Interview: Chatting with Set Designer Ann Beyersdorfer And Choreographer Lindsay Joy Lancaster of DISNEY'S NEWSIES at STAGES St. Louis

Picture the scenes from the movies Apollo 13 or The Right Stuff when astronauts and engineers are hovered behind their computer screens at Mission Control. Each NASA official monitors the flight pattern of the spaceship orbiting the globe. They keep careful watch over their individual screens while surveying the massive wall projection showing the trajectory of the astronauts in flight. 

Entering a darkened theater during tech week looks a whole lot like those images of NASA’s mission control. Dozens of technical theater designers are positioned behind makeshift desks and are surrounded by multiple computer screens. They observe the actors and sets moving about the stage. Each keeps a keen eye on their individual discipline while collaborating with the rest of the creative teams. All share the common goal of creating a spectacular vision for the audience. Tech week for a Broadway caliber musical is essentially Mission Control for the theater.  

Hunkered down in theatrical mission control at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center this week are set designer Ann Beyersdorfer and choreographer Lindsay Joy Lancaster. Both are making their STAGES St. Louis debut working on the upcoming production of Disney’s NEWSIES. Beyersdorfer, a Belleville, Illinois native, is a world class set designer who has created sets for Broadway, National Tours, Saturday Night Live, and the St. Louis Muny. Lancaster, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, is the head of dance at The Institute for American Musical Theatre. Both sat down with Broadway World during their dinner break to talk about what brought them to STAGES St. Louis, how excited they are to work on this production of Disney’s NEWSIES, and the fresh perspectives they are bringing to the show. 

Ann Beyersdorfer was working as an associate set designer on the national tour of Steven Sondheim’s COMPANY with director Steve Bebout who is also directing this production of NEWSIES. While working together they were chatting about Beyersdorfer’s roots in St. Louis. She said, “Steve told me he was directing at STAGES again this year and asked if I was interested in designing the sets for NEWSIES. I told him I’d love to work on anything that brings me back to St. Louis!” It just so happens this is the third set she has designed for St. Louis audiences this summer. Beyersdorfer designed the marvelous sets for LES MISERABLES and THE LITTLE MERMAID at The Muny.  

Lindsay Joy Lancaster had the opportunity to work with STAGES St. Louis Artistic Director Gayle Seay at The Institute for American Musical Theatre. Seay is adjunct faculty member at The Institute and teaches mock audition classes. As fate would have it, the director of the school asked Lancaster to run the mock audition for Seay’s class, including choreographing a dance number for the students. Lancaster said, “I put together a number for the class and months later I received a call from STAGES St. Louis telling me they liked my work and asked me to choreograph this production.”  

This is the first full-blown Broadway style musical that Lancaster has choreographed. “I’ve choreographed shows for high schools and middle schools, but this is the first professional musical I’ve worked on,” she said, "it's humbling and kind of scary."  Choreographer Lindsay Joy Lancaster

Beyersdorfer interjected, “And everything she’s doing is pretty amazing,” heaping high praise on the choreographer. 

“I’m trained in ballet, jazz, and classical dance. I moved to L.A. to learn hip-hop, jazz-funk, and the commercial styles of dance in the conservatory program at The Edge,” she said. Lancaster shared that more contemporary dance is what is in her wheelhouse now. She told Broadway World that Steve (the director) and Gayle (the artistic director) had a vision to create NEWSIES with street style dance added to the show. She said, “This music inspires me, so I’ve been able to blend the classical and contemporary styles of dance into the choreography. 

Beyersdorfer talked about movement too and said, “The set has to dance with the cast.” She included movement in her designs that is reminiscent of the printing presses from around 1899 when NEWSIES is set. She talked about taking her inspiration from a concept drawing she found of a printing press. “The set depicts the grittiness of the Newsies and New York City, with elements that represents the corporate greed they are facing,” she said.  Set Designer Ann Beyersdorfer

Beyersdorfer grew up performing and going to the theater in St. Louis. She is always excited to return home and design sets, especially for shows like NEWSIES that appeal to families. Working at STAGES St. Louis gives her the opportunity to work in a much more intimate space. She said, “designing for the smaller theater at STAGES requires me to pay attention to the up-close details of the set.” She contrasted that with working on designs at The Muny where you are creating a set for a massive audience of 11,000 people. “It is a completely different approach with technique and how things are painted.” She continued, “It is about the gesture and how things move across the stage.” Beyersdorfer explained that any set design requires that the action flows from one scene to the next efficiently. “With this production everything moves so quickly that the scene changes require the cast to help move things around,” she said.  

She lights up when she talks about her time growing up in St. Louis. Beyersdorfer said, “when theater people I know are coming to work in St. Louis I tell them they must visit The City Museum, Botanical Garden, get BBQ, and take the tour at Anheuser-Busch.” She talks about how wonderful it is to come back and see her family for an extended period and get to create in the spaces where she remembers seeing shows in her childhood. “Now my little cousins get to come to the shows I have designed. They are planning to come and see NEWSIES here,” she said as her voice cracked with emotion. 

Lancaster said, “Ann told me about the Botanical Garden, historic Main Street in St. Charles and The Katy Trail. I’ve visited the garden and St. Charles and want to go back.” She shared that she likes the outdoor spaces in St. Louis and watched the sunset one evening at Creve Couer Lake. “It was the most beautiful bright pink sunset, and I enjoyed my time sitting there by the lake,” she sighed. Lancaster has also discovered St. Louis’ terrific dining scene. She has been to Katie’s Pizza and Pasta several times and raved about their parmesan cauliflower, pesto pizza, and margherita pizza. 

Lancaster talked about how proud she is of her work here at STAGES St. Louis. She gave credit to her assistant choreographer and talked about the prep work they did before they arrived in St. Louis. “I’m grateful and blessed to be surrounded by such terrific artists.” She talked about how much work goes into creating a musical. Lancaster feels the same way about her job in New York as the head of dance at The Institute for Musical Theatre. She says the school is a place where young people come to seek their joy. “I love getting to guide young artists along their path as they’re starting out,” she said.

Beyersdorfer gushed about getting to share her work with her family and the people of her hometown. She also mentioned how much pride she takes in the work environment she creates in her studio in New York. “It’s very gratifying to hire and work with other young female identifying set designers and help them come up in the world,” she said. She also gives credit to her assistants and mentioned that helping others succeed brings her more joy than anything else.  

Lancaster, Beyersdorfer, and the rest of the technical teams are working to create a spectacular version of Disney’s NEWSIES that is unlike anything audiences have seen before. They will be spending long hours in mission control mode to ensure everything is perfect for opening night. Disney’s NEWSIES opens on Friday, July 26th in The Ross Family Theater at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center and runs through August 25th. Click the link below to purchase tickets.  

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