READY the SET, and GO Build
Jane Asch Sets the Stage If you are fortunate to attend a Pingry drama or musical production in the Hostetter Arts Center’s Macrae Theater, it would be worth your while to take special note of the sets. Detailed, colorful, and carefully-crafted, they are the artistic vision of award-winning scenic designer Mrs. Jane Asch P ’04. “I take into account all of the show’s collaborative needs and then create the design, which is reflected in my draftings [detailed drawings that guide the construction of sets] and models,” she explains. That list of needs begins with the director’s initial vision for the production, which could sound as simple as “a two-story set with two staircases.” (She receives other input from the lighting director, music director, and choreographer.) And, make no mistake about it, Mrs. Asch has collaborated with many directors during her career, having worked on television, movie, Broadway, and opera productions as a professional scenic artist before becoming Theater Production Designer & Manager and a visual arts teacher at Pingry (part-time from 2004 to 2010; full-time since 2010). By joining Pingry, she came full circle, in a way, from where her interest in scenic design began—backstage in high school! “My friends were performers and stayed to help with sets, so they suggested that I try it. It was magic, and I met my husband Tony while building the sets,” she remembers. “I liked the problem solving, and that the set was ephemeral—a moment in time, like music and performance. You work together to create a magical experience and then move on to create another work of art.” That sense of problem solving is ongoing, since every production presents a new set of challenges. “I take copious notes about the Draftings and models by Mrs. Jane Asch P ’04 for Antigone, The Addams Family, Seussical, The Crucible, and Curtains. Models help the cast and crew visualize three-dimensional set pieces.
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THE PINGRY REVIEW