He Creates Bold New Worlds on Bare Stages

ORFEO

Yale Baroque Opera. 2019. University Theater, Yale University Directed by Toni Dorfman Lighting by Solomon Weisbard Projections by Camilla Tassi Set Design by Patrick Huber Philip Boehm at Upstream Theater hired me for this show, with a larger budget than any I had done. The shop that built and painted the set does scenery for Broadway shows and major films. I was playing with the big boys. The show was staged at the Yale University Theater MainStage. The concept of the show was that it was being performed by the passengers and crew of an 18th century French sailing ship.

BY GER RY MANDEL

atrick Huber and I

Psat in his backyard in University City on a beautiful spring afternoon recently to talk about his impressive career as a theatrical scenic and lighting designer. As I sipped my La Croix grapefruit bubbly with a splash of agave juice - his favorite refreshment - I looked around at his exquisite garden and bird feeders and realized I was sitting in an outdoor set that was perfect for Patrick. He admitted that his wife, Emily, is really the brains behind it. If you have ever seen a play at one of the smaller theater companies here, then it’s a sure thing you’ve seen Patrick’s work. He is a master of scenic design and lighting design. Yes, those are two separate crafts, but they work together to create the world of the play or musical. Scenic and lighting design are frequently unnoticed by the audience, except when the curtain or lights go up and they get their first look at the stage. That’s always been a magical moment for me. I know I’m about to spend the next two hours in this temporary but fully realized world. After that, I accept it as a reality. The actors take me through their story, the mood enhanced by the lighting cues and accents that carry me along until the final curtain. I must admit I am a theater junkie and especially love the productions of the smaller companies in St. Louis. That’s one of the pleasures I have missed most during this long COVID intermission. Maybe you’ve seen one or more productions by those companies. It’s an impressive list, and all of them are on Patrick’s resume’. They include - hold on, it’s a long list - St. Louis Actors’ Studio, Upstream, Max and Louie, the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Orthwein Theater Company, Union Avenue Opera, Washington University Opera, Hothouse, Shattermask, and - reaching back to 1983 - City Players. That’s an impressive resume, covering almost forty years. And he’s not about to slow down. Last year, Patrick won the St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Best Lighting Design for the play “Indecent.” In 2019, Union Avenue Opera Company won that award for “La Boheme” as “Best Production of an Opera,” for which he designed the scenery and lighting. It all began when he was a teenager. Patrick grew up in South St. Louis, and learned through school and church that it’s disrespectful of all religions to try to practice just one view. He lives that today. He needs ritual, and a time and space, to be sacred. From the saying you’ve probably heard about “people who are gathered in my name,” he believes that’s where the spirit lies and is at the core of theater. Patrick views theater as a community. Actors, directors, wardrobe, scenery and lighting designers, sound design, carpenters and painters, tickets and programs - and the audiences. These are large and small communities. The one quality that brings

Union Avenue Opera. 2018. Union Avenue Christian Church Directed by Mark Frieman Set and Lighting Design by Patrick Huber

Scott Schoonover, the producer at Union Avenue Opera, is fearless in the operas, right up to a 4 -year production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. I have a nice model of the sanctuary at Union Avenue Christian Church that I fill with the operas we produce there. This is a model for the 2018 production of “Nabucco,” with which we worked out complex levels, paint treatments, and the head of Bel, the pagan god who is smote by the God of the Isrealites.

it all together is a common goal. “It’s a clear, shared mission we all value,” he says. “The director takes the lead in this endeavor, the main driving force.” Everyone has to have faith in the director. The director is one of the two critical components that draws Patrick to a production. The other is the script. Years ago, an actor taught him how to read a script. Now, when he reads one, he can run it in his head. “I can see it, and I know what it can be… and how it could be even better.” He experienced that two years ago with “Indecent” for Max and Louie Productions, a highly acclaimed theater company here. Working with Stellie Siteman, founder of Max and Louie, he liked what he read and the people he knew in the company. Those were the keys that brought him in. Patrick’s educational path took him from St. Louis U. High to St. Louis U. to the University of Missouri and eventually to Webster University, from which he graduated with a degree in scenic and lighting design. That was not his original intent. He would have gone to journalism school, which is why he picked Mizzou, but a couple of pre-requisites - accounting and economics - told him otherwise. After graduating Webster, he received a graduate degree in Dramatic Literature from Washington University. That’s when he went to work, developing the skills and imagination that would eventually place him in the top tier of designers in the St. Louis pantheon. The Fox Theater was undergoing renovations at the time, a beautiful show palace saved from demolition by Mary and Leon Strauss. Patrick did anything and everything there, from box office to running the backstage elevator. The mystique and history of the Fox fulfilled him. For awhile. When the rehab crew finished in St. Louis, they moved to restore the Chicago Theater, and Patrick went with them. There he learned a lot about the business of theater, from box office to replacing light bulbs. He broadened his horizons in Chicago by working at several small theater companies. The city was the scene of a vibrant theater community, providing him with the opportunity to hone his skills and meet new challenges. Then his career took a hard right turn. To Coral Gables, Florida and Frank Sinatra. It seems Sinatra had a lot of money in the

PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE

Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School. 2000. Vincent Price Theater Directed by Patrick Huber Scenery and Lighting by Patrick Huber Steve Martin’s play is set in the Montmarte section of Paris at the end of the 19th century, and spends a lot of time talking about art. You and I spoke the other day about using the work of an established artist as inspiration for a set design. This is the most obvious example I have of basing a design on a work of art. In this case, it was Van Gogh’s “Night Café.”

Chicago Theater, with a front man to protect Frank as the silent partner. Patrick was offered the job of bookkeeper for the company that helped manage the talent and schedules of Sinatra, the Rat Pack, Liza Minelli, and other celebrities. It was a fascinating job, which included supplying the song lyrics, printed on a large sheet to Mr. Sinatra who, it seems, had begun to experience memory problems and couldn’t remember the lyrics. Patrick soon returned to St. Louis to begin building an impressive resume with a variety of theater companies. I asked him who his main influences were in his craft. He named two, both teachers at Webster University: Peter Sargent, in lighting design, and John Ezell in set design, he said without hesitation. He credits these two men with showing him what could be done with an empty stage to make the script come alive. Working with St. Louis Actors’ Studio over the years, Patrick has created a lengthy and impressive list of productions. One of the more adventuresome theater companies in St. Louis, Actors’ Studio was founded by William Roth in 2006. William envisioned a company that brought a fresh vision to theater here by exploring the endless facets and various themes of the human condition. “I began collaborating with Patrick in 1992, when I was acting at the Orthwein Theater Company,” says William. Situated at MICDS, the OTC offered cutting-edge plays with sterling casts and directors. “When I started Actors’ Studio, the first person I contacted was Patrick,” he says. “He is egoless and selfless, and his sets are second to none.” Patrick was always there to collaborate, to look for input, to make the set work beautifully. He was an important member of that team. The stage at the Gaslight Theater is a confined space, just 18 by 18 feet, with more vertical space above the stage. Patrick makes imaginative use of that. “I trust him. I just say ‘do your thing.’” Audiences at the Gaslight have continued to be blown away by his imaginative sets and lighting. “I cherish my relationship with Patrick,” says William, “and hope it goes well into the future.” Another strong influence in Patrick’s life was Milt Zoth. “I met Milt at City Players,” says Patrick, pulling up a couple of names from St. Louis theatrical history. City Players was once the flagship of St Louis theater companies, training ground for an impressive list of actors and directors. Milt Zoth, who was a director and guiding light for St. Louis theater for many years, taught drama at Kirkwood High School. He was a father figure to many before moving to Austin, Texas several years ago. Patrick went to work with Milt at MICDS, and designed sets and lighting for many productions of the Orthwein Theater Company at MICDS. The OTC legacy remains as one of the most adventuresome companies. Patrick had been told that the architecture instructor at MICDS was quitting and was offered the job. He took it, even though architecture wasn’t high in his skill set. But he was a quick learner. How did it all work out? “I’ve been teaching there for thirty years,” says Patrick. Patrick never says, “I can’t.” His attitude is “I can do this.” And he does. Whether it’s theater or education, whether he’s designing sets and lighting or showing students what is possible in theater and in life, Patrick brings imagination and energy to whatever he does. “There is nothing as exciting as theater,” he says. “From that first glance at a script to the audience applause at the end of a play. I can’t ask for any more out of life than that.”

LITTLE FOXES

St. Louis Actors’ Studio. 2018. Gaslight Theater Directed by John Contini Set and Lighting Design by Patrick Huber

I’ve designed the majority of the shows that have been produced in the Gaslight Theater. In the process, I’ve learned a lot about what can be done in a cube that is 18’ on a side. There’s no negotiation, no cheating. You get 18’. I’ve learned a lot about what can be made to fit in such a space, including an antebellum sitting room and a staircase that has to support the most dramatic moments of the show for “Little Foxes.”

As the potential for a healthy, new theater season approaches, I urge you to check out the following websites to see what magic these companies will offer. www.straydogtheatre.org www.stlas.org www.maxandlouie.com www.newlinetheatre.com www.insighttheatrecompany.com www.upstreamtheater.org www.repstl.org