Broadway By Design: Bartelme, Jung, Grill & Ross Bring DANCIN' from Page to Stage

In Broadway by Design, BroadwayWorld is shining a spotlight on the stellar designs of this Broadway season, show by show. Today, we continue with the creatives from Broadway's iconic celebration of dance, Bob Fosse's Dancin'- Costume Designers Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung, Lighting Designer David Grill, and Video Designer Finn Ross.

DANCIN' is Fosse's full-throated, full-bodied celebration of dancers and dancing. Utterly reimagined for the 21st century, this DANCIN' brims with a level of warmth, emotion, and color seldom seen in modern interpretations of Fosse's influential style and features some of his most inventive and rarely performed choreography. With New York's hottest cast performing wall-to-wall dance, including Fosse classics such as "Mr. Bojangles," and "Sing Sing Sing." DANCIN' delivers the quintessential Broadway experience for Fosse fans and first-timers alike. You think you've seen dancing, but you've never seen DANCIN' like this.

Where did the design process start? For video designer Finn Ross, it was... at the very beginning. "The show begins by almost tricking you into thinking it is going to be a ballet and not a Fosse show at all," he explained. "I was interested how we could slowly add video into the show, starting with something that felt like a classic back lit dance cloth and how that could evolve though the first part of the show into something more recognizable as video content. Simple gradients gradually become more complex, shifting and moving in ways light can not, the shapes and animation were introduced, building up layer by layer.

"The LED wall is a very dominant and powerful tool so it was important to me this felt integrated with lighting, sets and costumes, never becoming a video screen, but a tool to create atmosphere and help connect various elements across the stage and place the dancer in a compelling environment for the audience to enjoy."

Lighting designer David Grill looked to his own dance background. "My inspiration was for my light to be able to dance with the cast and become a part of Bob Fosse's choreography in my own unique way. I have spent my life lighting Dance and this, to me, was a wonderful way that I could bring my artistry to a larger audience then had seen it before.

"To be able to collaborate with Wayne in creating transitions, which we love doing and love doing together, while at the same time bringing my own personal experiences, ideas, and aesthetic to the creative process kept me inspired and growing throughout the entire process."

Costume designers Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung began their process with research. "We compiled visual research from a wide variety of aesthetic and historical references including Pierre Cardin, 1970s NYC, Bob Mackie, Harry Styles, Karinska, Jasper Johns, and on and on. We also considered the ethos of pedestrian fashion now: gender fluid and decade neutral, a defiant mixture of many past trends. Bob Fosse's personal style and the visual universe of his film and stage productions were considered as a place from which to move both toward and away from, in order to bring a new visual identity to this revival," they explained.

"Because of the eclectic nature of the production we were frequently switching between an abstract design process and a historical / story telling process. The original designs for the 1978 production of Dancin' by Willa Kim and her imaginative design ethos were instrumental in inspiring us to play and not feel restricted by conventions of broadway dance. We were also constantly inspired by the beautiful array of personalities and identities of the Dancin' cast."

What were the design team's biggest challenges? "I don't think there was a specific challenge in Dancin'. To me it was more the opportunities, the moments that Lighting becomes a part of the Choreography," said Grill. "The moments that help tell the story that takes each audience member on their personal journey. How can the Light enhance and become one with the cast and their choreography and how does it dance with them, what kind of a partner is it, how does it make them feel and what does that collaboration say to the overall story and that specific moment. Like choreography, light can assume many different roles and exploring how it could best support and aid was the thing that I spent most of my time developing and growing."

For Bartelme and Jung, the sheer quantity posed a challenge. "Our work as designers is mainly rooted in concert dance. We are accustomed to designing costumes for works that are rarely longer than 30 minutes and have less than 10 unique designs. This production has over 200 costumes, many of which need to be put on very quickly between scenes. The logistics of getting all of the costumes made and produced in a way that facilitates huge movement, tons of sweat, and rapid quick changes was a biggest challenge for us with this show.

"Before rehearsals began the show was very hard to put together in my head, with a play or a musical you have a plot, words or lyrics; but here we had none of that security," added Ross. "I was a very open book. When something can be anything what do you make it? By spending time with the rehearsal videos and talking with Wayne, Robert & David a picture of what the show could be came into light and then it was a case of making it and fitting it around the performers in a very short space of time."

Dancin' is currently running on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre.