Broadway By Design: Chu, Lake, Moeller, Pearcy & Yeargan Bring CAMELOT from Page to Stage

In Broadway by Design, BroadwayWorld is shining a spotlight on the stellar designs of this Broadway season, show by show. Today, we continue with the creatives from the most legendary revival of the Broadway season, Camelot- Scenic Designer Michael Yeargan, Lighting Designer Lap Chi Chu, Projection Designer Ben Pearcy, Sound Designer Beth Lake, and Costume Designer Jennifer Moeller.

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Based on "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White, CAMELOT, Lerner and Loewe's 1960 follow up to My Fair Lady, is a story about the quest for democracy, the striving for justice, and the tragic struggles between passion and aspiration, between lovers and kingdoms. This epic and timely tale features the iconic characters King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, and Sir Lancelot.

Where did the design processs begin? For Michael Yeargen, it was with the show's new book. "I was inspired mostly by the contemporary nature of Aaron Sorkin's script and the unique shape of the Vivian Beaumont Theater," he explained. "I felt the nature of the design needed to reflect a vast daunting world challenged by the youth and idealism of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot. A physical world that suggested antiquity, but also a neutrality that could be anytime."

Moeller agreed. "I was very much inspired by Aaron's script and his fresh take on this classic myth," she said. "Among many things, I loved this plucky new Guinevere who has agency and influence. It allowed me to do something different with her looks - I don't think there has ever been a Guinevere who comes dashing in wearing sexy leather pants!"

"Designing a show is a team effort, we all had to find the right balance between realism and fantasy - Bart always suggested it was happening in a world like 'Game of Thrones' and we took that somewhat to heart - creating a world that could be England in the time of Arthur, but wasn't specifically any real place," said Pearcy.

Chu began by fixating on one of the musical's main themes. "'Idealism' was the word I kept landing on. I wanted the lighting design to express that ideal or perfection that Camelot represents to so many," he explained.

"It may mean one thing to King Arthur, but it means something else to Lancelot, or to Guenevere, to you, to me, to Jackie Kennedy. It is ultimately unachievable or at least subjective, but I was inspired by that quest for the ideal, for better or worse. Aaron Sorkin articulated the dilemma brilliantly in this retelling."

"The inspiration for the sound design of Camelot is to ensure that every seat in the house and every actor onstage has the same aural experience of the onstage performance," added Lake. "Because sound is greatly affected by the acoustics of the venue we spend the a large part of the rehearsal process onstage with the actors to hear what they hear. We do the same in preview process by sitting in as many different places as possible. By using precise measurement and pre-visualization of speaker placements we can predict how our equipment will function to this unique space."

Where did the biggest design challenges arise?

"The biggest challenge of this design was the sheer size of the stage," continued Lake. "Michael Yeargan's expansive set allowed for beautiful stage pictures with extreme depth of field. This meant that actors were hearing the music and other actors from very far away. Utilizing a myriad of speakers and exact timing we were able to make every word and note heard both onstage and in the audience."

"This is a Camelot like we have never seen before - the same great score, but with a reimagined book for today's audience. I felt that the clothes needed to be the same," said Moeller. "They should have all the opulence and splendor that we associate with Camelot but appeal to the modern eye. For example, Guinevere's should feel like they has one foot firmly grounded in the Medieval period and the other on the runway. It was tricky to find just the right balance."

"[Our biggest challenge was] to find a physical space that expressed these ideas. We discovered that a raked wooden platform, connected by bridges to huge stone arches, hovering over the 38 piece orchestra gave us this feeling. Projections by Ben Pearcy and 59 Productions and props gave us specificity of place, when needed, and were also able to change the atmosphere in incredible ways."

"Even though the set is very open, we still had to find ways to project around speakers and other obstructions and still deliver a seamless image," added Pearcy. "The wall at the back of the set is projected on from very close to the wall, and that takes very careful planning and precision in the alignment of the projectors."

"[I struggled with] 'Fie on Goodness'," said Chu. "This song is written as a back and forth between three separate groups in three different locations. Bart Sher's vision was to stage these three locations layered on top of one another. Keeping track of space and time was a challenge. But it created a tremendous opportunity to design something special that still delivered the majestic that Camelot demands."

Camelot is currently running on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.

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