Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1988 - 26

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reel'.. The aurhor explains that the designer's Russian training in the Cantructi\'i t style put his work thiny
year ahead of the realistic cenery
most often found on Broad\\·ay. The
influence of l\leyerhold, Tairo\~ and
the designer Alexandra Exter on the
young designer's concept of realism in
art stayed with Aronson throughout
his career. Two early production that
he designed \\'ere 0<11' ond Sight
1192'+1, produced at the Unser The,ltre
in the Bronx, and The Tenth CO])]mondment (19261, produced for the
Yiddish Art Theatre on Second Ave24

TD&T·

SPRING 1 SBB

nue in Manhattan. Breaking into the
mainstream lew York theatre in the
thirties with designs for plays by the
Group Theatre, Radio City Music
Hall, and Broadwa)~ Aronson ventured
inro designing realistic scenery. Yet, in
phorographs of productions such as
Clifford Odet's r!.lvahe and Sing'
119351 and Paradise Lost 119351, the
set retain an impressionistic quality.
Ric h proceeds c h ronologi ca II y
through the fonies, the fifties, and sixties. Inrerestingly, ,Jithough Aronson
was nor as heralded as the other major
designers of the period, he worked

with leading playwrights Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and William
lnge, and such major direcrors as Elia
Kazan, Garson Karlin, and Peter Hall.
Rich includes many revealing quotes
from these and others about their
work with the designer that give real
insight into Aronson's process and approach ro design. For example, Anthony Quayle, who directed and
starred in The Firstbom 11958), commented on a painting Aron on was
working on: '~d Boris picked up that
tiny suggestion, and developed it, and
made it both concrete and abstract at
the same time, until he had evolved
this wonderful setting that seemed ro
embody the very essence of ancient
Egypt." Throughout the discussion,
Rich emphasizes that Aronson was
constantly ilUlOvative and had ro wait
for the theatre world ro catch up with
him. His design for The Great American Goof [19'+0), used projections in
anticipation of Josef Svoboda, and his
use of collages in Do Re i\t1.i (1960),
although they proved to be impractical and unworkable ar the time, was a
precursor ro a similar teclm.ique he
used later for Pacific Overtures (1976).
Begimling with Fiddler 011 the Roof
(196'+), and continuing through the
shows that he designed for Harold
Prince, Rich states that Aronson
helped redefine the American musical
and its productions: "Sets would have
ro be less naturalistic and ntore fluid
in movement; they roo would have ro
be choreographed into the whole."
Working with Prince and Stephen
Sondheim, Aronson became a true collaborator on the creation of a production. In these shows, Aronson's work
was an integral parr of the fabric of the
piece. lany times the sets were designed before the writing was finished,
so that songs could be written ro be
timed ro movement on the set. For
Cabaret (1966) he creared the glittering theatricalllightclub, and for Zorba
(196 I he created an appropriately
sculptured and textured set. His designs for Comp(11)' 119 01 fearured a
Constructivist apartment building
with elevarors that were a "collage of
people in metal frames," and his designs for Follies (1971) depicted a "lavishly empty stage." His collaborative
workforr!. Little "light _\lllsicI19731white birch trees on clear lucite
panels-provided direcror Prince an
opportunity to cinematically "wipe"
away characters from the stage. Fi'
nall)j for Pi/cific Overt mes, Aronson
successfully achieved a "Tapanese feel-

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1988