I designed and painted sets at Unity Junior High School in Tolono, Illinois; from 1982 to 1992. My aunt, Mary Ellen Page, was the Drama coach and asked me to help design the set for Peter Pan. I continued to design sets at the school for ten years. I have kept some of the sketchbook work and preliminary designs, and I have some photos of the completed sets (students should notice that even small sketches help in planning any large project). Here are some of the sketches and images of the sets from several productions:

1982: Peter Pan (no pics)

1983: Dracula, Baby (no pics)

1984: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (no pics)--During the Cave scene a stalagtite (cardboard) fell on Alan Burwell, who pretended to collapse and improvised some funny action. I wish I had some pictures of this!

1984 (?): The Widow's Plight One of the Melodrama Night offerings, which were meant to raise money through intermission bake sales. The play itself was the typical melodrama, with a villain and a heroine who was in peril but saved in the nick of time by some wonderful hero guy. We played these for laughs, had cue cards for the audience (saying, "Hiss", or "Applause", etc), and the sets and props were usually silly. The portrait of the Widow's late husband was to hang over the mantel, but I painted another face for the final. Alan Burwell was dressed in an old shawl and wig to play the Widow, and in one improvisational scene (unplanned), he gave mouth to mouth resuscitation to a rubber chicken that was intended to be part of dinner. I will never forget him slamming it on the table and begging, "speak to me!" The audience loved it.

1985: The Wizard of Oz (no pics)

1986: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat  The cardboard/foamcore model for the design.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, before he became big-time famous, wrote this musical for junior high drama presentation! You can tell I was still painting the pyrmids in the background when this photo was taken, because the stepladder is still in sight (yes, I used to be able to climb that thing). Jonathan Sivier, my friend and cohort, designed and painted the cobra, whose red and green eyes (3D glasses) would light up and flash during the Pharoah's Elvis Presley style act.

1986(?): The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch I think every junior high in America has put on this forgettable comedy. I put a lot of "Busey Bank" signs on the storefronts in the western town, because this is the bank that was always acquiring others. Little did I realize they would soon take over Bank of Illinois, and I would be a customer!

1987: Annie (no pics)--I was thinking about the movie "Brazil" when I painted the orpanage, and I wish I had some images to post for this one!

1987: Inside a Kid's Head

A twelve foot brain on the back wall of the stage, with pipes and wires. A "kid" is daydreaming in his grade school classroom. We tried to evoke a humorous analogy to building facilities and ductwork.

1988: You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

I tried to retain the flavor of the comic strip style.

1989: Peter Pan I wish I had some images of David Warfel flying on a parachute harness, strung with cable connected to a pulley on the ceiling--one of the magnificent effects achieved by my friend and colleague, Jonathan Sivier, and a host of others including riggers from the UI Assembly Hall. It took the small town of Tolono by storm (what an image that makes)! J. M. Barrie's fairytale childhood yarn. I was inspired by Arthur Rackham's illustrations for "Peter Pan In Kensington Gardens" (could I escape his influence, anyway?).

1989: The Stolen Prince

An "oriental melodrama" with ridiculous plot twists. I used rice paper screens and japanese art elements.

1990: Once Upon a Mattress

I used the Unicorn Tapestry and crenellations to evoke a romantic medieval setting.

1991: Dracula, Baby

The Bride of Frankenstein vignette over the bar.

1992 (?): Belle of the Yukon

"Nanookie of the North", vignette over the bar, on the Melodrama Night/Drama Club bake sale night. I got in trouble for such racy barroom paintings.

1992: The Wizard of Oz:

Tornado reveals (in front of opened curtain at sides). The original sketch, and the acetate overlay for projecting on the flat.