NEW YORK — Set designer Derek McLane’s transition from working on Broadway to the Oscars hit a bit of a bump on his first day.
McLane had showed up for work at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in 2013 when the show’s TV director called him over to complain. “The backs of the scenery is all not finished,” he was told. “What am I going to shoot here?”
That was when McLane got a reminder of one big differences between Broadway and the TV telecasts — cameras go everywhere, so everything needs to look good. “On Broadway, we never finish the back of the scenery,” he said. “I just hadn’t thought of it.”
McLane really hasn’t put a wrong foot since, becoming the go-to guy responsible for making the last three NBC live musicals and the last four Oscar telecast look great. His latest challenge was “Hairspray Live!,” which aired Wednesday.
He is a Broadway fixture — a Tony Award-winner who crafted the scenery for such recent shows as “Beautiful,” “China Doll” and a lot of sturdy doors for “Noises Off” — who found his skills translated to live TV. In addition to the Oscars, he’s designed the sets for “The Wiz Live!,” “Peter Pan Live!” and “The Sound of Music Live!”
“It’s very different in some ways, but in other ways, it’s really not,” he said. “We’re still telling stories and all of these stories happen to be based on Broadway shows.”
For “Hairspray Live!” McLane transformed nondescript fake store fronts in Universal’s backlot in Hollywood into 1960s-era Baltimore. Adding to the pressure was that 40 percent of the show was filmed outside. “It’s definitely risky. But it’s also so much more, I think, exciting,” he said.
The show is based on a John Waters film that concerns the full-figured Tracy Turnblad, whose fondest wish is to appear on a local television dance program and champion racial integration. The cast includes Harvey Fierstein, Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande.
McLane built a record store, a jail, a TV studio, a high school gym, and a house for the Turnblads, among others. He consulted historic photos of the period and went down to walk around Baltimore, soaking in the flavor. “The sense of that period is important to the show, for sure,” he said.
