Set+Design

= Set Design =

Klara Zieglerova - Klara Zieglerova is the set designer of Jersey Boys. You can view some set photos at her design site.

[|Show Works] Show Works are the Australian company who built the set for the Australian production of //Jersey Boys//. A great picture of the set can be seen on their website, and a smaller one is below.



The set is placed towards the back of the stage, and allows plenty of space for the any props and items needed for scene changes, such as the recording booth to be wheeled centre stage as required. The free centre stage space also allows plenty of room for choreography to be performed and instruments to be placed when needed.

The high ramp across the stage is well used throughout the show, especially in the first part of the show when we are shown characters moving in and out of jail. Another scene which uses the ramp well is where the group is working out how to get out of the financial trouble that Tommy has got them into. We can see below that they are in the basement of Gyp De Carlo's and his henchmen are standing guard on the ramp.

Photo Source: Cote, David (2007) //Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons.// Broadway Books, New York.

The spiral staircase is where we see Frankie sitting and watching Tommy DeVito performing in the club very early in the play. He bounds onto stage to sing "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" after Tommy introduces him as his "new discovery". Another scene where the staircase is particularly well used in the poignant scene where Frankie and his wife sing "My Eyes Adored You".

Zieglerova comments in the Jersey Boys book that:

"the script is cinematic - the scenes flow from one to another - the design would have to be a unit set with slide changes that make each scene specific, but that were able to change at an incredible pace." (Cote, p. 43)

She also wanted to capture the "industrial grittiness"of the Jersey area in her designs.

Interview with Klara Zieglerova - The Jersey Boys Blog has an interview online with Klara Zieglerova, which can be viewed in its entirety at the blog site. Below is a short excerpt where Klara describes her inspiration for her set:

"JBB: Prior to beginning the set design for //Jersey Boy,// what kind of research did you do to prepare, and how did it contribute to your inspiration of the design of the //Jersey Boys// set?

KZ: Living in New York and traveling to New Jersey often, I was familiar with the 'feel' of New Jersey. interestingly, by not being from New Jersey (or even America, for that matter) gave me a little bit of a 'under the looking glass' perspective of this state. Certain visual elements that a New Jersey native could take for granted were exciting and inspirational for me. Of course, I also did tons of period research, and photographs of George Tice were particularly inspiring.

JBB: What artisitc mood, style, theme or emotion were you trying to capture and evoke on stage with //Jersey Boys//?

KZ: "The Four Seasons", however successful and well traveled they became, never really leave New Jersey emotionally. It's a part of who they are. That was the principal idea behind the set: the grittiness, the New Jersey skyline is always there."

She further goes on to say: "JBB: What is the single most important thing you did on the set to capture the allure of the //Jersey Boys// story?

KZ: The set of //Jersey Boys// looks very simple, even though it has many complicatied technical issues. I think we were successful in this aspect. We achieved scene changes that look effortless and do not get in the way of telling the story. For example, if you closley follow the microphones on stage, they not only signal the period of the play, but their composition tells the story of the group (going from four microphones, to three, to one for Frankie Valli). I am most pround of the fluidity in //Jersey Boys// - which allows the audience to go where they need to be taken and to use their imagination during quick scene changes."