Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1504681
S A T U R D AY N I G H T L I V E | P E R S P E C T I V E 8 9 than just the original Production Designer, he was the very foundation and guiding light to how SNL was created and is presented on a weekly basis. So, with that in mind, instead of simply describing how we design a show, I'd rather describe and share what it's been like spending almost a lifetime working on SNL with Eugene Lee. The story goes that in 1974, Eugene and his partner at that time, costume designer Franne Lee, were living on a 50-foot sailboat in Rhode Island. In an interview for GQ he said, "So I got a call one day on my boat while I was out rowing around the cove, and it was some guy from NBC saying that there's this Canadian producer who is doing a comedy variety TV show and he'd like to meet if you were interested." The producer was, of course, Lorne Michaels and Eugene drove down to New York and met Lorne in his room at the Plaza Hotel. That night, they went to a comedy club and the following day, took a walk over to NBC to have a look at Studio 8H. Lorne was looking for a designer and he'd recently seen Candide on Broadway, for which Eugene had won the first of his three Tonys. What Lorne liked was the relationship between the audience and the performance and wanted to create something similar that could have that kind of intimacy in a television studio. At that time, 8H was a wide-open studio that had originally been built for radio, specifically the NBC Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Having never worked in television before—and so unencumbered by the "rules" and having a reputation for having an approach to theater that was usually environmental in concept—he designed a wraparound balcony for the audience with multiple stages for the show to be built on. The audience would also be on the studio floor B. EUGENE LEE'S BIRD'S-EYE VIEW DRAWING FOR THE ORIGINAL SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SET. B