Interview: WBHM interviews myself, and director Abe Reybold about Beauty and the Beast set

Tapestry is WBHM 90.3's (Birmingham, AL) weekly arts program. Below is the excerpt about the interview I had with Tanya Ott.

"And finally today, if you walk into Virginia Samford Theatre this weekend you'll find yourself transported to a visual wonderland. It's the final weekend of Red Mountain Theatre Company's production of Beauty and the Beast. Large cast, over-the-top costumes and a massive set. We caught up with director Abe Reybold - who's in Portland, Oregon, directing another show this week - and scenic designer Murdock Lucas - who's in North Carolina for graduate school.

The set of Beauty and the Beast...

Red Mountain Theatre Company's Beauty and the Beast runs through Sunday at the Virginia Samford Theatre."

You can also download the entire program here.

**UPDATE - The direct link seems to be broken, so go to the entire program link and scroll to near the middle for the segment**

Beauty and the Beast Video: A choreographed scene change from the show

Beautifully choreographed by Joel Ferrel and Abe Reybold.

Not all scene changes were as slow and balletic, this one in particular helped set the mood for the production and give the sense of traveling through the vast castle interior.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast opens!

Here are some of my pictures from tech week and load in for the show:

The Opening Look:

The Beast and the Rose:





The townspeople sing "Belle"




Gaston and Belle singing "Me":




The Dark Forest:




Come warm yourself by the fire:



Maurice Imprisoned:



Belle is given a room in the castle:



"Is this Home?"



Mrs. Potts and Madame de la Grande Bouche comfort Belle:



"Be Our Guest"



The Beast at the end of "If I Can't Love Her"


The Library revealed:



The curtain call:


Scenic Painting by Jillie Eves
Lighting by Eric Lange of University of Northern Iowa.
Costumes by Todd Roberts and Amy Rankin.

Playbill information here. Tickets still available.

More pictures to come, from a professional photographer.

Pictures from the Beauty and the Beast Build

Beauty and the Beast in the shop at the Birmingham Children's Theatre shop:

The framing for the rolling buttress units:

The false proscenium mocked up:


The drop receiving it's final paint job in the Cabaret theatre of Red Mountain Theatre Company

Beauty and the Beast:The Process - Castle

THE PROCESS

Today I'm posting an image that shows the flow of the design for the "Beast's Castle" Unit in the design I'm doing now for Red Mountain Theatre Company.

It shows the flow from initial sketches, to 1/8th inch true elevations with a hint of color, to a total redesign, then an 1/8th inch white model, 1/2 inch drafting and paint elevation. Once the show is built, I'll update this with some photos of the set itself.


Click it to take a closer look!

A single 1/8th inch scale model shot...

...from Beauty and the Beast. We are now in the final design approval stages. More to come!

Beauty and the Beast

I'm currently designing a production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Here are some of the rough 1/8th true elevations the design process started with...

West Wing...

"Human Again"

The Forest

Lots more to come soon.

Learn more about the show here.

Bouncers design featured in UA Website Design

My scenic design for Bouncers has been incorporated into the website design for the University of Alabama Theatre and Dance Dept. home page. Cool.

A Gift Rendering

I was asked recently to donate a rendering of The Playboy of the Western World as a gift for a valued contributor to our department. I made a copy before (reluctantly) releasing it.

Here it is:

Playboy Opens! And Closes.

The Playboy of the Western World opened Feb. 26th and had a successful run at the University of Alabama. I have some early photos from our photo call:






Now I'm taking the design to competition at SETC in Chattanooga and USITT in Houston. The next production I'm working on is Disney's Beauty and the Beast for Red Mountain Theatre Company