The SHOW

Designed for the stage with the original script by Arthur Kopit & Music by Maury Yeston (1973) - Based on Federico Fellini’s film 8 1/2 (1963)

“Famous film director Guido Contini struggles to find harmony in his professional and personal lives, as he engages in dramatic relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother.”

The SET

All white set pieces (Venetian arched bridges, columns, etc.) allow for lighting to re-paint the canvas of Guido’s mind as we follow his tortured imagination, where his prodigal inner child reigns. Elements of a film set are always a part of the stage - lights, film reels, rigging, etc. to further symbolize his separation from reality. Everything in his world is of his own making, and that is part of his problem. Authentic, rustic feel to the sets that reflects Fellini’s actual Italian neorealism perspective. It should look like a black and white Fellini film set, that comes alive with light and color with each song.

The COSTUMES

 Film Noir meets Mod 60’s; the juxtaposition of old Venice with retro metallics and shiny, new age futurism. I was drawn to the idea of keeping it ‘black and white’ with shades of grey, as if in a film. While that concept has been played with before with this material, I really want to lean into it and commit. Creates an interesting opportunity to play with light to tint the scenes, almost as if mimicking the way they used to paint onto the film itself to add color in the early days of cinema. It’s designed as a love letter to both the 60’s and to film itself.