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ShowbizU: Scenic Designer David Gallo on the Creative Process

Name: ShowbizU: Scenic Designer David Gallo on the Creative Process
Uploaded: 2014-09-02T19:23:33+00:00
Duration: 1 min 57 s
Channel: Tim Kashani
Description: In this interview segment, scenic designer David Gallo outlines his personal workflow for developing theatre and musical productions. He begins by…

2 Sept 2014 · 2 min

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1:57

In this interview segment, scenic designer David Gallo outlines his personal workflow for developing theatre and musical productions. He begins by reading the script quickly and then moves straight into a research phase where he explores ideas without a fixed direction. Gallo emphasizes an immediate visual focus, choosing to design either a ground plan or an elevation depending on the production’s needs. He stresses the importance of creating intricate mechanisms while constantly considering feasibility and how the design will be used onstage. Early in a project he conducts conceptual meetings and works in the format that best serves the idea—whether that be physical models, sketches, or more abstract concepts—while maintaining a relaxed, panic‑free mindset. Gallo also reveals a recurring artistic impulse: he starts every project with a “Brechtian ideal,” aiming for a high, almost theatrical ambition, likening his initial vision to standing in a Greek theater with Aristotle present, regardless of the production’s scale. This blend of lofty conceptual goals with practical design considerations defines his creative process.

Chapters

When I get firsthand a script, it's kind of anything goes. I mean, really everything based on how I respond to it and want to move forward. I mean, I would always read it, you know, obviously. We'd probably do a relatively quick read and then usually kind of jump right in and almost always on the research phase, just sort of exploring, you know, ideas or thoughts. It's very rarely anything particularly specific. But, you know, I think I jump into the visual right away. The designing part, to oversimplify things, certain shows I'll design in a ground plan, certain shows I'll design more of an elevation, you know, it depends on the production. So you start doing shit that you can't do in a lot of places, and you start coming up with very intricate solutions, and you don't want to go too far until you know what you're showing people is possible. So then you're creating a mechanism for a musical, but you've always got in the back of your mind you know, how it's going to be used, what it's going to look like. In general, for a musical, it's usually a lot of research early on, a lot of original, like, early just conceptual meetings, and then I'll work in whatever way that is the most applicable. If it's something that I want to do, you know, model form, something that I do in sketches or sort of much more conceptually, you know, I'm very, very free and I never panic about anything. I've been doing it sort of sort of too long. I have a, I have a couple of issues, is that I have an intractable sense of— I start off with every project with a Brechtian ideal, which is not healthy for a person that's almost— that's been doing this this long. But I, I, I really begin with that, and it doesn't matter if it's Third of the Modern Millie. I mean, if it's Third of the Modern Millie, I'll shoot to that level pretty quick, but I have to— some reason I have to start everything like I have to be standing in the Greek theater and Aristotle has to walk in the room. I go, "All right, which one is this one gonna be?" You know what I mean? You know, let's flip through that book.