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Jacob Coakley“It’s not the nut and boltsthat create the mood.There is a bigger intentbehind it.” — Ray WinklerThe proscenium arch extends out into the seating area of the audience.“It doesn’t really matter whereyou are in the world, as long as youcan overcome the time differences,the information can be exchanged,”Winkler says.“I’m busy early in the morning,”Wright adds, laughing.Moving Into RealityThe final design called for aspace that stayed true to its theatreorigins. There would be no movingstage or giant pool of water.Instead, audience members wouldbe greeted by a traditional gildedproscenium frame.“We are trying to establish the moodof the theatre,” Winkler says. “That wasvery important, so that when the audiencefirst comes into the house thetheatre takes possession of the spacethat it sits in.”In order to have the theatre takepossession of the space, they oversizedthe proscenium frame, arching it horizontallyout into the house past the lipof the stage. The gilded prosceniumspills out into the sixth or seventh rowof seating and features such design elementsas rabbits pulling Criss Angel’shead out of a hat.“When you first walk in it looks rathercozy and kosher,” Winkler says. “It’s elaborateand it’s beautiful, but it warrantsa second look because the more youlook at it the more that cozy and kosherappearance gets undermined by a slightlydarker and sinister force that runs notonly through the set and the scenery,but throughout the whole show.”The vibe of the show has beendescribed as “twisted Victorian,” afusion between a Victorian vernacularstyle that on second reading containsmodern gothic nuances and interpretations,which take the design to a differentlevel. It’s not quite steampunk,but not fully gothic either.“It’s not quite what you think itwould be,” Winkler says. “It is a verymysterious world, and what we understandfrom the world of design is thatit’s not the nut and bolts that createthe mood. There is a bigger intentbehind it.”Making MagicThe crew spent months rehearsingand building in warehouses aroundLas Vegas in order to find the perfectbalance between design, fabricationand illusion.www.stage-directions.com • December 2008 29