An Interview with Scenic Designer Bert Scott

This season, Orlando Shakes returned to Lake Eola for the first time in 15 years with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream followed by the smash-hit, sci-fi musical, Little Shop of Horrors. Both shows feature gorgeous sets designed by Bert Scott. Learn how how he brought two unique worlds to the Walt Disney Amphitheatre at Lake Eola Park.

Orlando Shakes: Describe your inspiration and direction for the scenic design.

Bert Scott: For Midsummer, the set is a bit of a fantasia on classical Greek design, with exaggerated columns that allow the magical forest to grow within them. The set was originally inspired by the Greek columns on display at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC – because we usually see them in photographs of entire buildings, you forget how massive the columns really were, then when you see them indoors in the context of a museum display, you really get a sense of the scale. A secondary inspiration was the Lake Eola bandshell itself – I tried to create a world that seemed organic to the space – as if it had, perhaps, been there a very long time.

For Little Shop, the set is inspired by both the original movie, and posters of science fiction movies from the 50s and 60’s. I think we have gone a bit further with the science fiction look than is common with this show.

Orlando Shakes: How do you think the unique set contributes to the storytelling and creative direction of the show?

Bert: For Midsummer, for me, the set reinforces the theme that the magic is always there, inside, it’s just contained, or even restrained, within the confines of the city and the social structure, but when those structures are loosened, the magic is released.

For Little Shop, the set helps to create a space where our real pandemic precautions can be integrated into this fictional world where they are also fighting an “alien” invader. It’s a little sci-fi horror, a little post-apocalyptic inner city, and a little Guys and Dolls gone very wrong.

Orlando Shakes: What was your greatest challenge in the set design for each show? How did you overcome it?

Bert: I think the biggest challenge for both shows is the same – space. The Walt Disney Amphitheatre is a lovely structure in a very picturesque setting. But it’s not a theater – it’s a bandshell. So there is no backstage, and very limited ways of even getting onto the stage. Some of what you see in the set for both shows is actually infrastructure that would normally be offstage (back stairs to the upper levels, a hallway that allows actors to cross the stage unseen, etc.) that are incorporated into the actual set.

There are also some very specific spacing requirements dictated by the actors’ union that had to be incorporated. I’ve been joking with my students that I’m working on “The Unusually Wide Shop of Horrors.”

Orlando Shakes: How did the set designs develop when you learned these shows would be performed at Lake Eola?

Bert: I’ve been lucky in that I didn’t have to adapt a design that was already started for either of these shows. When we first started working on Little Shop last year I was originally the lighting designer and my friend Jim Hunter, who has designed the scenery for most of the Shakes’ musicals the last several years, was the scenic designer. When the production moved to the lake and it became apparent that, due to COVID, we wouldn’t be able to fly Jim in from South Carolina, I switched roles and was able to basically start from scratch.

For Midsummer, we really didn’t start the design process until much, much later than normal. Since it was later in the season (Little Shop was originally scheduled as the opening September production, Midsummer was to be in February) we already knew that it was going to be at the lake before we really began working on it in earnest.

Orlando Shakes: Are there any set secrets or things the audience should look for when watching the show?

Bert: There is certainly one element of Little Shop, a collaboration between scenery, costumes, puppetry, and lighting, that’s going to be a surprise to people who are familiar with the show!

Orlando Shakes: Tell us a little bit about your career? How did you know you wanted to pursue a career in scenic design?

Bert: As with many people involved in the theater, I started as a performer as a child, but I quickly realized I was more interested in all of the cool stuff backstage. I participated in school and community theater throughout middle and high school, and then went to college to get a degree in Electrical Engineering, because I didn’t have any idea that theater might be an actual career path for me. After graduation, I landed a job as a lighting designer for an architectural firm (mostly designing lighting for parking lots and non-descript office buildings) and quickly realized that was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So, I went back to get my MFA in theater design, and started working as a prop master and assistant designer and then designer, and then eventually began teaching. I moved to Orlando in 2003 and have been coordinating the undergraduate theater design program at UCF ever since.

Orlando Shakes: What do you wish more people knew about the art of set design?

Bert: I think a lot of people don’t know that plays don’t really come with “instructions” on how to mount them. Designs are always unique to the individual production, and have to take into account the theater space, budget, personnel, director, other designers, etc. Even when you design the same show multiple times, it’s always different in some way…often many ways.

Orlando Shakes: What advice would you give to young people who want to pursue a career in your field?

Bert: Just do it! There are so many fantastic theater organizations in Central Florida, and most of them have volunteer opportunities or at least ways to observe the process. Go see all of the theater you can. Read! There is so much information available now about entertainment design – if you have a favorite show or design, chances are there is information out there about it. Don’t be shy about asking established designers for a few minutes of their time to look at your work or offer their advice.

If you are serious about pursuing a career in design, start documenting your work – not just the finished production, but the process. That’s what people will want to see if you are looking into college programs, internships, etc.