Everybody pays attention to actors. We can’t help it; they’re right in front of us, bringing a story to life.
Playwrights get plenty of attention as well. In fact, we may choose to see a play — or not to see it — strictly on the basis of its author. Regular audience members may take that a step farther, and decide based on the director.
But what about designers — particularly the designers of costumes and sets?
They may not be on theatergoers’ minds as much as other artists — but those theatergoers are always on theirs.
It’s their job to let us into the world of the play, to help us understand right away when and where a show takes place and how the characters in it live. Are they rich or poor? Contemporary or lost in the mists of time? Part of a familiar milieu or virtual strangers to those of us on the other side of the lights?
Furthermore, designers have to communicate all that as efficiently as possible, within (sometimes severe) limits of time, space and money.
And yet they bring it off time and again.
Two musicals just opening here are both good examples of the designers’ arts — period shows that demand fashions and furnishings that tell their story in a flash.
“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” at Stages St. Louis, spoofs corporate culture of the 1960s, when midcentury modern ruled. The witty, Pulitzer Prize-winning show follows window-washer J. Pierrepont Finch as he scales the corporate ladder.
“Funny Girl,” at Stray Dog Theatre, is loosely based on the life of Fanny Brice, a poor girl from New York’s Lower East Side who catapulted to fame in the Ziegfeld Follies in the early 20th century. Though she lacked showgirl looks, she had the voice, the comedic instincts and the chutzpah to become a star.
For the designers of both style-conscious period musicals, it came down to choices, selecting a few key design elements that speak volumes without a word.
“At the Tower Grove Abbey (Stray Dog’s home), we don’t have wings or flies, but we love to do big musicals,” explained Gary F. Bell, who is not only the costume designer of “Funny Girl” but director of the show and artistic director of Stray Dog. “So we pick one or two archetypal pieces and focus on those.
“We don’t need a lot of detail. By constantly manipulating small elements, we are able to ground a show in its time and place.”
If that time and place are different from everyday life, that makes design an extra challenge but also an extra pleasure.
“With a period piece, you want to take the audience away from what they are used to seeing,” explained Michael Hamilton, artistic director of Stages St. Louis and director of “How to Succeed.” “When you give them that, they can accept (the story) a little bit better.”
Hamilton thinks that design elements that say “this was a different world” may give the audience permission to accept behavior, attitudes or actions that would make no sense today or that might even offend us. They provide the safety of distance.
And sometimes, he added, they also provide a surprising payoff, when something that happens onstage resonates with our world today, even though the people and setting belong to a different era. Sometimes period productions assure us of an enduring truth: No matter when or where they live, most people really have a lot in common.
An eye for details
‘FUNNY GIRL’
For costumes, designed by Gary F. Bell:
Art Deco patterns. Associated with the French artist Erté, this international style typifies the era.
Luminous jewels and feathers. Ziegfeld girls were often photographed with something to manipulate — jewelry or cigarettes, feathers or flowers. It sent a subtle, seductive message.
Flowing satin and lace. Stray Dog recently staged “Cabaret,” which takes place just a few years after “Funny Girl” but in a different country and at a seedy club. The Ziegfeld Girls wore much more luxurious costumes than their Kit Kat Klub counterparts, though both showed a lot of skin.
For sets, designed by Robert J. Lippert:
Ziegfeld’s iconic grand staircase and drapery. These elements, characteristic of Florenz Ziegfeld’s lavish shows, appear throughout the show in a variety of situations.
A Lower East Side brownstone and stoop. An example of urban Americana in the early 20th century, this evokes the world Fanny Brice comes from.
Wrought iron and a passenger train. These represent the industrialization of America, which boomed along with Brice’s long career.
‘HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING’
For costumes, designed by
Jeff Shearer and Lou Bird:
The pencil skirt of Jayne Mansfield and the full skirt of Doris Day. Silhouette and fit define fashion for the American women of the 1960s.
Purses, hats and gloves. A businesswoman never left the house without a full complement of accessories.
The gray flannel suit is the basis for menswear, achieving iconic status in the title of a 1956 Gregory Peck movie. Color comes through the shirt and tie.
For sets, designed by James Wolk:
Ladders. A ladder motif represents the ever-precarious world of big business, with constant upward and downward mobility.
Madison Avenue. Iconic for its stunning vertical office buildings, Madison Avenue represents corporate culture on a foreboding rise.
Block color. The 1960s embraced this bold, modern look in garments and in furnishings for home and office. This style of color saturation is key to the design of the show.
‘How to Succeed in
Business Without Really Trying’
When • Through Aug. 17
Where • Robert G. Reim Theatre, Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road
How much • $20-$57
More info • 314-821-2407; stagesstlouis.org
‘Funny Girl’
When • 8 p.m. Thursday through Aug. 8; 8 p.m. July 30; 2 and 8 p.m. on Aug. 9.
Where • Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee Avenue
How much • $18-$20
More info • 314-865-1995; straydogtheatre.com