ADG Perspective

Fireplace mantels and balustrades were sourced from salvage companies and broadloom carpeting was chosen to accompany the deep blue, green and gold palette that dominates the house. I chose the Victorian polychrome paint scheme primarily from Farrow and Ball colors to key into and complement the wallpaper and upholstery choices. Many hours were spent with the set decorating team comparing the various color schemes. Step by step we reinvented our version of the Evergreens home. In episode six of the season, which was directed by Silas Howard, the characters visit Boston to see a production of La Traviata, which would have been a new and scandalous opera in 1859. There Emily sees in Violetta's Parisian salon a connection to Sue's Amherst salon and ultimately n ates te t in er eeriene te era. I knew that I had to make a connection between the 1859 theatrical scenery of the opera and the Evergreens salon. Scenery at the time would have een simle ainted ats altg te nnetin could not be a literal recreation of the space, the essence of it needed to be present. That was achievable with the luxury of having all the scripts during preproduction and the time to craft those connections with a coherent visual language. The immediate challenge though was how on earth te rdtin as ging t fi nd a teater tat could pass for a 1850s opera house in the New York "zone." The scenes were written in a way that the interaction between the characters seated in boxes was critical, as was the eyeline from Emily's box to the stage, where her POV shows the astonishing transformation of Violetta to Sue. A traditional "horseshoe" opera house in a manageable scale was needed to make the scenes work. With location manager Ryan Hammer and producer Diana Schmidt, we visited several theaters and were challenged with the idea of having to build the es n stage and stit tem it isal e ets into a theater where we could build the set with A. EVERGREENS ENTRY HALL. SET PHOTO. B. OPERA LOCATION. LOEW'S JERSEY THEATRE LOOKING TOWARD STAGE LOCATION. C. OPERA HOUSE LAYOUT. PENCIL CONCEPT SKETCH. D. OPERA STAGE INSTALLATION IN PROGRESS. SET PHOTO. E. OPERA BACKDROP RENDERING. GRAPHIC LAYOUT BY DERRICK KARDOS. F. OPERA SEQUENCE AS SEEN FROM EMILY'S BOX. PRODUCTION STILL. G. OPERA STAGE OPENING SCENE OF LA TRAVIATA. PRODUCTION STILL. H. OPERA LOBBY. PRODUCTION STILL. A B C

• 0C1_ADG MAY-JUNE 2021