DAVID BARRINEAU

Working on Wicked is a career highlight. I was on the account from its opening until I switched agencies over 10 years later. For its 10th anniversary, we were tasked with “refreshing” the art, a subtle but massive redesign which included a re-do of all materials: outdoor, print, theatre front-of-house, et.al. Overseeing a team of Art Directors, we went to work on modifying the iconic (and beloved) art. The producers were as happy with the results as the fans were.

In this magical and inventive "prequel" to the Peter Pan story, pirate ships, crocodiles and "starstuff" are portrayed on a bare stage of rough-hewn wood using only the audiences imagination, brilliant staging and a myriad of props (ropes, ladders, cooking utensils, really everything but the kitchen sink).   

The key art has that same rough-hewn, handcrafted nature. After much searching, I located a wood craftsman from Connecticut named John W. Long to execute my design with an actual woodcarving. A video about the creation of this piece was featured on The New York Times website, attached here.

Second Stage Theatre is one of the premiere non-profit theatre companies in New York City. Being a non-profit necessitated working on a limited budget — while not skimping on style. To this end we coordinated photo-shoots in rehearsal rooms, empty conference rooms and even a board member’s bedroom. And when a photoshoot wasn’t possible (either due to budget or scheduling), we created photo illustrations working from stock photos.

Using this clean, almost presentational esthetic, these “captured moments” invite the audience into the world of the play and became a visual signpost for 2ST. 

Orlando Ballet is one of the nation’s most well-regarded ballet companies. Their productions are sophisticated and highly entertaining. The challenge, then, is how to communicate this to potential audiences (and since they are based in Orlando, Florida, there are plenty of other cultural institutions, not to mention theme parks, vying for audiences seeking entertainment).

So, for the 2021-22 season, I wanted to highlight the athleticism of the dancers, which was showcased against elegant, patterned backgrounds. By using this combination, we were able to make it clear that you didn’t have to be a dance aficionado to have a great time at the Orlando Ballet.

Kander & Ebb’s homage to the golden age of the musical comedy starred David Hyde Pierce as a showtune loving detective. Initially the art emphasized the show biz setting. Later in the run we began to play up the colorful characters and the whodunit plot. The inside scoop: characters with red backgrounds get murdered.

Four fading Broadway stars decide to revive their careers by putting the celeb in "cause celebre." When they hear about Emma, a young woman whose high school won't let her go to the prom with her girlfriend, they set out to prove that there's no business like getting into someone else's business.  

I wanted the art to convey that The Prom is a classic musical comedy in the spirit of The Music Man, Bye, Bye, Birdie or Hairspray; it's a show where a cast of colorful characters turn a small town upside down with musical numbers, humor and lots of heart. Using classic Broadway illustrations as inspiration, The Prom's characters spill across the page in a joyous protest parade. Many carrying musical theatre punned protest posters.

But since this was a contemporary musical, dealing with topical issues, I wanted the illustrations to be fresh and modern. Working with Spanish illustrators/designers Raquel Jove and Raúl Gómez (also known as R&R) of Rebombo Studios, we created a whole community of vibrant characters. The playfulness even extended to executing renders of the director and producers, as well as creating opening night congratulatory cards for other Broadway shows — but with a Prom sense of humor.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (better known as The Wallis), is the premiere cultural destination for the arts in Los Angeles and they were looking to make a big impression for their upcoming season. Since LA is so identified as a film town, they wanted a fresh and vibrant campaign that would draw attention to the wide range of programs they offered. While the campaign would be used in a wide variety of placements (advertising, website, social graphics, etc.), the Season Brochure is big component of announcing their season, so we started with that.

As with many cultural centers, they are often provided with a variety of photography from the artists and shows they’re presenting. Many are production photos, while others are set-up promotional photos. The challenge becomes how to make the images represent the presenting organization, as well look cohesive. My plan was to fold the photos (often silhouetting the performers) into a bold graphic-based system.

Taking inspiration from various iconic buildings on The Wallis’ campus (which range from the original 1934 Beverly Hills Post Office to a striking copper-clad modern structure that houses the main theater), I developed four graphic elements that would not only be used for design, but by echoing the architecture, would also reinforce The Wallis brand. And finally, a bright color palette was chosen and organized to subtly code the programming (Music, Theater, Dance, Film and Family).

One element that came out of this is the use of the graphic W that was inspired by the facade of the modern addition. The moment I saw the shapes on the building, I knew I wanted to create this W icon for The Wallis. You can see it on the Intro Spread, as well as in some of the additional concepts that were presented. I’m hoping we’ll see more of this icon in the future!

This Off-Broadway musical was a humorous, but still loving, tribute to the Clintons' White House years. The producer wanted the art to have a National Lampoon's Vacation vibe, which perfectly captured the tone of the show. There are lots of hidden jokes in the poster: Hillary's repurposed campaign poster, a cardboard Al Gore carried across the White House lawn, etc. My favorite? Newt Gingrich and Kenneth Starr standing at the base of a very phallic Washington Monument.

Year’s later I came across a framed windowcard in a thrift shop in Palm Springs. It was selling for $29.

The Vineyard Theatre is one of the country’s foremost theatre companies dedicated to the creation and production of new plays and musicals. Their productions have a wide range of subjects, which allows for much variety in their season advertising. We recently added a subtle “V” to unify all the campaigns. It works for the individual key art as well as a branding element for the institution.

Second Stage Theatre’s 35th Anniversary was a prime opportunity to shake things up and evolve the campaign. 

We wanted to take the “captured moment” photos that have become so recognizably 2ST one step further. 

Illustrator Josue Evilla’s bold, graphic style was a perfect fit for this forward-looking organization. 

Using two interwoven trajectories, this contemporary new musical tells the story of Elizabeth and the choices/chances with which she’s confronted. In the story of “Liz” she follows her heart, while in “Beth‘s” story, she focuses more on a successful career.

The key art subtly alludes to this duality with the forked path and mirror-image Flatiron buildings. Also, onstage, Liz is usually bathed in a rose-colored palate, and Beth in twilight blue; therefore two versions of the key art were created.

Theatregoers are often seen leaving the show with both posters.

When you have stars as recognizable as Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd, most producers would want the actors’ faces on the poster. Luckily, the producers of Three Days of Rain wanted something more artistic and evocative of the time-spanning love triangle at the heart of the play.

Starring Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Goldblum, this provocative, darkly comic yet deeply serious play dives into the conflagration of gender, power and politics that emerges in a private relationship after a public humiliation.

Male and female gender roles in both humans and other species of the natural world are deconstructed using the conceit of a science project presented by the couple‘s thirteen year old daughter.

These creatures became the textures used in the letters of the logo (which also included the human species - a man's stubble, and the lips of a woman). Guessing the species’ texture became a popular post-show guessing game.

Though I've been fortunate to work on a number of Stephen Sondheim revivals, it was a thrill to create the art for a brand new Stephen Sondheim musical.

Could it get any better than that? Well, yeah it could: Hal Prince personally picked this art, calling it as iconic as the mask advertising his production of The Phantom of the Opera. High praise indeed.

The writing team of Salzman & Cunningham asked me to create the art work for the concept album of their musical Next Thing You Know.

This show about twenty-somethings struggling to find their way in New York City centered around a local dive bar.

Certainly a great excuse to do a pub crawl with the composers as “research.”