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Monthly Archives: September 2011

Phil Lowe’s most memorable Plan-B costume design

Phil Lowe

Phil Lowe

Phil Lowe has designed costumes for the Plan-B productions of ANIMAL FARM, BLOCK 8, THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER (at Kingsbury Hall), WALLACE, AMERIGO, SHE WAS MY BROTHER and BORDERLANDS.

As a costume designer in Utah I spend a lot of my time working in musical theatre. It’s flashy, it’s fun, and it’s easily consumable by the masses. But as an educator, I am constantly reminding my students that the purpose of theater is not only to entertain, but also to educate and enlighten. This past summer I designed a production of SOUTH PACIFIC (at Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre). Though laced with themes of racial prejudice, most people remember it as a love story on an island set against the backdrop of WWII.

When I was first asked to write about my most memorable Plan-B costume design I was in the process of returning some of the costumes I had rented for that production. As I was re-stocking some ladies dresses in the 1940′s section I came across a dress I had used in designing BLOCK 8 for Plan-B.

As I glanced to the right I recognized a dress I used in a production of CABARET (at Egyptian Theatre Company)hanging down the row in the 1930′s section. It got me thinking that while there lots of stories that have been told about WWII both in Europe in the Pacific, the stories of the people in Japanese internment camps right here in America are few and far between.

That is the thing I love most about all of the productions that I have worked on at Plan-B. Telling stories that many times go untold. That is why I would have to say my most memorable experience was working on Julie Jensen’s SHE WAS MY BROTHER.

Joe Debevc, Jay Perry and April Fossen (left to right) - photo credit Rick Pollock.

Joe Debevc, Jay Perry and April Fossen (left to right) - photo credit Rick Pollock.

I remember reading the script for the first time and being mesmerized. I found the story so bold and impassioned, yet so respectful and quiet. I almost didn’t know where to start. Since all of the characters are based on historical figures I wanted to be as accurate as possible in visually portraying them on stage. I collected all the images I could find of these people and set to work.

Students would see me in my studio at Weber State University working on recreating Zuni jewelry and shoes or putting together turn-of-the-century men’s and women’s ensembles. They would ask what show I was working on, but the title SHE WAS MY BROTHER would only raise further questions. How does one “pitch” a production of this kind to inquisitive students? I told them it was a Victorian Era story about anthropologists, Native American culture and gender identity. The looks on their faces were priceless! Nevertheless their interests were piqued.

Throughout the entire process, I took every opportunity I had to tell people about the play. Those who actually got to see the production would immediately track me down to tell me about it. None of them really knew what to expect and all of them left entranced by what they had seen.

As I continue to work in this business I inevitably find myself back at a sewing machine working something feathered and sparkly…and don’t get me wrong, I love a good flashy musical! But when the work I do goes beyond entertainment and inspires thought…that’s what makes me feel like an artist. That is the thing that is most memorable.

Please click here for information on Plan-B’s 2011/12 season, featuring three world premieres by Utah playwrights (all with costumes designed by Phil Lowe)!

Randy Rasmussen’s most memorable Plan-B set design

Randy Rasmussen

Randy Rasmussen

Randy Rasmussen has designed nearly every Plan-B set, beginning with MACBETH in 1992. Most recently he designed lighting for the revival of GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL! and sets for SHE WAS MY BROTHER, MESA VERDE and BORDERLANDS.

Efficient. Minimal. Sparse. These are the words that, if I am lucky enough, people use to describe my scenery. I hope they get that it isn’t always a budget choice that drives the look of Plan-B shows. The real goal is not always entertainment with big flashy sets. So how do we stimulate minds and create social change with shows? Movies provide easy, concrete images and they struggle when they need something more abstract. Theatre is just the opposite. If you let it, the abstract is so easy and the audience will do all the work. My hope is that by leaving things out, the audience immediately knows they have to engage their imaginations. When that happens it is so much easier for their emotions and heart to jump along for the ride. If the audience can become sympathetic with a character and they will leave with an entirely different perspective on the world. That’s all we do or at least that’s what we hope for.

The shows I remember most are the ones that cost next to nothing. See, I believe that we create our reality by the dreams and choices we pursue. It’s not like I think someone can think themselves sick but I do think you might be able to think yourself less sick. Anyway. Sometimes I get to kinda stew with a project a while and stuff just kinda appears around me that is perfect for what we are doing and generally the right size if not already the right color. Seriously the shit just appears!

April Fossen and Christy Summerhays - photo credit Rick Pollock

April Fossen and Christy Summerhays - photo credit Rick Pollock

Pick the most memorable one? Pick ONE? Kinda hard but recently I had a good time with MESA VERDE/ It was made mostly with recycled parts from a University of Utah Lyric Opera and parts from DI ESPERIENZA – who knows how long we have had some of it. It wasn’t prefect the deck was wiggly and squeaky and the paint didn’t dry as fast as I wanted it to, but wow did it look good! The black-on-black thing I saw on native pots and once I saw it used at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. It was a bit of a risk but we do that sometimes. The show looks like it was floating in space: thanks Jesse [Portillo, lighting designer], and the actors [April Fossen, Christy Summerhays, Teresa Sanderson] were flawless. Thanks Cheryl [Ann Cluff, director]. Great script Matt [hew Ivan Bennett, playwright]. Just another perfect little show. Hope you saw it.

Please click here for information on Plan-B’s 2011/12 season, featuring three world premieres by Utah playwrights (all with sets designed by Randy Rasmussen)!

Jesse Portillo’s most memorable lighting design

Jesse Portillo

Jesse Portillo

Jesse Portillo has lit EXPOSED, BLOCK 8, DI ESPERIENZA, RADIO HOUR: ALICE, AMERIGO, SHE WAS MY BROTHER, MESA VERDE and BORDERLANDS (as well as the Script-In-Hand Series readings of THE NORMAL HEART and A DOLL HOUSE, a handful of events and several SLAMs) for Plan-B.

I have been putting off writing this for the last few days because I have had trouble deciding what my most memorable experience with Plan-B has been. I remember getting a phone call at 7am on a Saturday morning in October of 2007 to see if I would be available to fill in for an injured lighting designer later that day on EXPOSED. I am happy to say that I was available and have had the privilege of working with Plan-B every year since. I would have to say that my most memorable production with Plan-B would be working on BLOCK 8.

As a lighting designer I read a lot of scripts, and sometimes it can be difficult for me to fully imagine what the final product will be. I end up spending a lot of time in rehearsal watching the actors and talking to directors and other designers, trying to discover how the world of the play should be revealed. BLOCK 8 was different. It was a rare first reading where the text painted a clear feeling in my mind. I know that might sound weird. My job as a lighting designer is certainly to reveal the performers and the scenic environment that they inhabit, but my job also goes beyond visibility. My job is to use light to tell a story by creating visual environments that support the work of the performers and other designers. Sometimes that can be very difficult for a lot of reasons, but in this case what I needed to do was very clear to me.

I remember sitting in the first run-thru of the play in the rehearsal room. Usually when I see a run-thru of a production it is somewhat of a mechanical exercise for me. I take notes about where scenes are played and how the performers are using the set. I determine where and when the lighting should shift. I tend to watch what the actors are doing and how they are doing it rather than watching their performance. I got into a little bit of trouble during the first run-thru of BLOCK 8. As soon as the actors Bryan Kido and Anita Booher entered I was mesmerized. I was drawn into the performance, I watched as if it were opening night.

Anita Booher and Bryan Kido - photo credit Rick Pollock

Anita Booher and Bryan Kido - photo credit Rick Pollock

After that rehearsal we had a meeting and the director Jerry Rapier had a few specific questions: he was wondering if I would be able to achieve the isolation that he was hoping for during a few specific moments. Enough time has passed that I can be honest about this. I acted as if I had been paying attention the blocking on the set and assured him that there would be no problem. I crossed my fingers and hoped I would not regret the promise I just made.

As we moved into the performance space everything just seemed to fall together. The set, costumes and sound were all perfect. For me it was a rare show where everything seemed to fall together perfectly. I will admit that my biggest challenge in the entire process was forcing myself to watch the lighting. Usually, by the time I have seen a play more than 20 times I get a little comfortable, and sometimes even a little bored. I never grew tired of watching BLOCK 8. That production is certainly memorable for a lot of other reasons, but for me it stands out as a design I am proud of for a play that I still find captivating.

Please click here for information on Plan-B’s 2011/12 season, featuring three world premieres by Utah playwrights (all lit by Jesse Portillo)!

Cheryl Ann Cluff’s most memorable Plan-B sound design

Cheryl Ann Cluff

Cheryl Ann Cluff

Cheryl Ann Cluff co-founded Plan-B in 1991 and is the company’s Managing Director. She has directed MESA VERDE and all five RADIO HOURs, including RADIO HOUR: FRANKENSTEIN (Utah Broadcasters Association Gold Award, Best Radio Feature Story or Program) and RADIO HOUR: ALICE. She has designed sound for most Plan-B productions since 2000, most recently SHE WAS MY BROTHER and BORDERLANDS.

My most memorable design experience was probably for our production of Mercury Theatre’s THE WAR OF THE WORLDS back in 2002. This show is most memorable for me from a sound design perspective because it was my first experience designing sounds that were performed live, on stage by a foley, using various objects to create the sounds, pretty much like they did back in the Golden Age of Radio in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Absolutely no sounds were pre-recorded for that show, which was a first. I co-designed sound with Cory Thorell and I was also the live foley on stage during the run of the show.

I had designed sound for live radio drama for the 1996 production of RADIO MACBETH but it the sounds for that show weren’t completely live sounds performed by a foley on stage. A good majority of sounds were prerecorded with a few live effects, and none of them were actually performed live in front of the audience. I was the foley for that show, and I ran sound and performed the live effects in a small closet off stage at the Art Barn. Don’t ask why I was in the closet (literally, not figuratively) – it’s a rather long, stupid story and not a terribly exciting one at that.

Then, later in 1998, I designed live sound for an original adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s THE RATS IN THE WALLS, which was included in THE PBTC RADIO SHOW. But there were only a few effects for that show, some of which were also pre-recorded.

Another reason THE WAR OF THE WORLDS really stands out for me mostly because, well, it’s the infamous THE WAR OF THE WORLDS where, in the original Mercury Theatre production, listeners actually thought the earth was being invaded by aliens. So it felt like the impact of the show would be more memorable with all the history behind it. Oh, AND THEN, the attack on the World Trade Center had occurred the prior year, and some of the descriptions in the script of explosions and buildings burning and falling down were just uncanny. With that being so fresh and in the country’s immediate consciousness, we knew there would be obvious comparisons to the events on 9/11.

Cheryl Ann Cluff

Cheryl Ann Cluff

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS was much more of a creative and emotional challenge than any other production (with the exception of the emotional challenge connected to THE LARAMIE PROJECT).

Please click here for information on Plan-B’s 2011/12 season, featuring three world premieres by Utah playwrights!