entry foyer of the theatre, where Pell and Chafee's photos are displayed, was covered with portraits and images of the people and places in 'Parade'.
It's incredibly hard to grasp the scope of the space and the things in it when looking at the photos below, as much of the environment was outside the main playing space behind the audience. To put it all in perspective, it took 2 trips in a 30' truck to get it all back to storage when the show was done!
