Interludes

VIEWPOINTS: Exploring the Intersection of Visual and Performing Arts (Part II)

• By drediman
• March 10, 2014
• No Comments

In the first installment, I explored some instances in which established visual artists have themselves created scenic landscapes for the stage. This second installment further explores the intersection of the visual and performing arts by highlighting a number of productions for which stage designers have adopted points of view and visual vocabularies already formed by visual artists. Some of the most famous stage designs of the last century have taken their cues directly from existing works of visual art. Furthermore, some of these productions owe their very being to pre-existing works of art. As before, the productions listed below do not form a comprehensive study on the subject. They are instead meant to be more akin to snapshots that capture moments when the worlds of the visual and performing arts have crossed paths, as filtered through my experiences in the theater.

1. Marc Chagall’s painting “The Fiddler” inspired not only Boris Aronson’s iconic set design for Jerome Robbins’ original Broadway production of Harnick and Bock’s “Fiddler on the Roof”, it also was the catalyst for the famous musical’s title.

2. John Copley’s spirited production of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” for the Lyric Opera of Chicago (and other opera companies) designed by John Conklin draws directly from the surrealist works of Rene Magritte.

3. The nightmarish environment created by the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore”, as directed by David McVicar and designed by Charles Edwards, is informed by Francisco Goya’s series of prints called “The Disasters of War”.

4. The famous Pointillist masterpiece “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” and the artist behind the monumental work himself, George Seurat, are the very subjects of Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sunday in the Park with George”. The landmark original production was directed by James Lapine and brilliantly designed by Tony Straiges. Subsequent productions have drawn inspiration from the underlying painting in innovative ways, as was the case in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s excellent recent revival (which featured the finest integration of computer-generated projections and stagecraft I’ve yet encountered).

5. The recent musical theater fiasco, “Spider-man: Turn of the Dark”, was memorable not for its score by Bono and The Edge, but for George Tsypin’s set design and Eiko Ishoika’s costume design, which thrillingly (albeit expensively) transported audiences into the world of the comic book.

In the upcoming third installment: Finally, and most excitingly, I celebrate the works of stage designers that have been applauded as being works of visual art in and of themselves. Stay tuned!