Interview: Mansfield Native David Korins Set the Stage for HAMILTON

A decade after “Hamilton: An American Musical” premiered on Broadway, the show’s scenic designer, David Korins, says his thoughts about his contributions to the enormous success of the Pulitzer Prize- and 11-time Tony Award-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda musical continue to evolve.

“I’ve seen the show a lot recently and have had the opportunity to once again evaluate my own work. What I’m always affected by is how many collaborators it took to make everything happen. I think the set works so well because the choreography and scenography are seamless, which is rare,” explained the Mansfield native by telephone recently from the New York office of Korins Studio, where he is creative director and principal designer.

“And when it comes to tours, like the one that’s in Boston, ‘Hamilton’ is the best-maintained show I’ve ever seen. The touring production is pretty much what the Broadway show is. Over the years, we’ve tweaked the engineering so that the load-in is much faster, but every aspect is first-rate,” says Korins, who is happy to be reuniting with old friends for the 10th-anniversary commemorations.

“This experience feels like a family reunion. We’ve all hung out together again, so it’s been great. We all love and believe in what we made with ‘Hamilton,’” says the designer of the creative team behind the epic musical about one of America’s founding fathers, the country’s first treasury secretary, and the development of the nation from the American Revolution to 30 years beyond.

That team includes composer, lyricist, and book writer Miranda, director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and orchestrator and co-arranger Alex Lacamoire and others. Like many of his fellow creatives, Korins has been involved in “Hamilton” – which Broadway in Boston is now presenting, for a third run, at Citizens Opera House through November 2 – since before its off-Broadway premiere at the Public Theater in February 2015.

“I worked on the show for 18 months with Lin-Manuel, in what was a relatively nimble period prior to the Public opening, and then on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. From the very earliest period, you knew ‘Hamilton’ – based on Ron Chernow’s 2005 biography “Alexander Hamilton” – was really, really good. Everybody wanted to get a ticket and that hasn’t changed over the last 10 years,” says Korins. “This is a very capital-I Important musical.”

One of the “seamless” moments he cites comes during the act-two musical number “The World Was Wide Enough,” during which Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr duel and the tension intensifies as they circle around each other on a rotating two-part turntable.

That exciting confrontation might have less impact if Korins hadn’t stuck with his instinct. Initially rejected, the turntable, a set of wooden spinning circles built into the floor, became the centerpiece of the set after Korins showed director Kail and choreographer Blankenbuehler 10 moments where it would be used. When “Hamilton” plays at the Opera House, the turntables will move not just 10 but nearly 40 times at each performance.

“The turntables are great aids in freezing, accelerating, slowing down, and rewinding time,” says Korins, who designed an 18-foot-diameter inner circle surrounded by a 24-foot-diameter outer ring. “They convey the circular, cyclical aspects of the show: the cat-and-mouse relation of Hamilton and Burr, the actual hurricane that swept Hamilton off his island, and the political whirlwind he gets caught up in.”

Another of Korins’ favorite turntable scenes takes place when Hamilton meets Eliza. First, the story is told in real time as Eliza and others sing “Helpless,” and then the turntable rotates in the opposite direction as though it is rewinding time, and Angelica sings “Satisfied.” The turntable also enhances the argument between Jefferson and Hamilton in “Cabinet Battle #2,” when they present to Washington opposing sides of an argument over whether America should offer aid to France in a war against England.

“Hamilton and Jefferson stand still, but they rotate on the turntable, and that helps make us privy to their different perspectives,” he says. “That always feels exciting to me.”

The turntable is but one of Korins’ designs for “Hamilton.”

“The set is deceptively simple,” he says. “In front of brick walls, a large wooden scaffold with coils of hanging rope provides a background and also a platform on which the actors can walk above the stage and descend onto it and the turntable. The idea is that it’s the scaffolding from which the country was built, and the brick wall behind it represents the country’s foundation. It’s put together in the way a boat would have been built in the 18th century, because Alexander Hamilton and other immigrants came by ship and the carpenters at that time would also have been shipbuilders. For the second act, eight feet of brick has been added to the wall to show change and the growth of the country.”

Korins’ own life began to transform into what it is today when he was a student at Mansfield High School. It was there that he got involved in set design, at the suggestion of the school’s drama director, after his disappointment at being cast in a secondary role instead of the lead of Billy Bigelow in the school musical “Carousel.”

A drum major in the high school marching band, a varsity basketball player, and, president of the senior class of 1994, the teenaged Korns was encouraged by his math teacher to help build theater department sets. He went on to study theater design at UMass Amherst, spending summers interning at Williamstown Theater Festival. In the years since then, Korins has served as scenic designer for more than 25 Broadway shows including “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Motown: The Musical,” “War Paint,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Here Lies Love,” “The Pee Wee Herman Show,” the 2012 revival of “Annie,” and the 2024 revival of “The Who’s Tommy.”

A four-time Tony Award nominee, Korins will be represented on Broadway this fall by the Lincoln Center Theater revival of “Ragtime,” “Hamilton,” and the limited-run return engagement of “Beetlejuice.” Winner of the 2016 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special for his work on “Grease: Live!” Korins was also Emmy nominated for the 91st and 94th Academy Awards. As a creative director, Korins’ work includes “Immersive Van Gogh,” “Disney Animation Immersive Experience,” and “Hamilton: The Exhibition.” He has also designed concert tours for Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli, and Sia.

Korins Studio is a multi-faceted design firm that keep its eponymous creative director always on the go, but he says that, 10 years in, “Hamilton” remains fresh in his mind.

“There are only a few things in my lifetime where people have slept outside overnight to get tickets and ‘Hamilton’ is one of those. It’s like the iPhone or a ‘Star Wars’ movie. It’s a true cultural phenomenon. It’s interesting, too, to think about my own life before and after ‘Hamilton.’ It’s profound to be involved in something that has so deeply affected so many people. And, because Boston was my city growing up, it always feels even more meaningful when I have a show in my hometown,” says Korins.