Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Plays take a slice of life, a moment in a person’s history or a fantasy world and present it to the audience. Actors inhabit that life to make theater-goers believe they’ve received an intimate glimpse of another’s problems, loves and realities. Set designers bring that world to actors and audience members. For the past three years, at Theatre Palisades, Sherman Wayne has designed and helped construct eight sets, including “View From the Bridge,” “Romantic Comedy,” “Inspecting Carol,” “Plaza Suite,” “Bad Seed,” Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” “Moon Over Buffalo” and “All My Sons.” He is currently finishing his ninth, “Fatal Attraction.” In “Fatal Attraction,” the play opening tomorrow at Pierson Playhouse, the set requires a jacuzzi, a fire place, two large wood beams in the ceiling and a balcony overlooking the room. “Most of the sets are designed with Broadway stages in mind, but we don’t have that kind of room,” Wayne says. “I design it so it will fit on our stage. “When you look at the stage before adding the walls and furniture, it looks huge,” Wayne says. “A sofa takes up so much of the stage, that we usually use a love seat instead.” In creating the stage design, Wayne first builds a miniature to a half-inch scale. He then collaborates with the director to make sure they’re on the same page. He’s working with director Michael Macready on “Fatal Attraction.” “Michael usually lets me do whatever I want,” Wayne says, “but on this production, he doesn’t like the table I chose. He feels it’s too big and doesn’t leave enough room on stage for the actors.” Above the stage, two heavy wooden beams are already in place to help an audience envision a rustic cottage. The “wood” beams are actually pieces of Styrofoam painted to look like wood. At one point a flower pot falls off the beam, threatening one of the actors. “If we had the budget of the Ahmanson, we would hire an expert to rig a mechanical mechanism,” he says, “but at Theatre Palisades we make it happen with a spring and a string.” One of the problems with community theater in the Palisades is the small budget for productions: The amount budgeted for scenery and costumes for “Fatal Attraction” is $700. “We are always working with less than we could use,” Wayne said. “We do excellent work, but it all has to do with whom you can attract.” All of the positions, from director to actor to set designer to publicity director, are unpaid. “Fatal Attraction” has several set pieces that are integral to the plot, including the jacuzzi. Wayne envisioned it with a cover that opens when a button is pressed, steam rising out of it, and the movement of the water reflected on the surrounding wall. In reality, a fog machine will supply the steam, a lighting trick will cast the reflection and a stage worker will be behind the set sliding the lid off to coincide with the actress pressing the button. Although there is no water in this fake jacuzzi, the actor will be watered down backstage and appear wet. The realistic-looking stone fireplace actually was built with wood with a Styrofoam veneer. The stones are made by tracing the Stryofoam with a soldering iron. As the foam melts it leaves an indentation. The final step is to spray the “stones” with a granite paint. “This kind of stuff is fun to do because it’s creative,” Wayne says. He points to the black stage floor marked with tape, chalk and dirt. “This will be a peg-and-groove wood floor,” Wayne says. To accomplish that, the floor is painted yellow. The next step is to put a board down and trace on one side with a magic marker to give the illusion of grout. Finally a watered-down wood stain is brushed over the entire floor with a dry brush technique. Wayne, a retired high school drama teacher, is currently vice-president of production at Theatre Palisades. During production, he arrives at the theater around 10 a.m. and leaves at 7 p.m. Wayne says his wife complains “You said when it wasn’t your show (directing) you wouldn’t spend as much time at the theater.” He grew up in Sacramento and attended San Jose State University, where he graduated with a degree in theater. “I fell in love with the theater and have been doing it ever since.” After graduating, he went to work summer stock in Roanoke, Virginia, and from there went to New York City. “I looked for work, pounding the pavement, sending out resumes,” Wayne says. “I wish I had gone to a more prestigious theater school, I wouldn’t have gotten a better education, but in theater it’s who you know. I constantly ran into Yalies, who would only hire Yalies or Northwestern people.” He worked 25 years in the Big Apple. Wayne was the manager for the “Fantasticks,” which was the longest-running show in New York. In the ’60s, he had his own production company that supplied personnel or whatever was needed for Off-Broadway productions. It was a time when Off-Broadway was beginning to flourish and theaters such as Circle in the Square were starting to provide an alternative to Broadway. Wayne produced Off-Broadway plays like “White Rose and the Red” and “Penny Change.” “I have to admit the show wasn’t very good,” Wayne says, “I was just happy to work.” He lived on $50 a week in a third floor “cockroach” walk-up for $80 a month. He admits he was constantly looking for work. “It was hard, but I just persisted,” Wayne says. “Then I got married, had a child and decided to come back to California.” He was hired by the city of West Covina to manage a 3,000 seat theater-in-the-round. He loaded up his child, a dog and a suitcase that was so large it was called “Big Bertha” in a VW Bug and he and his wife, Lynda, drove across the country. From the West Covina theater, he worked as an assistant manager for the Greek Theater and then eventually worked for the Center Theater Group at the Mark Taper Forum. On the first production the Taper sent their set to a scene shop, but found it expensive. They opened their own shop and hired Wayne to run it. “I worked there for a while, but needed to buy a home and get some security,” Wayne said. “I dusted off my teaching credential and started teaching. I discovered I liked it and spent the next 25 years teaching, finally retiring from Hawthorne High School in 2000.” He and Lynda bought a home in Torrance, where they currently live. Lynda is a nurse; Wayne calls her a “super nurse” because she was the head of all the nurses at UCLA. They have two sons: Chris, who is a graphic artist, and Matthew, who works for a truck rental leasing firm. Lynda, a former Palisadian, inadvertently planted the seed for Wayne’s involvement with Theatre Palisades. “She kept talking about a theater she used to drive by that wasn’t open, which got me interested,” Wayne recalls. He meanwhile became aware of Theatre Palisades through a friend, Rich Little, with whom he worked at a theater in Torrance, the Palos Verdes Players. In 2003, Wayne sent a resume to Theater Palisades asking to direct “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”. He wasn’t chosen; however, he had passed around a rendering of what the set might look like and was asked to design it. In addition to designing sets, he also directs. His most recent credit was “Plaza Suite.” The next Theatre Palisades production after “Fatal Attraction” is “Buddy.” “I’m trying to find another designer for ‘Buddy,’ but since I’m in charge of production, if I can’t get anyone to do it, I have to,” Wayne says. “Theatre Palisades needs more volunteers. ‘The show must go on’ is a corny phrase, but it’s true,” he says. “The opening night can’t be changed, so you do what needs to be done to open the show. You do the best you can because of pride and love of theater. “One of my favorite places is to walk on stage before the curtain goes up,” Wayne says, “and know what magic is going to happen. After 50 years I still get goose bumps.”
