Today we are sitting down with Scenic (and occasional Costume) Designer Arnulfo Maldonado! Arnulfo takes us through the creation of some of his recent designs including ‘A Strange Loop’, the first regional production of ‘Indecent’ at the Guthrie, his Lortel winning design for MTC’s ‘Sugar in Our Wounds’ and his cornfield surround for ‘Bobbie Clearly.’ He tells us why he is attracted to the “magic of a void” and how his designs often become the distillation of many ideas into one strong visual. He also has great stories about working on Ursula’s tentacles as an assistant of George Tsypin’s on ‘The Little Mermaid’ and how Peter Sellers became obsessed with his model figures. And he takes us through an entire design process from reading the script to the final design and the various tools he uses. He’s one of the hottest set designers in New York with shows on nearly every major Off-Broadway stage and today he is talking to us!

This week we are sitting down with Emmy Nominated Scenic Designer Jason Sherwood! Jason is nominated for the production design of ‘RENT Live’ and he gives us the full deep dive into his set for this groundbreaking production. From it’s development along side Michael Greif, to figuring out audience locations and camera blocking, to how to transition the story from place to place, Jason is giving us the inside scoop on all of it. He and Cory also touch on a whole host of topics including social media use, the keys to staying positive, Jason’s live music work with Sam Smith, Sara Bareilles and the Spice Girls, how he’s achieved so much before his 30th birthday, and much much more. Prepare for an eye opening, candid chat with a designer who clearly sleeps very little and works very hard. AND, true stories from a 6′-6″ guy trying to squeeze into a Broadway theatre seat. Jason is easily one of the most in demand theatrical designers working today and he’s spending over two hours giving us a window into his world. Enjoy!

Bake some spongecake, pull out your six string and spend a balmy summer weekend with ‘Escape to Margaritaville’ Scenic Designer Walt Spangler! On this week’s new episode, Walt is telling us about the genesis of his tropical design that included a research trip to Key West, an actual Jimmy Buffet concert, and how the design changed over time from it’s La Jolla premier and it’s multi-city tour leading up to Broadway. Cory and Walt also talk about his design for the whimsical ‘Tuck Everlasting’ and how his iconic set for ‘Desire Under the Elms’ came to be with giant boulders and a house floating over the stage. Walt takes us through his design process through script sketches, model and sculptural work, and recounts presenting his first ideas to directors like Casey Nicholaw and Robert Falls. And hear the true life story of how a new piece of scenery was conceived, built, painted, and installed over the weekend of Margaritaville’s final previews. Grab something cold and fruity  and let the sound of this week’s chat fill your private cabana. (you did reserve a cabana right??)

What’s the buzz with Episode #81? The buzz is all about Art Director and Scenic Designer Melissa Shakun! Melissa was the Art Dir. for NBC’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live’ and she’s giving us all the behind the scenes stories of turning Jason Ardizzone-West’s stunning design into a reality. Hear about all the sand that never made it to broadcast, how the set was built and installed in record time and why the final crucifixion was so difficult to accomplish. Melissa talks about the difference between Prod. Design and Art Direction and how designing for episodic TV differs from theatre with examples from her time on ‘The Americans’, ‘The Jim Gaffigan Show’, ‘Mysteries of Laura’ and ‘Blindspot.’ She’s got great stories about blowing out windows with fire boxes, shooting scenes under the Astoria Pool, how to make Brooklyn look like 1980’s Washington DC and how she helped transport Seaworld visitors to Antartica as part of the Art Direction team for the Empire of the Penguin ride!

It’s episode #74 and we’re sitting down with Set Designer Luke Cantarella. Luke’s designs run the gamut from musicals to plays, opera to exhibitions, and an emerging field called Design Anthropology, where design is used to shed light on social and societally issues through exhibits or interactive experiences. One such project, entitled ‘214 Sq Ft,’ involved designing a replica motel room meant to reflect the living conditions of low income families in Orange County and the transient spaces that often become their permanent residencies. Cory and Luke also chat about designing larger than life musicals like ‘Follies’ for Repertory of St Louis and ‘All Shook Up’ at The Muny. Other topics include Luke’s eye-opening experience of designing projections only for Goodspeed’s current production of ‘Rags,’ how he totally changed his design process only a couple years ago, and what he tries to impart on his students at Pace University. And finally, they discuss something every designer can relate to, ‘sad designer face.’ But don’t be ;-( be 😉 because it’s a brand new episode!

We close out April this week with Set Designer and current Lortel nominee Rachel Hauck! Aside from being a busy designer, Rachel is also a member of the Off-Broadway committee of designers that recently helped spearhead the first collectively bargained agreement ever for Off-Broadway. Now that the contract has been voted on, she joins us to discuss the nuts and bolts of how it came together, some of the most exciting terms of the agreement, and how the USA membership banded together to take such an historic step. Cory and Rachel also discuss reading a script for the first time, how she talks to directors who don’t yet know what they want, why “just” can be a dirty word in early design conversations and whether theatre design can be molded to fit a standard work week schedule. And hear how Rachel went from being an LA based designer working in television, including an ill-fated TV show called ‘Woops!’ about a group of kids who accidentally set off a nuclear bomb, to becoming a full time designer for theatre. Lastly, Rachel gives us the most fascinating answer ever to, “What job would you do if your profession went away.”

It’s 2017 and we’re going to Hollywood! Or at the very least, bridging the gap between theatre and film as we sit down with the man responsible for the look of the Academy Awards, the NBC Live Musicals, and over 35 Broadway shows, it’s Scenic Designer Derek McLane! Derek keeps busy on both coasts and around the world but he’s with us today to give us insight into his work. He tells us about designing 4 years of Oscars broadcasts from how he begins the design, the unique parameters the show presents, how he embraces both grand and intimate gestures, and how he keeps it fresh from year to year. Derek and Cory also chat about his various designs for the NBC musicals from ‘The Sound of Music’ and how they nearly built the Alps on top of a roof on Long Island, to December’s full scale backlot set for ‘Hairspray’ and the months of work it took figuring out how to lay out the various sets. Also packed into this episode are stories from Derek’s work with The New Group, how he balances work and three kids, and he teaches us all about fly fishing!