#38 Lee Savage

It’s episode #38 and this week’s guest is Scenic Designer Lee Savage! Lee has an impressive roster of designs all around the country as well as in New York. He discusses he love for Shakespeare and his ongoing relationship with The Shakespeare Theatre, and the genesis of his most recent design for “The Tempest.” Other topics of discussion include the in and outs of working in regional theatre, how he makes out of town housing feel personal, his ideal working relationship with other directors and designers, and the influence of his two biggest mentors, Eugene Lee and Ming Cho Lee. And Lee gets personal as he tells us about becoming a father to a newly adopted baby and the joys and challenges of being a freelance designer while raising a child. We’re coming to you direct from the Wingspace studio in Brooklyn! Could we be any hipper?!

#37 Jess Goldstein

This week’s guest is Costume Designer Jess Goldstein. Jess’s first Broadway design was in 1980 and he has 35 years worth of stories, anecdotes and behind the scenes tidbits from his life in the theatre. He tells us about the unique experiences costuming some of our greatest performers including Al Pacino, Tyne Daly, John Lithgow, Martin Short and Kevin Kline. He shares insight into his design process for ‘Newsies’, ‘On the Town’ and the upcoming ‘Ever After.’ Jess and Cory chat about why designing for film and TV is so different than theatre, how his sketching process has evolved down to the type of colored pencils he uses, and his teaching philosophy with the next generation of Costume Designers at Yale. AND hear the completely by chance way that ‘Jersey Boys’ became a part of his life and the personal and professional effects of being attached to the holy grail of Broadway musicals, the unstoppable mega-hit!

#36 Leah J. Loukas

It’s another first for the show with Wig, Hair and Make-Up Designer Leah J. Loukas. Leah is here to teach us everything we wanted to know about Hair Design. She talks us through the artistic process of designing hair as well as the logistical and economical realities of her profession. Cory and Leah chat about the challenges of designing blood soaked hair for ‘Carrie’, famous locks for ‘A Night with Janis Joplin’ and her current work in ‘On the Town’ and the upcoming ‘Heidi Chronicles.’ She’s got some great stories and insight about designing hair that must be true to the period, practical for 8 shows a week, and comfortable for the actors. She even touches on her love/hate relationship with those pesky hair intruders known as mic packs. Let it fly in the breeze, get caught in the trees and give a home to the fleas, we’re talking hair!

#35 Vivien Leone

Lighting Design in America has a long history of pioneering women and we sit down with one of those women today…it’s Vivien Leone! Vivien is arguably the most experienced, sought after Associate working on Broadway and she brings with her a wealth of knowledge from her 30 years in the business. She and Cory discuss her ongoing relationship with ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and how much of the Broadway production remains the same from the day it opened, the personal and psychological effects she experienced being in tech for a year on ‘Spiderman’, and her experiences with both sexism and ageism in her field. She also shares stories from ‘The Last Ship’ and ‘The Bridges of Madison County’, tells us about the fork in the road that led her to pursue the Associate track, and of COURSE talks about her lighting paperwork, which is considered by many to be the best paperwork in the business.

#34 BONUS Episode w/ Anne E. McMills

Don’t adjust your dials…it’s a Thursday BONUS episode with Anne E. McMills, author of the The Assistant Lighting Designer’s Toolkit. Anne is west coast based so she and Cory had a cross-continental chat about the new book. She tells us about the inspiration for the book, her favorite parts, and the new things she learned while interviewing dozens of working lighting designers and assistants. Much of the teachings, hints, and insider lingo in her book has never been documented in a textbook, but has only been taught through on the job training. Listen to her talk about the life of a working assistant and then go pick up a copy for yourself. It’s short and sweet so enjoy!

#33 Mark Stanley

This week’s guest is Lighting Designer Mark Stanley. Mark is one of the founders of the Hemsley Lighting Program and someone who knew legendary designer Gilbert Hemsley personally. He tells us about Gil’s legacy, his unique and one-of-a kind personality and how in the past 32 years the program has grown from a single internship to an array of programs including the Portfolio Review weekend, Mentorship Program and other outreach initiatives. Mark and Cory also have a lively chat about the challanges of teaching design from paper plots to research to concept statements and tech rehearsal nuances, and the philosophies Mark bases his curriculum on at Boston University. And he shares insightful stories from his current job as Resident Lighting Designer for the New York City Ballet and his past work with New York City Opera.

#32 Daniel Brodie

Happy New Year! We’re kicking off 2015 with Projection/Video Designer Daniel Brodie. Daniel just designed all the video content for Mariah Carey’s Christmas concert and he recounts that herculean undertaking having been hired just 48 hours before the first performance. Cory and Daniel also chat about his work on “Motown”, how he picks his teams of assistants, what’s it’s like in his department during tech, and his transition from associate to lead designer. Projections can often be added for the wrong reasons but Daniel discusses his ideal production process and his collaborative efforts with the other team members to help the projections feel organic to the overall design. And Cory and Daniel chat about working on a pre-Broadway test workshop for “The Muppets” in which Daniel discovered, by doing a good job, that perhaps he wasn’t needed to begin with. Job security be damned!

#31 Paloma Young

This week’s guest is the delightful Costume Designer Paloma Young! Paloma went from designing the workshop production of ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ to winning a Tony Award for her designs and she takes us through the whole crazy journey. From her humble beginning as the ‘local’ hire, to a moment of shear panic when presenting the costumes for the first time, to Christian Borle turning a costume piece into comic gold, to costuming multiple companies at one time, and finally to the bizarre experience of seeing her work copied in subsequent licensed productions. Cory and Paloma also chat about her work on ‘Natasha Pierre & the Great Comet…’ and ‘Fly by Night’, the unpredictable reason an actor once was hesitant about his costume, and what Paloma’s own clothes say about herself in the play that is real life. Enjoy!

#30 Tim Rogers-Part 2

Happy Thanksgiving! Your waistline isn’t the only thing bursting at the seams this year. Welcome to part two of our doubled-stuffed episode with Moving Light Programmer Tim Rogers. This week, Tim is joined by friend of the show Jason Lyons! Jason and Tim tell us how they first started working together and how they’ve established a shared language and style over their many years of shows. They also discuss the process for their current hit, ‘On the Town’, why they like sitting next to each other at the tech table, how they drive associates crazy, the artistic devision of labor when it comes to lighting a scene, and common mistakes young lighting designers might make when working with a new programmer. And learn what your show has been missing this whole time…a little color called “slalmon.”

#29 Tim Rogers-Part 1

Welcome to a special two-part interview with Moving Light Programmer Tim Rogers. In this week’s episode, Cory and Tim discuss the history of the ML programmer on Broadway, the importance of the community of programmers, and his process, from sitting down at the desk for the first time until opening night. Tim shares stories from working with Howell Binkley, Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, what it’s like trying to balance work and a family that includes three kids, and discusses the departmental nuances between the lighting designer, the associate and the programmer. SPEAKING of which…come back next week for part two when Jason Lyons joins the conversation as we give you access inside the world of a designer and his long time programmer in a way like never before.