Set Design for Grease

Theatrical set designer Derek McLane ’80 shows how his work progresses — from initial sketches on a yellow legal pad through the musical’s finished sets...

Theatrical set designer Derek McLane ’80 shows how his work progresses — from initial sketches on a yellow legal pad through the musical’s finished sets — and discusses some of his surprising, diverse sources of inspiration: the endless rows of lockers he remembers from high school; a Life magazine photograph of a drive-in movie theater; the colors in 1950s advertisements; and that era’s fascination with nuclear power.

For more on McLane, see "Storytelling Spaces," in this magazine's March-April issue.

 

Click here for the March-April 2008 issue table of contents

You might also like

Understanding AI Vulnerabilities

As artificial intelligence capabilities evolve, so too will the tactics used to exploit them. 

Crypto—To Regulate or Not?

The former director of Harvard’s fintech lab reflects on the future of digital assets.

The Psychology of Virtual Reality

Harvard’s Steven Pinker on the psychology underlying the experience—and limitations—of VR

Most popular

Oldest and First in 2025

Stanley G. Karson ’48, AM ’50, KSG ’50 and Linda Cabot Black ’51 led the alumni parade into Tercentenary Theatre on Alumni Day.

Harvard Medical School Renames Diversity Office, Revamps Recruitment Program

The latest in a broader rollback of DEI at the University

12,000 Harvard Alumni File Amicus Brief in Funding Freeze Lawsuit

Alumni from every Harvard school and class since 1950 rally behind the University 

Explore More From Current Issue

Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences on Discipline and Financial Aid

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences discusses classroom conversations, boosts aid, addresses discipline—and faces austerity

Filmmaker Salvador Litvak's Jewish Movies

The “Accidental Talmudist” on making Jewish movies

The Franklin Stove—A Historical Climate Change Adaptation

Historian Joyce E. Chaplin reinterprets an early era of invention, industrialization, and climate challenge