Theater design has always fascinated me. There is something about the lights coming up on a beautiful set which is magical. And then someone walks out, dances out, or sings out. In fact, I would actually like to live on a set.
Here are a few sets from the Ballet Russe. Diaghilev was a genius at putting the visual aspects his productions together. And he hired Bakst, Matisse, Roualt, Picasso, Braque and many more to design the ballets.
This incredible front cloth by Picasso is from le Train Bleu – imagine this huge.
This is Natalia Gontcharova’s set design for the first act of Le Coq d’or
Here is Christian Berard’s bedroom scene from Margot. He went on to design the sets and costumes for Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast.
This is the set of Apollo Musagete. Serge Lifar jumped off the mountain into the chariot at the finale.
My interest started when my mother was the set decorator for the La Jolla Playhouse in the 1950’s. I remember we would see the miniature maquettes before the sets were built. These really fascinated me. It was my mother’s job to bring them to life.
Here are some sets my mother painted for the stage designer Robert Tyler Lee. I can’t identify the plays here except for the one with the angel of eternity which is from Tennessee William’s Summer and Smoke.
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