Broadway By Design: DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES

In Broadway by Design, BroadwayWorld is shining a spotlight on the stellar designs of this Broadway season, show by show. Today, we continue with the creatives from Days of Wine and Roses- Scenic Designer Lizzie Clachan, Lighting Designer Ben Stanton, Sound Designer Kai Harada, and Costume Designer Dede Ayite.

Adapted from the 1962 film and original 1958 teleplay, the new musical featured Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James as a couple falling in love in 1950s New York and struggling against themselves to build their family. 

Where did the design process begin? For scenic designer Lizzie Clachan, it was the concept of duality. "Alcohol is at first carefree and liberating before becoming destructive and isolating, water is both cleansing and dirty, nature is both beautiful and ugly, flowers bloom and decay and the city is enticing, with it’s neon lights, but also dangerous and dark," she explained.

Lighting designer Ben Stanton turned to the text. "The first line of Days of Wine and Roses is 'Two people stranded at sea, two people stranded are we….', an idea and a phrase that is repeated several times during the show. This idea, a metaphor for people struggling with addiction, serves as a foundational image for the entire lighting design. There is a small body of water at the foot of the stage, and the presence of water, and water reflections is a recurring theme of the design.

How did the musical find its sound? "Adam [Guettel] was clear that he wanted an acoustic-sounding show, which I was totally on board with, and Kimberly Grigsby, the music director, and I worked hard with the space given for best place the musicians and then work on orchestra balances for the best experience both downtown at the Atlantic and at Studio54," said sound designer Kai Harada. "Downtown, I had the intel from two other shows at the Atlantic to work with, and knew what worked in that space; the pitched roof of the Atlantic proved to be challenging in some regards for tonality, but helpful for the overall sonic picture, and required very little reinforcement of the show from the sound system itself.

"The open space above the orchestra at Studio54 gave a more natural sound to all the instruments and we had a little bit more space to work with as well as adding a couple more musicians. Obviously the Studio54 space is larger, so we couldn't rely entirely on the acoustics of the space, but it is a good sounding space, and I wanted to make sure we still had enough power for the few times in the show where we did need extra energy."

"I was inspired by everyday people, despite all that life throws at us, we have such tenacity to keep going," said costume designer Dede Ayite. "Choosing to love and to show up for each other and ourselves is monumental. It was important for me to capture the humanity of each character's journey through their clothing choices."

Where did the biggest design challenges arise? "One of the challenges of this design was to find a way to articulate the extreme emotional highs and lows of someone suffering with addiction," said Stanton. "The two main characters in Days… experience moments of euphoria and long stretches of extreme sadness and loneliness.  We were always challenging ourselves to reflect these emotional swings in the lighting design to help support the story."

"One of the challenges I faced was showcasing this humanity through period clothing while ensuring that the characters felt accessible and relatable," said Ayite.

"The biggest challenge for me on this project was the number of locations in the story and the speed at which the piece moves between them," added Clachan. "Also, when we were first developing the show it was unclear what theatre stage we would be in and so it was partially designed for a number of different venues which all encouraged a slightly different approach."

Harada overcame a hurdle right at the top of the show. "In the beginning of the show, during 'Magic Time,' the sound design becomes a character- crowd or yacht noise in the background to emphasize emotional beats in Kelli and Brian's storytelling, and it was a challenge to find the perfect moments and sound levels for this sound character to merely enhance and never intrude."