New Book Spotlights Golden Age Bway Set Designs of The Eckharts

By: Mar. 28, 2006
JULIE ANDREWS
Click Here for More on JULIE ANDREWS
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

A new book will pay tribute to the theatrical world of William and Jean Eckhart, an overlooked husband and wife team of stage designers and producers who worked on Broadway during the golden age of the musical.

"Their revolutionary Broadway production designs are the subject of a new book entitled The Performing Set by Andrew B. Harris and published by the University of North Texas Press---the first book on the innovative Broadway designers," state press notes. "They placed emphasis on the continuity of a play. Rather than close the curtain and change a set, they felt the best way to change a set was in front of the audience. The set changing or shifting had to be part of the show, not something you had to try to hide." said Harris, a visiting professor of theatre at University of North Texas.

The book, which features a foreward by Carol Burnett and a preface by Sheldon Harnick, contains more than 500 full-color illustrations, including production stills and the Eckarts' artistic renderings depicting their work in the golden age of American musicals. Among the Eckarts' most famous sets are Damn Yankees in 1955, in which a curtain of baseballs, beads and tassels captured the play's theme of seduction; and Once Upon a Mattress, in which Carol Burnett had her first big role in 1959. Other sets they designed included the live television production of Cinderella, featuring Julie Andrews in 1957, and Mame, starring Angela Lansbury in 1966.

Harris met the Eckarts in 1985 when he served as chairman of the Southern Methodist University theatre department and the Eckarts taught theatre design at the university. At Bill Eckart's request, Harris began working on the book in 1995, two years after Jean Eckart's death in 1993. When Bill Eckart died in 2000, Harris continued his research, using documents from the Eckart Collection, now housed at University of North Texas.  "Bill never threw anything out," Harris said. "There are things that are missing, but he kept an extremely detailed group of his own work … renderings, books, models, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, contracts, letters, bits of set. He had a two-car garage full of stuff."

The book is set at hardcover price of $37.95 (but is available on Amazon for $23.91). To order, call (800) 826-8911, visit your local bookstore or visit www.amazon.com.


Play Broadway Games

The Broadway Match-UpTest and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia? The Broadway ScramblePlay the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
Tony Awards TriviaHow well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends. Broadway World GameCan you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!

 



Videos