Interview: Tony-Winning Set Designer Derek McLane Shares Exclusive Details on THE WIZ LIVE!

Tony and Emmy Award-winning production designer Derek McLane once again designs the sets for NBC's annual live musical broadcast. After receiving critical acclaim for his design work on 2013's SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE and last year's PETER PAN LIVE, McLane continues to challenge himself by taking on the daunting task of transporting Dorothy and her friends from the rural farms of Kansas, to the dazzling land of Oz in THE WIZ LIVE!, airing this Thursday, December 3rd at 8/7c on NBC.

Today, McLane speaks exclusively to BWW about the magic behind the journey of these beloved characters, as they ease on down the road and onto our TV screens!

When you think about the story of THE WIZ, it is really a story about a road trip. So how do you convey that sense of traveling on a limited sound stage?

Yes, it is very much a road trip. So we do that in a couple of ways. First of all, this show was laid out design-wise very much like a Broadway show. Unlike Peter Pan and The Sound of Music, we approached this one a little differently in that it feels more performance-driven and a little more theatrical.

So there are a series of sets that we have for all these various locations of their journey, starting with Munchkinland, the corn fields, where we meet the Scarecrow, the junkyard, the forest, and they all have very distinct personalities which help take us from place to place. And viewers will be seeing a number of these transitions from set to set live, the way you would see them happen on a Broadway stage. So rather than taking the cameras from set to set, the sets will come to the stage the way they do in a Broadway show, and I think that does a lot in terms of helping us feel that sense of journey.

Another thing that will present the feeling of traveling is that the designs feature physical and sculptural elements combined with something that feels like backdrops, but we're using LED screens for the backdrops, so that will let us animate some of those transitions. So that while we're seeing the physical scenery change, we also animate the transition from say the forest to the poppy fields, and we'll actually get to see some of that background move so it feels like it's taking us through space to the poppy fields.

Also what will enhance the feeling of traveling is the incredibly distinct visuals of the different sets. The poppy fields are so pink and magenta and red everywhere, it is about as different from the forest as you can possibly imagine. And likewise, the corn fields have their own very distinctive feel. So while there's corn growing there it will feel very much like corn growing in a foreign land.

Well I remember with PETER PAN LIVE, your sets were very much inspired by exotic places that you had travelled to.

Yes, that is absolutely correct. And for THE WIZ, [director] Kenny Leon and I had envisioned Oz as sort of Dorothy's vision, Dorothy's dream of Oz, or how she imagines it in her own mind. So we thought about where Dorothy, as a contemporary girl, would want to travel to. And we had the idea that she might want to go to Asia, she might want to go to Europe. And so Oz mixes Asia and some European influences in with Kansas.

So for example, the corn fields, although there's corn growing, they feel like they're growing on a terraced field, very similar to rice patty fields you would find in Cambodia or Thailand. And as you look closely you'll realize that while there is corn, there's something really unfamiliar about them, they're beautiful and Asian, as opposed to American, and yet there's pieces of Kansas within it. It's similar to how we often dream, locations will get mixed up and combined, and things that are familiar get combined with things that are unfamiliar. I tried to do that with the design as well, so that it's really a mixture of foreign images and very familiar Kansas images.

THE WIZ is such a beloved musical. Did you feel that you had to strike a balance between paying homage to the original Broadway production, while at the same time, make it feel fresh and modern?

Yes, of course. Harvey Fierstein, in his work on the script, felt very much like that as well, and that's definitely something I wanted to do. I had great respect for the original production and of course I know that the show is so beloved that I felt like I had to approach it with great respect. But at the same time, I want it to feel fresh, and original and personal. I want people to find something in the story that feels like it touches them today, even though the story has much older roots. In the show, Dorothy is a modern girl and so we want this to feel modern as well.

Last year you faced the challenge of making the characters appear to be flying over the rooftops of London and on to Neverland. What was the biggest challenge you had to face with this year's production?

Well, I think you nailed it with your first question which was about traveling. It's such a story about traveling and you really have to convey that sense of journey, that is a huge part of it. Then of course, folding the Yellow Brick Road into all that. And also, keeping it really fun, but also real enough at the same time that you remain invested in the story. We don't ever want it to be a cartoon, we don't ever want it to turn it into a little kid's story. We want it to feel like it's a real story with real emotions, because it is a really emotional story in the end.

Absolutely. Do you think the third time around will be any less stressful for you or is each live broadcast equally nerve-wracking?

They're all equally nerve-wracking! I mean I suppose there are certain things I'm less anxious about because I've been through this before, but it's still a live show and anything can happen, and that is a big part of what gives it its energy but also causes all of us anxiety over what can possibly happen. And in that way, it feels very much like an opening night on Broadway. Thursday night will be an opening night, and honestly, I'm always nervous about that, about what my contemporaries will think, what the general audience will think, what people I respect will think. And even though you're as well rehearsed as you can be, live performances always have that element of unpredictability. But again, that's where the energy comes from.

Well I am so excited for the show and I'm sure you have done an amazing job as you always do.

Well thank you. I'm super excited too for people to see what we've done. I'm also really proud of it and the work I've done with Paul Tazewell, the costume designer, and Kenny Leon, and I'm proud of what we've all done and for people to be able to see it.

I hope Kenny didn't make you do any push-ups!

(laughing) You know, I've managed to avoid punishment on this show. I just do push-ups on my own time!

THE WIZ LIVE! airs Thurs, Dec 3 at 8/7c on NBC.

About Derek McLane: Derek McLane is currently represented in New York by his sets for the musicals Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Broadway.

Derek McLane has designed over 300 productions at theatres throughout the United States and around the world, for Broadway, Off Broadway, and major live television. Recently, McLane won an Emmy for his design for the 2014 Oscars. His design for Beautiful, theCarole King Musical recently opened on the West End. Broadway select credits include: Gigi, The Heiress, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Best Man, Follies, Anything Goes, How to Succeed in Business..., Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo...., Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime,33 Variations (Tony Award, Best Scenic Design), Grease, Little Women, The Pajama Game; I Am My Own Wife; The Women; Present Laughter. Off-Broadway: Into the Woods, The Money Shot, Burning, The Last Five Years, Ruined, Lie of the Mind, Marie and Bruce, Starry Messenger, The Voysey Inheritance, Two Trains Running, Macbeth(Shakespeare in the Park), Hurlyburly, Abigail's Party, Aunt Dan and Lemon, and many others. Opera and theatre designs in London, Paris, Dublin, Glasgow, Moscow, Krakow, Sydney, Caracas and Warsaw. AWARDS: Winner of 1997, 2004 OBIE Awards, 2004, 2005, 2007 Lucille LortelAwards; 2009 Tony Award, 2011 Drama Desk Award, 2014 Emmy Award.

THE WIZ LIVE photos by Virginia Sherwood/Will Hart/NBC

Photo courtesy of Derek McLane Official Site

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos