Broadway By Design: Eugene Lee & Jane Greenwood Bring BRIGHT STAR from Page to Stage

Who is Annie without her red dress? Or Eva with out her balcony? It is the charge of the Broadway designer to transport the audience into the world of a show, whether it be Great Depression-era New York City or outside of the Casa Rosada.

In our new series, Broadway by Design, BroadwayWorld will be shining a spotlight on the stellar designs of this Broadway season, show by show. Today, we continue the series with Eugene Lee and Jane Greenwood, who acted as scenic and costume designers for Broadway's shining new musical, BRIGHT STAR.

BRIGHT STAR tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and '40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past - and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives.

Scenic Designer Eugene Lee said of his inspiration for his designs: "The design for Bright Star was really inspired by a few things. First: Steve and Edie's wonderful score. I knew that featuring the music would be key, since so much of the audience's experience of the story was focused within the music. To watch someone play a fiddle or a banjo is really quite expressive and I wanted share that."

"The other major inspiration for the Bright Star set design was the workshop and rehearsal process. The simplicity of storytelling at that point in the process was key to discovering how the environment needed to function. I learned we didn't need a lot of scenery; that locations could be established with a minimum of visual context. That sort of efficiency helped inspire the fluid transitions and staging necessary for a story that goes not just back and forth between locations, but between time periods as well."

"The greatest challenge in designing Bright Star relates back to the inspiration: where to put the musicians? In the early drafts of the show, the multiple cabin scenes stood out to me as being important - they're where Alice experiences her highest highs and lowest lows. Music and emotion go hand in hand, and I had the idea to tie the two together by placing the band in the little cabin unit. Between the shop at the Old Globe and Stiegelbauer's (who built the Broadway production), we researched all sorts of casters and platform solutions. The technical requirements of moving a small band quietly, easily, and with a certain amount of precision, all while keeping them well-mic'ed and well-lit (music stands, too) demanded lots of clever solutions from many different departments. It's a perfect example of how wonderfully collaborative theatre can be."

Costume designer Jane Greenwood told us: "The show is set in 1945 and 1923, which are very different silhouettes. Each period has its own distinctive look reflected in not just the silhouettes, but in the fabrics and the prints. I was very inspired by the patterns--large, colorful floral rayons of the 40s; soft, delicate cotton prints of the 20s. To preserve the look of each period, we ended up finding vintage fabric samples and having everything printed, which I think added a great deal of authenticity to the design."

On her biggest challenges, she continued: "The most challenging part of the show was changing Carmen as Alice from a high-powered magazine publisher in 1945 to her younger, teenage self in 1923, all onstage. It requires a great deal of coordination from all departments--not just costumes, but hair, choreography, and of course the actors. Every night I hold my breath until she has transformed into her yellow 20's dress and straw hat!"

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With direction by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and choreography by Josh Rhodes, Bright Star began performances on Thursday, February 25th, 2016 at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street), and officially opened on Thursday, March 24th, 2016. For more information, visit www.BrightStarMusical.com.

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