I have designed sets and costumes across Canada, from Victoria to Halifax, since graduating from the BFA program in Theatre Design at the University of Alberta, for theatre, opera, dance, (a little) film and TV, and for commercial events. My work has run the gamut from door-slamming farce to Shakespeare, but more recently has been concentrated primarily in musical theatre: at Stratford (Cabaret, South Pacific, My One and Only), the Grand Theatre (Prom Queen, Evita, Side by Side by Sondheim, Rock n’ Roll), Drayton Entertainment (Hairspray, Mamma Mia!, Holiday Inn, Singin’ in the Rain, Sweet Charity, Guys and Dolls, The Little Mermaid, Honk!), Rainbow Stage (Mary Poppins, The Producers), Young Peoples’ Theatre (The Wizard of Oz), and Theatre Sheridan (Footloose, On The Town, Crazy For You). Along the way, I have been very fortunate to work with esteemed directors like Christopher Newton, Neil Munro, Morris Panych, Dennis Garnhum, Michael Lichtefeld, David Connolly, Susan Ferly, Eda Holmes, Roy Surette, Jan Alexandra Smith, David Storch, Ann Hodges, Jim Mezon, and Richard Rose, among many other great collaborators.
I spent eight seasons at the Shaw Festival (The Man Who Came To Dinner, Getting Married, The Old Ladies, Diana of Dobson’s, Time and the Conways, Nothing Sacred) and four seasons at Stratford, and was the resident costume designer for three years for Alberta Theatre Projects’ playRites! Festival, designing the Canadian premieres of works like Michel Marc Bouchard’s Coronation Voyage, Stephen Massicotte’s Mary’s Wedding, and Joan MacLeod’s The Shape of a Girl.
In terms of dance, my design of James Kudelka’s Cinderella for The National Ballet of Canada has also been seen at Boston Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre at Lincoln Centre. I accompanied Sabrina Matthews to the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm for her piece quondam; and to Alberta Ballet for Emily Molnar’s Song of a Wayfarer.
I have also spent a lot of time in the marketing and events world, from designing sets for MAC’s Fashion Cares for four years, to the opening and closing ceremonies for the Canada Summer Games in London, ON. I’ve designed audience engagement environments for Rogers Communications and its subsidiary Fido for Bestival on Toronto Island, Wayhome Music Festival, Festival Murale in Montreal, and many Pride installations in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Other projects include CTV’s Fall Season launch at the Princess of Wales Theatre, creating show-specific environments throughout the building, and the network’s Juno party in a found space in Winnipeg; a Smirnoff Experience electronic music event in an abandoned airplane hangar in Calgary (where we discovered that yes, indeed, you can dye entire bales of hay); creating a massive installation of 10 separate environments of a haunted high school for Fallsview Casino, and building a suburban backyard on the back of a flatbed for Leon’s. One of the most memorable events I’ve ever done was staging a full Hindu wedding in the Royal Ontario Museum’s Currelly Gallery (minus the white horse for the groom) to launch the book Sacred Fire by Posey Chisholm Feick.
It’s been a long and wonderful and goofy ride; and I’m not finished yet.