Behind the Scenes

Michael Amico

Name:  Michael Amico

City of Birth:  Buffalo, New York

City of Residence:  Deerfield Beach

Artistic Medium:  Scenic design

Credits and Awards:  I've been nominated for several Carbonell awards, and I’m a member of united scenic artist USA local #829

How did you get into theatre?
I have always been involved in theatre, since grade school. I can't remember the inciting moment.

What inspired you to become a scenic designer?
I have always wanted to be a scenic designer. I was involved through high school, and when I went to college I never thought about doing anything else.

How long have you been a scenic designer?
I have been a scenic designer professionally since 1986, when I got out of graduate school.

What is the process of creating a set, from the page to the stage?
It all starts with servicing the script---what the ideas are, trying to get visual elements from the ideas. Ideas can be different depending upon the style of the play. For example, a realistic drama is different from conceptual drama. What I’m trying to say is that you need to get to the root of the play. To do that I read the script, develop rough ideas, talk to the director, and work through to get to the final product. It's really a conceptual process. Every script is different and you have to ask yourself, what is the script really saying? What is it all about? Then you have to develop creative visual elements to support that idea. If it is a cold water flat in 1942 or inside someone's mind, different things come out of text and as the scenic designer, I have to service the text and bring it to the stage.

What are the specific challenges of Summer Shorts?
The problem is time. There is a very compressed time schedule. Summer Shorts is comprised of 17 different plays, as opposed to just one. In the time I would usually design one play I’m designing 17.

Are there added design challenges now that Summer Shorts has moved to Carnival Center?
Since we’re at the Carnival Center this year, we're in the round. We have to do things differently, taking into consideration that the audience is on four sides. This is very different from having a background and a backdrop, with the audience looking one way. We now have the audience sitting around the action itself, which doesn’t leave much opportunity to create set pieces, since people can't see through walls.

Do you do just the designing or some of the actual building of the set as well?
On other shows I work on, I have to build occasionally. For Summer Shorts, I have two titles, a tech director and designer, so I'm in charge of construction for Summer Shorts.

How much of what you design is indicated in the script, and how much is of your own imagination?
It is all from my own imagination. There is a current issue now that you cannot copy set designs from previous productions; theater companies and directors are getting sued for using material that is not their own. You have to 100 percent know that the script you’re working from is not a copy from a previous production. The first thing I do is to take black magic marker and cross out all stage directions and descriptions of the set. I don’t even care what was there before. I have to make the productions my own. Sometimes a director will ask me if I saw a particular play in New York and, whether I did or didn't,  I can't use anything from it. We have to make the productions our own, and the interpretations of the text have to be our own.

What are some of the elements that you have to take into account when designing a set?
I really have to understand the action of the play, what characters are doing physically and how they relate to each other. I kind of direct the show in my mind's eye, and try to anticipate the director's needs. It all happens in my head. I decide what the text is really saying and figure out how to convey what is in the script and how to stage it. Sometimes directors get locked into what is in their own minds, and they will have a completely different view of the show than I will have, or what you can ever imagine. You'll say to yourself, "Wow, I never thought about doing that scene that way." Sometimes what directors envision is not indicated in the script at all. I have to initially be the director, then stage the show to make it my own.

Where do you get the things with which you dress the set?
I get the things I need to dress the set from everywhere. I have to beg, borrow, steal, and I visit thrift shops, Home Depot, anywhere, everywhere.

What are the unique challenges involved in designing sets for contemporary plays and for period plays?
I don’t think there is a difference. The difference is the style of the production, not the process, which is conceptual. Is the play a realistic drama? Those are about details. Shakespeare, for instance, is conceptual; it’s not about the period it is staged in, but the interpretation of the text. The staging is not necessarily realistic. It's about the style, and interpretation, and type of drama it is.

What production has offered you the most challenges?
The most challenging thing is space. Theaters in South Florida do not have realized proscenium stages, unlike the Broward Center of the Performing Arts; they have wing and fly spaces. The spaces I work in all have limitations: low ceilings, and no wings. You have got to make it all work with what you got.

What have been your favorite productions to design?
I love them all, each one is like my child. It's all very personal, and I don't have a favorite, generally speaking. Of course, the more support I have, the bigger the shop, I can realize and complete a design the way I see it. You can get farther if you have more resources. With that said, there are a lot of little plays that have come out equally as well. After 20 years, I've done so many shows, both good and bad, I focus on the good points, and less on the bad points.

Have there ever been any major set malfunctions once the run of the production has started?
I can't truly remember any malfunctions since I was in college, generally because in professional theater, you have to be pretty careful. You have to work within the boundaries of safety. Yes, things have broken down, but nothing has come crashing to the floor. I have no tragic stories to share; it has gone pretty well in course of my career.

What is the best thing about working in South Florida theatre?
The close-knit community is the best thing about working in South Florida theatre. We all know each other and it's not quite as competitive. We help each other out when we can.

Upcoming Productions:
I'll be working full time at Palm Beach Dramaworks for the upcoming season. With less freelance work, I’ll have more time to spend with my kids. 

12^th Annual Summer Shorts Festival, produced by City Theatre

Through July 8 at Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami Call 305- 949-6722 or visit carnivalcenter.org/summershorts.

July 12-15 at Amaturo Theatre at Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.  Call 954-462-0222 or visit browardcenter.org/summershorts