Prague quadrennial 2023
Scene Design for La bohème has been selected for inclusion in the National Exhibit from the USA for the 2023 Prague Quadrennial.
Media Design for The Greatest Liberty with selected arias by Anthony Davis has been selected for inclusion in the National Exhibit from the USA for the 2023 Prague Quadrennial.
Carnaval - luna stage
“This is a polished production with a sleek hotel-suite set by Charles Murdock Lucas...”
Turandot - Daejeon Arts Center, Republic of Korea
“A perfect harmony of music, scenic design, and directing...”
“The best opera production ever by Daejeon Art Center.
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“I saw the same opera, but a different production in Seoul a while ago, and the Daejeon Arts Center production had a better cast, orchestra and stage set, and it was very impressive.”
[...]
In particular, the stage set and lighting created a realistic and mysterious atmosphere that was well received by the audience.”
“It is also noteworthy that stage designer Charles Murdock Lucas, who was highly praised for the stage design of last year’s production of La bohème designed the set. [...] ‘This is the 17th work produced by Daejeon Arts Center since its opening, and it is a work firmly establishes Daejeon Arts Center in the history of opera production’ said Kim Sang-gyun, director of Daejeon Yedang. ”
SWeeney Todd - Skylight Music theatre
“Director Matthew Ozawa directs this visually sparse production to focus on developing emotional characters and the multi-faceted story which includes the cameo role of the beggar women played by Susan Spencer. On Charles Murdock Lucas’s sculptural and bone-like, a skeletal stage that honors the people lost, his stage design allows for multiple story scenes to appear simultaneously.”
“As befits the Skylight’s jewel box Cabot Theatre, Matthew Ozawa’s production is both majestic and intimate. Jason Orlenko’s costumes are appropriately Victorian, but Charles Murdock Lucas’s scenic design envelops the stage in a semi-Steampunk abstraction, with huge industrial scaffolding surrounding the actors. At times, the characters seem appropriately dwarfed by the superstructure, as when the sweet-voiced Anthony (Lucas Pastrana) sings his Romeo tribute to Johanna (Kelly Britt). But the dramatic fireworks occur when Ozawa brings his characters downstage, close to the audience, allowing the performers to really sell Sondheim’s glorious songs.”
“Designer Charles Murdock Lucas and director Mathew Ozawa combine for a claustrophobic London with hinged hand-turned scaffolds and wheeled-in sets. These carry us everywhere — from a hospital operating room to a pie shop to a mechanical barber’s seat that drops the victims into a first floor cubbyhole in the second act.”
“Walk into the Cabot Theatre for Skylight Music Theatre’s thrilling production of “Sweeney Todd” and one immediately takes notice of the cadaver on stage, receiving the full attention of dissecting doctors and nurses.
Well-heeled onlookers gaze down from above on this re-creation of a Victorian operating theater, in which voyeurs could watch bodies of the poor, the diseased and the insane – now safely dead and distant – as they were mapped and placed.
But in a musical that’s all about the return of the repressed, director Matthew Ozawa makes clear that bodies and memories don’t always stay where they belong.
In the first of many spine-tingling moments in this production, it’s Andrew Varela’s cadaverous Sweeney who arises from that operating table, staring at us and thirsting for vengeance. You’d better believe we’re going to attend his tale, involving a man framed for a crime he never committed so a corrupt judge could steal Sweeney’s wife and child.
Upending the London he reviles, this Sweeney transforms the operating theater we’d first seen into an expressionist embodiment of his mind.
Charles Murdock Lucas’ two-tiered scenic design of industrial scaffolding features hinges allowing the side pieces to fold inward; when they swing toward us, they become a giant version of Sweeney’s razor, raining blood on the back walls of a tonsorial parlor that’s bathed in reds by lighting designer Jason Fassl.
Those swinging set pieces also allow Ozawa to present multiple storylines at once, required by Sondheim’s score and Hugh Wheeler’s book. That simultaneity is usually handled by a turntable, which slows things down and doesn’t allow us to appreciate how fully these characters live in each other’s minds and worlds.
An illustrative example:
As he talks to his beadle (Ben Tajnai) about how to look good for Johanna (Kelly Britt), some part of Judge Turpin (Randall Dodge) knows that all she really wants is to be with Anthony (Lucas Pastrana). As staged here, we can see the two young lovers kissing within inches of the older men.”
SPONGEBOB THE MUSICAL - SOFIA PUPPET THEATRE
“The impressive set design, which transports viewers to a unique underwater rock club, is the work of Charles Murdock Lucas from the United States. [...]
The musical is an extraordinary explosion of colors, music and dance, a sparkling and captivating celebration for all the senses...”
tHE ROYAL FAMILY - the SHAKESPEARE THEATRE OF NEW JERSEY
“…a lavish set designed by Charles Murdock Lucas that sports a dramatic curving staircase and a crystal chandelier.”
““The Royal Family” also boasts a stunningly handsome physical production, featuring a knock-out set by Charles Murdock Lucas and smart period costumes by Maggie Dick.”
Mother Road - San Diego Rep
“[...] Charles Murdock Lucas is the star-maker, as the scenic and projections designer. The scenic design features a number of pieces that move, including the car that what becomes an intrepid quartet use to make the trip. Mr. Lucas’ projections light up a screen the width of the entire stage, and they even depict a realistic rainstorm that runs across the intermission break. [...]”
Prague quadrennial 2019
Scene Design for The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds at Cygnet Theatre, and other work selected for inclusion in the Professional/Transformation Exhibit from the USA for the 2019 Prague Quadrennial.
La bohème - Daejeon Arts Center, Republic of Korea
“a significant milestone, opening up the new wave for operatic culture in the city of Daejeon. [...] the dramatic interpretation and the setting of its performance are praised as top-notch. The real-life based yet futuristic backdrop of the production brings both intimacy and unfamiliarity to the audience. By doing so, it brings new vitality to the well-known storyline.”
the effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds - cygnet theatre
“Credit set designer Charles Murdock Lucas for the amazing and cluttered former vegetable market they call home, with knickknacks in every cranny and newspapers over windows and door.”
“The set is a marvel of chaotic clutter... ”
“Her monologues on the magic of atoms are heightened by Kevin Anthenill’s hauntingly beautiful sound design and Conor Mulligan’s often mesmerizing lighting, on Charles Murdock Lucas’ artfully cluttered apartment set.”
“Nominee for Outstanding Scenic Design: Charles Murdock Lucas – “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds,” Cygnet Theatre”
Mahagonny Songspiel & Der Kaiser von Atlantis - Eastman Opera theatre
“...clever but minimalist set design by Charles Murdock Lucas have all been contributing factors to EOT’s artistic success”
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - WAREHOUSE THEATRE
“Also striking is Charles Murdock Lucas’ set, which accentuates the sense of pageantry on display.”
“Charles Murdock Lucas’ tennis court-style stage design is both contemporary and a homage to pre-French Revolution neoclassical architecture (a mammoth mirror-tiled entrance on one end) and the era’s decadence (red velvet curtains on the other) with striking crystal chandeliers on pulleys that rise and lower as needed. The stage is a gleaming glossy white that illuminates and reflects brilliantly with Frazier’s lighting.”
Turn of the Screw - Eastman Opera Theatre
“The oppressive, enigmatic scenic design of Charles Murdock Lucas beckons us into Eastman Opera Theatre’s production of the chamber opera “The Turn of the Screw,” a truly disturbing and lasting work of genius from 20th-century English composer Benjamin Britten.”
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER - FREEFALL THEATRE
“Charles Murdock Lucas’ set does the near impossible: It makes last year’s set design tour de force [...] look downright ordinary. Everything in this show is off the scales when it comes to creativity. Two balloons and a string of white triangles are all that’s needed to create the menacing croc, Tick Tock. When an actor dives underwater, a canopy suddenly covers the audience. Numerous shirts are lined up like a gigantic sail. The whole concoction acts as a sort of child’s playground, which is more than appropriate for the story at hand. Mike Wood’s lighting is imaginative and quite lovely; it works in glorious harmony with the stunning set.”
Così fan tutte - A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute
“Charles Murdock Lucas’ sets evoke the 1960s with a minimalist approach that makes each of just a few elements stand out. One really striking element is the furniture: Piles of red ball-like shapes, for example, replace chairs and sofas.”
OLIVER! - CABRILLO STAGE
“There’s another “star” in “Oliver!” Scenic designer Charles Murdock Lucas creates a fluid set which transitions smoothly from the workhouse in the first scene, to the Paddington Green Marketplace, to the undertaker”s home, then to Fagin”s underground hangout, the metal walls and stairway of which are flown down from high above the stage and from the wings.”
MAMMA MIA! - VILLAGE THEATRE
“…the show’s Greek island setting felt so magical. I soaked up the royal blues of the Mediterranean Sea, the warm pinks and oranges of the sunset, and the bright white of the architecture in the set design.”
“[Director Faith Bennett Russell] … has staged this beautifully on Charles Murdock Lucas’ equally beautiful set filled with curtains of flowers covering the simple yet effective stone wall facades. And when combined with Brian Tovar’s stunning lighting design the feel of the islands and the glamour of a disco are in full force.”