Guess Who's Coming to Dinner at Geva Theatre Center
Geva Theatre Center's production of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is a stage adaptation of the beloved classic and Award Award®-winning film in which a daughter surprises her privileged and liberal white parents with an African-American fiancé and his parents. The gorgeous set was used in an Indiana productiontion and then conveyed to Rochester, so it was designed with both stages in mind.
KidsOutAndAbout.com and BeyondTheNest.com Publisher Debra Ross was so impressed by the gorgeous set that she asked Scenic Designer Robert Koharchik to tell her more about it.
Where did you get your inspiration for the set? Is it based on a real space?
The inspiration came from homes designed by Neutra, Aalto and Saarinen.
How long did it take from concept to execution?
It took about 6 months from the first concept meeting to opening night.
What kinds of tricks did you employ to define the many varied spaces within this set? Obviously, the architecture is amazing, but are there other ways that you make the single stage feel like several common areas of a house?
The ground plan for the house was the first challenge to tackle. There were no tricks. I had a list of requirements from reading the script and talking to the Director (Skip Greer) and I made sure all of those requirements made it to the stage.
Does the decor use vintage items?
The only vintage items were the coffee table, end table and the dining set. Everything else is a reproduction. The sofa is from Crate and Barrel's mid century modern line and the chairs were from Wayfair. We bought the fabric for them from Crate and Barrel. Their chairs were cost prohibitive.
The look definitely conveys a sense of wealth in combination with simple elegance. How does one accomplish this on a budget? There is so much to look at... Is this the most expensive set you've ever designed?
Not easy to keep a show like this in budget. We actually went over a little bit but stayed pretty close to the stated budget. The Technical Director, Scenic Artist and Prop Master at the IRT did a great job realizing my design. They all had great suggests where we could save money and where we should spend the money. My choice for the stone on the set was going to put us way over budget but the Technical Director, Chris Fretts, found a much cheaper solution and Claire Dana, the Scenic Artist, made it work. As mentioned above, I found the Crate and Barrel mid modern collection but we knew we couldn't afford the chairs and the sofa. So, we spent the money on the sofa and the Prop Master, Geoff Ehrendreich, found chairs that would work at a more affordable price. The coffee table and end table are from my living room.
It is not the most expensive show I've designed but it is definitely in the top ten.
Were you influenced by the movie of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, or other movies of the period? (It kind of reminds me of North by Northwest, actually.)
The movie helped me solidify my thoughts. Where the movie was a contemporary wash on a conservative façade (not an inappropriate choice but one most audiences would not recognize), we were looking for a visual that would say more about the people that lived there and something the audiences would recognize as soon as they entered the theatre.
Anything else that would interest our readers?
I hope you enjoy the production!
“Guess Who's Coming to Dinner” runs until Sunday, March 12, 2017. It is recommended for ages 12 and up. Click here for show times and tickets.
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