Michael Layton has designed over 300 productions locally
Submitted
The curtain is going down on an era, as Michael Layton, Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s scenic designer of over 40 years, is retiring.
Layton’s first set on the Beef & Boards stage was for Fiddler on the Roof in 1981 – a set that is particularly meaningful to him.
“I had just finished a disappointing production of Fiddler On The Roof in San Antonio,” he recalled. “I was trying out a new concept (for me) and I loved the set. However, the director and lighting designer managed to destroy the entire concept.”
“And at that exact moment, Doug (Stark) and Bob (Zehr) (co-owners of Beef & Boards at the time) asked me if I would be interested in designing Fiddler here in Indy, and I suddenly had the best idea of my career. I said I would do it if I could re-create my San Antonio set and light it myself, no questions asked. That’s what happened and here we are 42 years later! The best gig any designer ever had.”
Beef & Boards has used his set every time it has staged Fiddler on the Roof since – a total of seven productions.
While Michael’s design work has been an integral part of Beef & Boards productions for four decades, it’s not the contribution to theatre he’d initially wanted to make.
Growing up in Oregon City, Ore., a small town outside of Portland, Michael’s parents thought he should be a dentist.
“So I took pre-med at the University of Oregon,” he recalled. “I had appeared in a few shows in college and decided I wanted to move to New York City to be an actor. My parents were not amused.”
But he took the leap, dropped out of college, and enrolled in Phillip Burton’s (father of Richard Burton) American Musical and Dramatic Academy (now called AMDA) in New York City.
“[In] 1968, my first year in NYC, I lived in nine apartments and had about as many jobs,” Layton said. “I also ran out of money and had to drop out of school.”
The following year he happened to audition for an Equity children’s theatre production of The Prince and the Pauper. Because he had a friend who looked like him, they were both hired.
“They paid us all as stage managers so that we could help with scenery, costumes, etc. So all of a sudden I was an Equity stage manager. I did not understand how that would change my life!”
He learned through a friend of a dinner theatre in Chattanooga that was searching for a stage manager. “I took the job, and to help out I threw together some cardboard arches and red drapes for a comedy review.”
His work caught attention, so he started learning as much as he could.
“Things grew from there and I started working at theatres that starred actors from movies and TV,” he said. “Once that happened, my parents thought I was a star and forgave me for everything!”
Michael’s journey would eventually lead him to that fateful production of Fiddler on the Roof in San Antonio, and the offer from Doug Stark and Bob Zehr to return to Beef & Boards, this time the location in Indianapolis.
“I saw his very creative work in a small space in the original Beef & Boards in Simpsonville, Kentucky,” Stark recalled. “And his set-to-space relationship was always imaginative and artistic.”
Stark, whose favorite role on stage is that of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, also has a particular affection for Layton’s set for that show. “The set becomes more effective each time,” Stark said.
Reflecting on more than 40 years of sets, both Layton and Stark agree that the set for Mamma Mia! was one of the best.
“[It was] a great collaboration with director/choreographer Ron Morgan and my designer friend, Russell Metheny,” Layton said. “I’m not sure I have ever had more fun doing a show, not to mention it was the biggest hit in the history of the theatre.”
“He understands our limitations and he makes us look good,” Stark said, adding of the Fiddler on the Roof and Mamma Mia!, “those two sets – you walk in and you go, ‘hey, this is a Broadway set!’”
Layton also has a soft spot for his Les Misérables set, which allowed Beef & Boards to achieve such a big show in its intimate space. He reflects that it was “the best use of space and gorgeous overall – who knew?”
But he is quick to point out the set is only one part of a production’s effectiveness.
“Just because I am the set designer does not mean that I care only about the scenery,” Layton said. “It’s always about the whole show, and I have been known to shed many tears for many performances.”
Still, in his 53-year career, he has designed approximately 800 shows, 330 of which have been at Beef & Boards in Indianapolis. He is quick to thank those who helped him achieve “some beautiful things. I cannot overstate my appreciation for the technical directors and shop crews who have brought all of this to life.”
Looking back, his fondest memories are of “the people, of course.”
“Making shows together, whether you are painting scenery or working in the office,” Layton said. “Doug, Bob, and now the Stark family have been incredibly generous and supportive over all these years. I have worked with many people (backstage, onstage, upstairs, downstairs, everywhere) who are now lifelong friends. I am forever grateful.”
Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, Indiana’s only year-round professional dinner theatre, is celebrating its 50th Anniversary of serving exceptional entertainment with dinner in 2023.