Producer's Perspective Podcast Ep 132: David Korins 🎭

Ken Davenport's popular blog, https://www.theproducersperspective.com/, is now a podcast! On each episode, Tony Award-Winning Broadway Producer Ken Davenport interviews a Broadway industry professional to get their perspective on The Great White Way. Collectively, guests on The Producer's Perspective Podcast have won more than 76 Tony Awards, 12 Grammy Awards, 7 Academy Awards, 5 Emmy Awards, and 1 Pulitzer Prize.

What do Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen and Lady Gaga have in common? Yes, yes, multi-million dollar grosses. But they also have sets designed by David Korins. David is one of the wunderkind Set Designers on Broadway, having already amassed about 20 Broadway shows on his resume, not to mention extensive work in Opera, Music, Film, TV . . . and a few years ago he even helped me design my apartment (I’ve got a coffee table that inspires more conversation than I do!).

One of the reasons I love talking to designers is not only because it’s the discipline I know the least about (I once thought I needed an actual stick to draw a stick figure), but also because the designers have one of the best views of the developmental process. And because David has watched and interpreted great drama for so many different mediums, he can offer some very unique insights, including . . . Why a designer is like a therapist and a midwife and . . . THIS. How the evolution of Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen were oh so different, but with the same sensational results. The key to success while a show is in previews. The big question he asks of himself whenever he designs a set . . . and that you MUST ask on your shows. The #1 skill that a designer needs.

It’s so easy for us to forget how plays and musicals weren’t meant to be read. They were meant to be seen. That’s why the design of a show is so important . . . and why it’s so important for you to listen to this podcast.