I started in the theatre and I've never really left it. At Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre in Logan, I keep coming back to the Ellen Eccles Theatre to design scenery, including the 2023 season.
A pyramid that becomes a world
The centrepiece of my 2023 work was Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida, directed and choreographed by John De Los Santos. I built the set around a large rotating wooden pyramid frame — ship, jail, throne room, in turn. One strong sculptural idea, engineered to carry the whole show. That's stagecraft I trust.
Two shows, one summer
The same season placed Aida next to Wagner's Lohengrin, directed by Suzan Hanson, on the same stage. Musical theatre and grand opera in one summer. You have to switch visual languages and still leave the company's stage coherent. I came up doing exactly that.
Building a forest
I also went back for Sondheim's Into the Woods at the Ellen Eccles. A fairy-tale forest is its own problem. It has to feel enchanted and storybook-real at the same time, with towers and trees and transformations that drive the plot. After a 130-metre dome it's a quieter kind of work — timber, paint, light — and I love it.
Home stage
The festival work is where things come round. Utah is where I first learned this craft, and the stage where I still go back to do it the smallest way I know how.