Arts & Entertainment

Setting the stage

Gay theater designer says less is more in his field

Published

13 years ago

May 17, 2012

Local theater set designer Tony Cisek whose long career in Washington has garnered him four Helen Hayes Awards. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

A playwright sets the scene with words, but it’s up to the scenic designer to bring it to life visually.

As one of D.C.’s top set designers, Tony Cisek is a master at transporting audiences to places both foreign and familiar. In this year’s season alone, he’s taken us to an exotic Cypriot encampment, a steamy Florida cigar factory, an airport terminal and with his most recent work — “The Taming of the Shrew” currently running at the Folger Theatre — the Wild West.

Cisek (pronounced Chis-eck) explains that while sets can range anywhere from totally abstract to highly realistic, his typically lie someplace in between. For Ford’s Theatre fall production of “Parade” (the musical account of the 1913 murder of teenage factory work Mary Phagan in Atlanta in 1913 and the subsequent lynching of her accused murderer Leo Frank two years later), Cisek’s design was serviceable yet haunting: he imagined a newly industrialized red brick Atlanta with two towering columns, each in unchecked stages of decay, standing as fading remnants of a more glorious South.

“The ‘Parade’ set was the result of over 20 sketches,” he says. “My favorite way to design is to distill and distill, to edit down until you have just what you need. I’m not good at decorating or excessive dressing.”

“I’m not interested in a purely naturalistic representation of something that leaves nothing to the imagination,” says Cisek, who’s gay. “I feel the audiences come to theater because they’re interested in doing a little work, in having to lean forward and fill in, and they have the capacity to do this. I like using elements that evoke certain feelings, times and places by using textures and forms.”

Growing up in Queens, New York, Cisek was introduced to set design while working stage crew on high school plays, but it was as a pre-med major at Georgetown University that he began to get serious about it. “A friend dragged me to a Masque and Bauble production [Georgetown University’s student-run theater group],” he says. “And I was blown away that people my age could do something with such artistry. I got involved and learned a lot. If you had the aptitude and the inclination you could do almost anything.”

Soon, Sunday evening phone calls home focused on shows and sets rather than organic chemistry. By Cisek’s senior year it was obvious to both him and his parents that a future in medicine was out and a career as a professional set designer was taking shape. He went on to study scenic design at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. After receiving his master’s in 1994, he planned to stay on in Manhattan, but things worked out differently. Offers from the Washington theater scene came fast and frequently (and have continued uninterrupted), so he and his longtime partner, a scientist, make D.C. their home.

For the four-time Helen Hayes Award winner, inspiration comes in many ways.

“I like to say I never know when the muse will descend,” says Cisek, 47. “Sometimes it’s in the not-fully awake early hours when your brain is figuring things out without you or when you’re fiddling with the white model [a preliminary small scale model] or Skyping across country with a director. Often the indispensable lighting and costume designers will have a great suggestion.”

But Cisek’s favorite path to inspiration is brainstorming with the director in the theater. In the case of Folger Theatre’s “Othello” that ran earlier this season, he and director Robert Richmond did just that, spending several hours chasing down ideas and scribbling on napkins. In time, sketches and models were rendered and the technical director oversaw the execution of the design. Ultimately, the result was a dazzling set that morphed from a towering canopy bed elaborately crowned in carved wood to magistrate’s office to billowing ship sails to a fabulously appointed Bedouin-style tent.

Like many designers, Cisek enjoys working with simpatico directors. This season he collaborated with gay director José Carrasquillo three times: WSC Avant Bard’s “Happy Days” (memorably encasing actor Delia Taylor in a gigantic dress); GALA Theatre’s “Ana en el Tropico”; and Arthur Miller’s “After the Fall” at Theatre J, all well-received productions.

José Carrasquillo says, “Tony is fearless in expressing his feelings and opinions, but most importantly he enjoys making theater. It’s a gift to have a designer that despite the hard work that goes into doing a show, would not be anyplace else in the world, but right next to the director and the other team members inside a theater making a story three dimensional.”

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Books

Celebrate Pride month by reading these books

History, pop culture, and more

Published

4 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Photo courtesy of Terri Schlichenmeyer)

You’ve done your share of marching.

You’re determined to wring every rainbow-hued thing out of this month. The last of the parties hasn’t arrived yet, neither have the biggest celebrations and you’re primed but – OK, you need a minute. So pull up a chair, take a deep breath, and read these great books on gay history, movies, and more.

You probably don’t need to be told that harassment and discrimination was a daily occurrence for gay people in the past (as now!), but “American Scare: Florida’s Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives” by Robert W. Fieseler (Dutton, $34) tells a story that runs deeper than you may know. Here, you’ll read a historical expose with documented, newly released evidence of a systemic effort to ruin the lives of two groups of people that were perceived as a threat to a legislature full of white men.

Prepared to be shocked, that’s all you need to know.

You’ll also want to read the story inside “The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS” by Martin Padgett (W.W. Norton & Company, $31.99), which sounds like a novel, but it’s not. It’s the story of one man’s fight for a basic right as the AIDS crisis swirls in and out of American gay life and law. Hint: this book isn’t just old history, and it’s not just for gay men.

Maybe you’re ready for some fun and who doesn’t like a movie? You know you do, so you’ll want “Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness” by Michael Koresky (Bloomsbury, $29.99). It’s a great look at the Hays Code and what it allowed audiences to see, but it’s also about the classics that sneaked beneath the code. There are actors, of course, in here, but also directors, writers, and other Hollywood characters you may recognize. Grab the popcorn and settle in.

If you have kids in your life, they’ll want to know more about Pride and you’ll want to look for “Pride: Celebrations & Festivals” by Eric Huang, illustrated by Amy Phelps (Quarto, $14.99), a story of inclusion that ends in a nice fat section of history and explanation, great for kids ages seven-to-fourteen. Also find “Are You a Friend of Dorothy? The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped Shape” by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Levi Hastings (Simon & Schuster, $19.99), a lively book about a not-often-told secret for kids ages six-to-ten; and “Papa’s Coming Home” by Chasten Buttigieg, illustrated by Dan Taylor (Philomel, $19.99), a sweet family tale for kids ages three-to-five.

Finally, here’s a tween book that you can enjoy, too: “Queer Heroes” by Arabelle Sicardi, illustrated by Sarah Tanat-Jones (Wide Eyed, $14.99), a series of quick-to-read biographies of people you should know about.

Want more Pride books? Then ask your favorite bookseller or librarian for more, because there are so many more things to read. Really, the possibilities are almost endless, so march on in.

Music & Concerts

Indigo Girls coming to Capital One Hall

Stars take center stage alongside Fairfax Symphony

Published

2 days ago

June 12, 2025

Tinashe Chingarande

The Indigo Girls are back in the area next week. (Photo courtesy of Vanguard Records)

Capital One Center will host “The Indigo Girls with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra” on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20 at 8 p.m. at Capital One Hall.

The Grammy Award-winning folk and pop stars will take center stage alongside the Fairfax Symphony, conducted by Jason Seber. The concerts feature orchestrations of iconic hits such as “Power of Two,” “Get Out The Map,” “Least Complicated,” “Ghost,” “Kid Fears,” “Galileo,” “Closer to Fine,” and many more.

Tickets are available on Ticketmaster or in person at Capital One Hall the nights of the concerts.

Calendar

Calendar: June 13-19

LGBTQ events in the days to come

Published

2 days ago

June 12, 2025

Tinashe Chingarande

Friday, June 13

“Center Aging Friday Tea Time” will be at 2 p.m. in person at the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s new location at 1827 Wiltberger St., N.W. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected].

Women in Their Twenties and Thirties will be at 8 p.m. at Wundergarten. An update will be posted the night of the event on where to find WiTT’s table. There’ll be a Pride flag to help people find the group. For more details, join WiTT’s closed Facebook group.

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Pride Month Happy Hour” at 7 p.m. at Freddie’s Beach bar and Restaurant. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Saturday, June 14

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Pride Month Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including Allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Rainbow History Project will host “Behind the Scenes With the Senior Curator of ‘Pickets, Protests and Parades’” at 7:30p.m. at Freedom Plaza. This behind-the-scenes experience offers a rare glimpse into the creative process behind this groundbreaking showcase of DC’s LGBTQ+ history. Learn about the bold design decisions that shaped the Quote Wall and Hero Cubes and the powerful stories that almost made the cut. Tickets cost $82 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Monday, June 16

“Center Aging Monday Coffee Klatch” will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected].

Genderqueer DC will be at 7 p.m. in person at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. This is a support group for people who identify outside of the gender binary. Whether you’re bigender, agender, genderfluid, or just know that you’re not 100% cis. For more information, visit their website at www.genderqueerdc.org or check us out on Facebook.

Tuesday, June 17

Bi+ Roundtable and Discussion will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is an opportunity for people to gather in order to discuss issues related to bisexuality or as Bi individuals in a private setting. Check out Facebook or Meetup for more information.

Wednesday, June 18

Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit thedccenter.org/careers.

“Legends Live Loud: A Queer Karaoke Experience” will be at 7 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. This will be a dynamic, Center-wide karaoke event celebrating the brilliance and cultural impact of some of our most colorful queer icons. The Center will honor legends through music, pop culture, dance, and inextinguishable liberation. For more details and to sign up, visit the DC Center’s website.

Thursday, June 19

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Book Club” at 7:30 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano. This book club is co-hosted by EQUALITY NoVa and is another opportunity to engage in a fun and rewarding activity. The group doesn’t discriminate when it comes to genres it reads – from classic literature to best selling novels to biographies to histories to gay fiction. For more details, visit Eventbrite.

Cultivating Change Foundation will host “Cultivating Pride Happy Hour” at 5:30 p.m. at Dacha Beer Garden. This Pride month, the organization is inviting LGBTQ+ people and allies in food and agriculture to come together in communities nationwide. These informal gatherings are a chance to connect, celebrate, and build community, whether it’s over coffee, a cocktail, or a conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.