How We Make It: Pirates! A Penzance Musical
Ideas
06.05.25
David Rockwell introduced Frank DiLella, NY1 entertainment journalist, to the process of conceiving, designing, and constructing the Broadway set for Roundabout Theatre Company's Pirates! A Penzance Musical. Read on to learn more about the scenic design, which takes on an assemblage approach to reflect the topsy-turvy nature of the book.
Pirates! is David Rockwell and director Scott Ellis' 9th Broadway production together.
“With Scott, there's a built-in shorthand. He involves me early in the process, which gives me the chance to attend early workshops and get familiar with the script and the score.”
After initial meetings to understand the nature of the story and the director's vision, the design process began at our studio, working with inspiration images and sketches. The jazz-infused revival of Gilbert and Sullivan's is reset in the legendary port city of New Orleans in the 1880s. Inspired by the confluence of cultures that make up New Orleans and Creole culture, David turned to a style known as "assemblage" to create the set.
“We started to think about the setting as a patchwork of different cultures--a unique intersection of influence that shows up in the dialect, the music, the cuisine, and--most importantly for my purposes--the architecture.”
Below are the buildings in their near-final structural form before being painted at the scenic shop.
Each building is composed of different color and paint treatments.
Once the sets were painted and all electrical elements installed, the move into the theatre began. And then, showtime!
