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Home , David Merrick, High Button Shoes, Oliver Smith (designer)

University of South Florida

From the SelectedWorks of Patrick Finelli

Winter 2018

The eD signs of Patrick Finelli

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/patrick_finelli/7/ USITT EXHIBIT: The Designs of Oliver Smith New exhibit offers rare insight into this prolific master scenographer

BY PATRICK M. FINELLI

Camelot (1960), Act II, Scene 8, Battlefield, Arthur’s Tent (rendering). © Rosaria Sinisi, from the Oliver Smith Collection in the Music Division of the Library of Congress. The USITT exhibit of Oliver Smith’s artworks is a rare oppor- tunity for professional theatre designers and students to see selections from the archive of a master scenographer. In the pantheon of 20th century American scenic designers, Oliver Smith is unmatched for his breadth of work in theatre, dance, and . During his legendary career, he was honored with eight , including two in the same year (1961) for Best of a Musi- cal () and Best Scenic Design of a Play (). Smith’s Broadway set designs began in the era when settings were primarily painted backdrops and spanned the period that featured more unit settings. While a consummate artist in the “painterly” tradition, Smith had a keen sense of stage space and anticipat- ed the contemporary emphasis on architectural design.

This new exhibit of selected art- prints, and a selection of Diazo prints who used this adaptation of the French works by Oliver Smith was made pos- made from the original pencil on vellum gicleur (inkjet nozzle) which sounded sible through the generosity of Rosaria technical drawings, as well. Fortunately, more linguistically appropriate for fine-art Sinisi (who owns Smith’s intellectual it was a weekday morning and the bar works. Sinisi printed the renderings for property rights and supervises revivals was empty and had plenty of table space this exhibit at about the same size as the of his works onstage, as well as his per- available to roll out and examine the originals, with the backdrop elevations sonal papers and photo archive) and Dan breathtaking artworks. slightly smaller. The texture of the wa- Carter, who approached us with the idea Sinisi ofered to make giclée prints tercolor paper is virtually identical to the for an exhibit after seeing a 2012 article on watercolor paper from high-quality surface on which Smith painted, and the by Patrick M. Finelli in Performing Arts scans of the original artwork. The term high resolution of the giclée prints makes Resources about the Oliver Smith Collec- giclée was coined by Jack Duganne, them close to indistinguishable from the tion at the Library of Congress, Music Di- vision. Carter and Finelli agreed to serve as co-curators and send the exhibit on a short tour before the giclée prints take “ONCE, IN ANSWERING A QUESTIONNAIRE up permanent residence at Pennsylvania State University, where Smith studied ar- CONCERNING THE WORKING METHODS OF chitecture as an undergraduate. THEATRE PEOPLE, I WAS ASKED WHAT OLIVER The team met in the lobby lounge of the Park Central Hotel in New York SMITH DID WHILE PREPARING FOR A SHOW. I City in February 2017 to select drafting and color images that represented the REPLIED, ‘TWO OTHERS,’ AND ADDED ‘AND A range and diversity of Smith’s designs. DELIGHTFUL SIX-DAY TRIP.’ WHY DO PEOPLE Sinisi had carefully maintained, aug- mented, catalogued, and stored more PUT UP WITH ALL THIS? BECAUSE HE’S JUST than 10,000 pieces of Smith’s artwork THAT GOOD. THEY WANT HIM. PRESENT OR and, prior to their conveyance to the Li- brary of Congress, had digitized about ABSENT, HIS SCENERY IS DELIVERED ON TIME, 1,200 of these images to facilitate use by AND IT WORKS. HIS BEST SCENERY MAKES scholars. These she presented to the cu- rators in a thumbnail catalog for review. THEATRE HISTORY.” – She also brought two portfolios of giclée

WINTER 2018 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | 9 © Rosaria Sinisi, from the Oliver Smith Collection in Music Division of Library Congress (1973), Eiffel Tower (backdrop). This backdrop for the café scene is notable for the perspective and scale of the Eiffel Tower. It is a selectively translucent drop so that the lamp posts and sky are illuminated from behind, adding a romantic glow to the dusk.

originals. The team determined that 21 architecture motifs for Kismet (1976) This exhibit also contains a repro- fine art images and seven Diazo prints show Smith’s versatility. He came up duction of Irving Penn’s 1947 gelatin would fit comfortably on 560 square feet with a simple and elegant cross-shaped silver print photograph of Oliver Smith, of wall space, about the size of the The- ground plan for ’s Jane Bowles, and Paul Bowles. Bowles atre 2 Lobby Gallery at the University of Mass, the opening production at the wrote the score for The Wind Remains, South Florida. Penn State theatre design Kennedy Center in 1972. The New York which Smith had designed for the cho- professors Daniel Robinson and Milagros Times reported that Smith considered reographer Merce Cunningham. Bowles Ponce De Leon took the responsibil- Camelot (two renderings in this exhibit) was Smith’s cousin, and after Smith ity for framing the drawings and prepar- his most elaborate production, “conjur- moved to New York, he and Bowles lived ing them for touring to the University of ing up a fairy-tale vision of the Middle in the same rooming house, a brown- South Florida, the 2018 USITT National Ages with parks, terraces, jousting fields stone located at 7 Middagh Street in Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, the Univer- and castles in colors that ranged from Heights and owned by George sity of Texas at Austin, and finally back to soft pastels to sumptuous gold” (“Oliver Davis, an editor at Harper’s Bazaar. The Penn State where Sinisi agreed to their Smith, Set Designer”). Every theatre de- house has a colorful history filled with lu- exhibition in perpetuity. signer knows that drawings and render- minaries from literature and arts includ- ings are not the end product, but a vital ing W. H. Auden (who collected the rent), Extraordinary Range step in communicating the visual ele- Carson McCullers, and Rose Lee The current exhibit contains fine ex- ments to the director and other artist col- (Shtier). Here, Smith began to make con- amples of Smith’s extraordinary range, laborators. Color elevations express the tacts that would further develop his ca- from the backdrop elevations for On the scenic design in a way that enables the reer in theatre. To w n (1944), (1947), construction and painting of the setting. Smith supported himself in New and Swan Lake (1967) to the Diazo print This exhibit includes a photograph of York with a series of odd jobs as a clerk drafting of the fire escapes in West Side Smith supervising the painting of a back- in retail stores, an usher in a movie Story (1957). His realistic rendering of drop for Ta ke Me A l o n g in 1959 in No- house, and a clerk at the Brooklyn Pub- the unit setting for Tennessee Williams lan’s Scenic Studio while holding in his lic Library. But he kept painting, and Night of the Iguana (1961) evokes the hand the backdrop elevation displayed you can see what he saw in two fine art heat of the tropics. The delicate Islamic beside the photograph. paintings in the exhibit, a Coney Island

10 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | WINTER 2018 gouache and watercolor of the Brooklyn with Oliver Smith’s decor. example. Smith was also committed to Bridge painted in the 1940s. Smith also Smith was art director for the mo- bringing avant-garde work to Broadway, enjoyed painting the ships that docked tion picture Oklahoma!, as well as three where he produced the first American near the Brooklyn Bridge and sold some films for MGM (, Guys version of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit, of these works to their captains. and Dolls, and ) and was as well as Jane Bowles’s In the Summer Smith had been fascinated with the- a consultant on the Oscar-nominated House (which he also designed). atre and hotel ground plans since he was feature film, The Turning Point. When Oliver Smith’s ability to deliver first- a child, obtaining the plans to the Paris he was ofered a lucrative position to rate designs on a tight schedule made Opera, the Metropolitan, and Radio City stay in Hollywood, he had to make a dif- him a favorite of Broadway producers for Music hall, along with the deck plans of ficult choice: “I was intrigued, and at the decades. His work blended a distinctly ocean liners. His cousin Paul Bowles same time homesick for New York,” he American painting style with the grace suggested that since he could draw and said. “Every time I returned to New York of his moving scenery, creating designs liked the theatre, he should paint for the I would feel like I was getting sprung. I that earned accolades around the world. stage. His first efort was for a Massine served my sentence. Now I had to make Smith dedicated a portion of his later ballet Saratoga (1941) at Ballet Russe a very important decision—whether to career to the education of the next gen- de Monte Carlo; that production was a stay here and do a new musical called eration of set designers, teaching in the flop, but his design attracted attention. , or go back to Hollywood MFA program at ’s Then he designed sets for a series of and be a successful producer and have a Tisch School of the Arts for 22 years one acts; his work was panned by the big swimming pool” (MacKay 1982, 65). (Sinisi). critic George Jean Nathan. Yet he per- That decision propelled him into the era sisted, and his iconic design for Agnes of big Broadway musicals. Prolific Career De Mille’s Rodeo (1942) followed by suc- Smith designed many productions Researchers and curators usually have cesses working with for opera companies including the Met- little or no control over the initial, and and Leonard Bernstein designing On the ropolitan Opera (La Traviata) and Sarah most important, decisions of what may To w n and in 1944 put him in Caldwell’s Boston Opera (Don Giovan- be included in material that goes to an the top tier of scenic designers. His suc- ni and Falstaf). The Levee scene from institution. Rather, institutions simply cess enabled him to purchase a stately Opera’s Naughty Mari- assess what they are ofered and accept home in , immortalized etta (1978) in this exhibit is a beautiful or decline. In many cases, the artist’s in Truman Capote’s short story A House on the Heights, where he lived for the rest of his life. Depending upon the decade of their execution, Smith’s artworks may include watercolor, gouache, and Dr. Martin’s dye. It was the dye that gave the intense punch of color. One of the hazards of Dr. Martin’s is that it is susceptible to fading in sun- light; some of these pieces were exposed to light in both scene shops and while hanging on the walls at . Thus, some of the artworks may require digital color correction to accu- rately display their original appearance. During his illustrious career, Smith created scenic designs for many iconic American musicals including My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly!, Oklahoma, Briga- doon, Sound of Music, and more than 60 others. He was co-producer with for 40 years at the American Bal- let Theater, where he collaborated with Agnes de Mille (Rodeo), and Jerome Rob- bins (Fancy Free). This exhibit features the iconic Corral Scene from Rodeo (1942), with uniquely styled horsetail clouds that are Smith’s signature flour- ish and appear in renderings of scenes in the Midwest. Dance companies still per- form the piece around the world, always

WINTER 2018 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | 11 © Rosaria Sinisi, from the Oliver Smith Collection in Music Division of Library Congress How Now Dow Jones (1967) (show curtain). The original is a collage, painted on newsprint with stock quotes from the Wall Street Journal.

work may have already been appraised dents gain experience by going through by those managing his or her estate, with the “finding” process to see if they could some of the most interesting material discover Smith’s renderings on their having already been distributed to others own. It was a virtual game of hide-and- or sold at auction. For example, several seek, and yet the process for the student of Oliver Smith’s renderings for Camelot, researchers replicated what any profes- the 1976 production of My Fair Lady, sional researcher would do to uncover and The Sleeping Beauty were auc- important primary sources. tioned into private hands by Sotheby’s as Their struggles are not surprising, part of the Jackie Onassis sale on April for there is a distinct lack of written mate- 25, 1996. The Opening Scene backdrop rial about him; these works include only for Camelot (Lot 648) commanded the one interview, two books with essays he highest bid among them at $43,125, wrote, and a bio-bibliography written by which was 40 times the pre-auction es- a former student. Patricia MacKay con- timate (Thursday’s Winning Bids). He ducted a lengthy interview in 1982 pub- gave the renderings as gifts to Onassis, lished in Theatre Crafts in which Smith a notable patroness of American Ballet described his approach and methods Theatre, which Smith co-produced for while he was teaching at Tisch. This arti- decades. Much of the remaining mate- cle also included black-and-white images rial for these productions may be found of many design renderings. in the Oliver Smith Collection, and the Orville K. Larson’s Scene Design for pieces that were auctioned were record- Stage and Screen: Readings on the Aes- ed in high resolution for the copyright thetics and Methodology of Scene De- holder’s archives prior to their sale. sign for Drama, Opera, Musical Comedy, A few years ago, I assigned my Ballet, Motion Pictures, Television and students a project to find copies of ren- Arena Theatre contains an informative derings by Oliver Smith. The students essay written by Smith titled “Musical worked relentlessly, burning up search Comedy Design for Stage and Screen” in engines in a frenzy of activity in their which he expressed the belief that “the quest for a hidden treasure of the de- American musical is the most complex signs for Smith’s musicals and ballets. It of all theatre art forms, combining in a was a vexing problem. They knew what fluid yet compressed manner, vaudeville, they were looking for, but seemed to be opera, drama, and ballet. Design for the walled of from access to the renderings. musical stage demands a sympathetic A few popped up on ArtStor, thumbnails understanding and passion for these of renderings that belonged to Robbins forms” (Larson 1961, 189). He was im- or De Mille. The objective was to let stu- pressed with the profound influence of

12 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | WINTER 2018 F��ed��.

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Made in the USA by a Bunch of Fanatics. In Europe, call +33 (0) 78558-3735 choreographers on musical design, par- over 400 productions, you’ve almost said Smith “helped elevate Ballet The- ticularly Agnes de Mille and Jerome Rob- what you have to say” (MacKay 1982, atre (now American Ballet Theatre) to bins, who “afected stage design since 67). international renown while serving as it demanded large uncluttered stage ar- There are a few black and white re- its co-director (1945-80 and 1990-92)” eas” (Larson 1961, 190). productions of Smith’s artwork in Dance (Miller 2011) and his essay expresses his There is one attempt at a biogra- News Annual, a 1953 book edited by ideas about the design process for ballet, phy: Oliver Smith: A Bio-Bibliography Winthrop Palmer and Anatole Chujoy musicals, and film. Smith proclaimed, by Thomas J. Mikotowicz. Neither this that features Smith’s essay titled “Bal- “Designing for the ballet is more allur- nor Larsen’s book contains any images let Design” (Palmer 1953, 92). In his ing to the artist than designing for the of designs by Smith or anyone else. explicit critiques of designs by Eugene legitimate stage. It demands more imagi- Mikotowicz seemed to have cobbled Berman and Salvador Dali (whom he re- nation, more skill, more lyrical ability; by together interviews with Smith, who fers to as “easel painters”) and commen- imposing more difculties, it challenges was his professor at NYU, and created taries on his own ballet settings, Smith the tenacity and inventiveness of the the- lists with annotated bibliographic refer- is candid, saying, “My random remarks ater designer” (92). ences. On page one of the first chapter hold no special significance. They will Smith was candid in explaining his he says, “There is no designer who has probably make me a pariah among my method of approaching the design pro- created more shows than Oliver Smith. colleagues, where the rule is to be polite cess: With credits for nearly 400 produc- in print, if not in private” (92). The essay If it is a musical piece, first I tions, including many revivals, Smith is illustrated with four black and white listen to the score. If it is a musical has put himself at the center of a large prints: Eugene Berman’s sketch-model comedy, I listen to the score and the segment of twentieth-century American for the décor of Act I of Ballet Theatre’s lyrics. Never on a cassette. I cannot theater history” (Mikotowicz 1993, 1). Giselle; a detail of Salvador Dali’s décor hear it that way. It has to be per- Counting the shows listed in the book's for Ballet International’s 1944 New York formed. I find listening to the score appendix reveals a total of 205, a figure Mad Tristan; ’s décor and performed by the composer and lyri- cross-checked with the Encyclopedia costumes in the prologue of the Sadler cist, even if they play badly and sing Britannica. Perhaps Mikotowicz had Wells Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty; and of key – very few of them are partic- read MacKay’s interview where Smith Oliver Smith’s sketch for décor of Ballet ularly good – gives you an enormous states hyperbolically, “Once you’ve done Theatre’s Fall River Legend. emotional feeling. That generates

14 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | WINTER 2018 © Rosaria Sinisi, from the Oliver Smith Collection in Music Division of Library Congress

(1969) Wall Street (backdrop). Act II, Scene 5. This modern downtown cityscape evokes a Renaissance perspective painted in luxurious hues with translucent windows on the buildings.

my excitement. Then I get my ideas. scale technical drawings. Smith said, “I advent of neon lighting” (MacKay 1982, I relate very emotionally to music. can do that myself, but I don’t feel that’s 66). He credited costume designer Irene Now for a play. I don’t like read- my role in life anymore. All the elevations Sharaf for influencing him through her ing auditions. I read it alone quietly, are then put on boards for me to color. I cool, intellectual sophistication in the in a room at my own speed. I think do my own coloring” (MacKay 1982, 69). show drop rendering for High Button that it is a totally introspective ex- Smith favored the painters Turner, Shoes in the exhibit, which evokes 19th perience. Working with a musical is Constable, Vuillard, Bonnard, and par- century American folk arts and Currier more gregarious. ticularly Matisse, whom he used to cheer & Ives. His versatility as a designer led For dance first you listen to the himself up, as influences on his own the producer to say of him music. That gives you the mood. work. He said that was in 1965: “Most designers are masters Commissioned scores are very ex- a Renaissance palette and that, “A de- of a single color. So if the basic color of citing. When we were doing Fancy signer with eyes and a memory gradu- your show is red, you get so-and-so; if it’s Free, Leonard (Bernstein) played ally sifts through the visual vocabulary green, you get somebody else. You can great sections of it as he was com- that has accumulated and finds an afn- get Smith for anything” (“Oliver Smith, posing. For Rodeo, I went up to hear ity. It is not all derivative. But I believe Set Designer”). Aaron (Copland) playing it on the that all designers who are honest are piano. If it is Mozart, you just get a extremely eclectic, or else they would be Finding a Home good recording and listen to it over painters” (MacKay 1982, 59). When he Sinisi had searched for an institutional and over. I play it when I’m working. designed (drop elevation home for the Smith material for many I can never hear enough of it. The from the 1963 revival, rough years after Smith’s death in 1994. One of music tells you what to do (MacKay sketch and Diazo prints from the origi- the problems she encountered in placing 1982, 69). nal 1944 production in this exhibit), he the collection was its size; the acquiring Smith usually conceptualized a set was influenced by Kandinsky, Klee, and institution needed sufcient resources design in 1/4 inch scale drafted form be- Mondrian, and it is reflected in the exu- (e.g., space, funds for preservation, and fore handing the drafting over to an as- berant orange and blue palette. Smith curatorial support) to make the mate- sistant, who would replicate the rough remarked, “I hadn’t been in the big city rial available to researchers. Storage drafting in construction-ready 1/2 inch very long, and I was influenced by the space was a large issue for many insti-

WINTER 2018 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | 15 © Rosaria Sinisi, from the Oliver Smith Collection in Music Division of Library Congress

Swan Lake (1967), Act II (rendering). American Ballet Theatre’s first full-length Swan Lake premiered in Chicago with Smith’s artfully rendered décor.

tutions. While she had provided access ings. Peggy Clark was Smith’s former It featured an image of Smith’s design for scholars on occasion (and contacted set design assistant and later became for : me in the first place to notify me of that the lighting designer for many shows on The acquisition of the Oliver fact), she was aware that she could not which he designed scenery. The Clark Smith Collection constitutes a play the role of a research institution in- Collection contains some of Oliver major expansion of the Library’s definitely. Smith’s drafting and artwork for shows holdings in theatrical design …The Sinisi eventually placed Smith’s lit by Clark, with lighting documen- collection includes watercolors, 10,000-item collection of artwork (not tation for those productions. Clark’s ground plans, ink sketches and ele- including his technical drawings in Di- family had donated the Peggy Clark vations, and the material frequently azo print form, which were conveyed Collection to the Library of Congress in provides a historical background simultaneously) in the Library of Con- 1997, after Clark passed away (Peggy to the development of design for a gress Music Division in 2010. The col- Clark Papers). Apparently, the Library given production as well as the final lection currently includes painted set of Congress has already had a couple scheme. Additionally, the collec- elevations, renderings, sketches, blue- of visits to the Peggy Clark material by tion includes designs for realized prints, and technical drawings (Oliver USITT researchers working on a vol- productions as well as designs for Smith Papers). The associated corre- ume on 20th century lighting designers. scenes that never made it into final spondence, photographs, programs, The Library of Congress shared se- production form. Multiple versions and other material is still stored in New lected materials with library employees, of scenes from productions that York City, but will eventually be trans- principally the Music Division, as well were mounted more than once are ferred to the library. Context was impor- as presentation specialists, to give a included. Some of the ground plans tant in selecting a home for the Oliver brief view of some of the material from allow the researcher an opportu- Smith Collection; and at the Library of the upcoming collection. A blog post by nity to compare scenic presentation Congress Music Division they are com- Walter Zvonchenko, a theatre specialist, for the same production in diferent plemented by the Peggy Clark, Lerner announced a display of theatrical de- theaters. (Miller) & Loewe and Leonard Bernstein hold- signs by Oliver Smith on May 17, 2011. Isolated works had been exhibited

16 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | WINTER 2018 in conjunction with West Side Story at Now” at the time when Oliver Smith the opportunity to learn and enjoy. We the Library of Congress, but this exhibit was inducted into the Cornelius Vander- can study the works as students, artists, was the Library of Congress’ first dis- bilt Whitney Hall of Fame in July 2011, designers, and scholars, or we might play drawn from its collection of Smith’s Sinisi also supplied giclée prints of a just want to luxuriate in the experience artworks. While the collection has yet to number of images, which are now in its of viewing. For most of us, Smith’s de- be completely processed, a search of the permanent collection. But aside from signs provoke many meaningful ques- Library of Congress database reveals the aforementioned exhibits, there have tions: What were the processes that many renderings among the American been few showcasing Smith’s work, he went through in order to create the Ballet Theatre Collection. The Music either before or after his death. There design? How did he collaborate with his Division of the Library of Congress has was a one-man show at the Touchstone fellow artists? Were alternatives consid- advised that the artwork and drafting Gallery in Manhattan in December ered? What were the reasons why one may be made available to researchers 1977 featuring Smith’s original draw- version was accepted and others re- prior to the conclusion of the cataloging ings and watercolors. Sinisi advised us jected? How did the designer, director, process. that Smith had loaned the Museum of audiences, and critics see the design The current USITT exhibit and a Modern Art a couple of collages from in its original context of production? handful of other historical exhibits pro- the film The Band Wagon for an exhibit, What were the theatrical conditions vide access to his work outside of the but they had been returned after the ex- for the shows? What is the historical Library of Congress. For the time being, hibit and are now in the Oliver Smith and cultural milieu in which the design the library ofers on-site access only; re- Collection at the Library of Congress. is viewed? How do we view the work searchers interested in seeing material We are fortunate to have this now? In the case of Oliver Smith, my re- stored of-site can review the catalog unique selection of giclée prints to ex- sponse always begins with awe. and request specific pieces, which will amine in this exhibit. Although full-scale be brought in from of-site storage and production on the stage is the ultimate Patrick M. Finelli, Ph.D., is be available to them within a couple of objective, many designers’ renderings, a professor in the School of days. When the Museum of Dance in including those produced by Oliver Teatre and Dance at Te Saratoga Springs mounted its exhibit Smith, are works of art worthy of exhibi- University of South Florida “American Ballet Theatre: Then and tion in a gallery or museum, providing in Tampa. He has been a

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WINTER 2018 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | 17