Broadway Breakdown: BACKSTAGE PASS — Designing Marcel on the Train

Podcast: Broadway Breakdown
Host: Matt Koplik
Air Date: March 16, 2026
Episode Theme:
A creative deep dive into the physical and design elements shaping the new Classic Stage Company play, Marcel on the Train (written by Ethan Slater & Marshall Palett), which tells the true story of a young Marcel Marceau saving Jewish children in WWII France. Host Matt Koplik interviews members of the creative team—movement consultant Lorenzo Pisoni, lighting designer Brandon Sterling Baker, sound designer Jill B.C. DuBoff, and costume designer Sarah Lux—for an insider’s look at the artistry, challenges, and collaboration behind the show.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Physicality & Mime: Movement with Lorenzo Pisoni

[00:03–15:20]

Background & Role

• Lorenzo Pisoni, movement consultant, discusses how Marceau's history as a mime shaped the production.
• Brought in to advise on how best to utilize mimetics and mime techniques to serve the play’s unique needs, choosing when to emulate Marceau exactly and when to adapt his style for storytelling.

The Mime Tradition

• On Mime’s Rules:
  “If it is clear what the story is, then that’s the rule.…There is a beginning and a middle and an end of every gesture. And you have to be very clear where a gesture begins and where it ends.” (B, [10:29])
• Stresses clarity in storytelling over adherence to traditional techniques.
• Show approaches Marceau’s routines thoughtfully: sometimes a gesture is homage, sometimes it’s adapted for clarity—“Is this homage or is this quoting? What are we doing?” (B, [07:51])

On the Iconic “Butterflies” Routine

• Explained: Marceau’s “Butterflies” involved catching butterflies in a net, placing them in a satchel, and exploring life and death themes through mime.
• On the significance: “It reeks of import, but it is this signature Marcel Marceau routine that he did from the time he was starting until he was…quite old.” (B, [09:50])

Insights on Process

• Rather than preciousness or arbitrary strictness, clarity and precision are key—“You don’t have to be precious about it. You just have to be precise about it. And those two things are different.” (B, [11:33])
• Practical process: actors physically handled objects before miming them, building muscle memory.
• Collaboration with Ethan Slater was fluid due to shared backgrounds and understanding.

Memorable Moment

• Host Matt jokes about tattooing “precise not precious” on his forearm:
  “I might get that tattooed on my forearm, and every time I go see a show and people ask me what I thought…I'll just show them my forearm.” (A, [12:03])

2. Lighting as Story & Atmosphere: Brandon Sterling Baker

[15:21–32:36]

Path to the Show

• Brandon, primarily a ballet lighting designer, was approached as an “outsider” for his ability to create dreamlike, cinematic spaces—ideal for Marcel on the Train’s memory-driven narrative.

Design Philosophy & Collaboration

• On Lighting Dreams:
  “The moment an audience walks into any space…the story begins…you immediately…have to teach the audience what is real and what is a dream in some way.…it’s an opportunity…to explain to the audience that the color blue means dream.” (E, [19:01])
• Lighting cues the audience to transitions between reality and memory, using specific colors (notably blue for dreams) and shifts in lighting as narrative markers.
• Collaboration with set and sound designers was open and process-driven; rhythm and transitions were synced across light and sound for cinematic effect.

Perspective & the Thrust Stage

• The thrust stage at Classic Stage Company provided unique challenges and cinematic opportunities.
  “Everyone in the audience gets a drastically different experience, and it has an extremely cinematic quality…thrilling to be able to view the production and view every rehearsal from a different perspective.” (E, [23:02])

Design Adaptation & Learning

• Lighting cues and transitions were adjusted rhythmically with the director, adapting in tech and rehearsal—highlighting open, trust-based collaboration.
• On Design Process:
  “The worst thing a designer can do is assume they have the answer.…There is a total fear that comes in the prep and planning…part of the beauty, you know, that as designers, we design options. It’s almost like creating and designing a musical instrument.” (E, [29:31])

Memorable Quote

• “I’m not reinventing light, but I’m providing new combinations that maybe you hadn’t seen in this context.” (E, [25:18])—echoes Balanchine’s wisdom applied to light.

3. Sound as World-Building & Emotion: Jill B.C. DuBoff

[33:17–52:05]

The Role of a Sound Designer

• Sound designers craft the aural landscape: music, effects, and speaker placement, in tandem with lighting to ensure clarity and emotional impact.

Approach to Marcel: Challenges & Solutions

• Marcel on the Train required near-constant sound—creating the feel of a train, amplifying fear and tension, but without cliché or artificiality.
• Technical notes: Over 30 speakers in the small, 3/4 thrust space, individual outputs used to immerse the audience and move the sound naturally through the theater.
• Practical, collaborative process: early meetings with the director, iterative sound tests via QLab programming, constant adjustments to support rehearsal and actor reactions.

Special Moments & Challenges

• Foley (live sound effects) for mimed actions were initially scored but dialed back for clarity and coherence.
• Family story: Jill’s children helped select the perfect fart noise, a comic beat in the play—
  “This is our specialty.” (Jill’s kids, [50:22])
• Sound design’s success is felt, not noticed—
  “A good sound design is one you don’t notice just because…it works so well with the production.” (C, [45:09])

Evolving Through Previews & Collaboration

• Adjustments continue into previews; Jill values designing “to emotion versus script.”
• Tech process involves frequent collaboration with lighting to support mood and sense of place.
• Acknowledges that the design process never truly ends—“Are we ever done? No, but at some point, you just have to walk away.” (C, [49:05])

4. Costume & Character: Sarah Lux

[52:05–71:31]

Finding the Right Visual Language

• Sarah was brought on by Ethan Slater (from their SpongeBob days), facing the challenge of jump cuts, time jumps, and actors portraying children, then adults, often without leaving the stage.

Flexibility, Simplicity, and Character Rooting

• Sought to avoid literal period recreations or costume excess, focusing instead on “step out moments”—subtle visual cues that help the audience track character transformations, time periods, and moods.
• Costumes were devised, tested in rehearsal, and adjusted collaboratively with actors for comfort, utility, and storytelling clarity.

Importance of Lighting & Interdepartmental Collaboration

• Worked closely with lighting to create a cohesive palette; “simple” is essential but hard, and having “the juice” from lighting was crucial to make restraint impactful.
  “It’s really easy just to keep adding stuff. It’s very difficult to winnow it down to just the essence.” (D, [59:52])
• Costume decisions adapted to LED light, considering how different materials or colors would appear onstage.
• Always maintains backup options for quick changes in tech.

On Marcel’s Costume (and Makeup)

• The Marceau-inspired look sought to evoke the spirit and physicality of the real Marcel while giving Ethan the flexibility to be expressive:
  “Having access for him to fully inhabit everything and make his body do all the things that we need it to do. And it was really fun working with Charlotte to do that makeup element because that’s definitely—a massive interdepartmental situation…There’s all sorts of trickery hidden in his costume to be able to facilitate those moments.” (D, [66:29–70:45])

Memorable Design Details

• Ethan’s minimal costume (trousers, a worn-in t-shirt from Lux’s own closet) was specifically chosen to support both character and movement needs—“It also felt like Ethan. So I just wanted to give him maximum capacity to be able to just move…” (D, [66:29])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Insight | |-----------|---------|---------------| | 10:29 | Lorenzo (B) | “If it is clear what the story is, then that’s the rule.…There is a beginning and a middle and an end of every gesture.” | | 11:33 | Lorenzo (B) | “You don’t have to be precious about it. You just have to be precise about it. And those two things are different.” | | 19:01 | Brandon (E) | “The moment an audience walks into any space… the story begins… you have to teach the audience what is real and what is a dream…” | | 23:02 | Brandon (E) | “Everyone in the audience gets a drastically different experience, and it has an extremely cinematic quality…” | | 25:18 | Brandon (E) | “I’m not reinventing light, but I’m providing new combinations that maybe you hadn’t seen in this context.” | | 45:09 | Jill (C) | “A good sound design is one you don’t notice just because it works so well with the production.” | | 66:29 | Sarah (D) | “Having access for him to fully inhabit everything and make his body do all the things that we need it to do.” | | 59:52 | Sarah (D) | “It’s really easy just to keep adding stuff. It’s very difficult to winnow it down to just the essence.” | | 50:22 | Jill’s kids | “This is what we do. We would love to pick a fart.” |

Structural Flow of the Episode

1. Host Introduction and Series Context ([00:00])

   • Matt sets the scene, frames the show’s purpose, introduces the creative team.

2. Movement with Lorenzo Pisoni ([01:36–15:20])

   • Foundation of movement as storytelling; the lasting impact and contemporary adaptation of Marceau’s mime; practical rehearsal anecdotes.

3. Lighting with Brandon Sterling Baker ([15:21–32:36])

   • Emphasizes the role of design in constructing dreams, organizing space, creating rhythm, and collaborating with writers/directors.

4. Sound with Jill B.C. DuBoff ([33:17–52:05])

   • Sound’s immersive power, technical details about speaker setup, the emotional arc conveyed through sound, and playful family stories.

5. Costumes with Sarah Lux ([52:05–71:31])

   • Balancing period authenticity, simplicity, actor utility, and collaborative process – plus behind-the-scenes on Marceau’s iconic look.

6. Wrap-Up and Teaser for Next Episode ([71:32–end])

   • Thanks to the creative team; tease to upcoming conversation with the producers.

Additional Insights

• Collaborative Spirit: All designers highlight deep cross-departmental collaboration and flexibility required in Off-Broadway. The interplay between actors, designers, and directors is woven throughout the episode.
• Process > Product: Designers emphasize the evolving rehearsal process, the importance of adaptation, and artistry that prioritizes serving the show’s narrative and emotional journey, rather than calling attention to itself.
• Magical Realism Meets History: Throughout every discipline, dream logic and memory are central concerns—light, sound, costume, and movement are all in service of neatly blurring the line between past trauma and theatrical present, honoring Marceau’s legacy not as museum piece, but as living, breathing theatre.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This is a rich, engaging conversation for anyone passionate about stagecraft. The designers of Marcel on the Train open the doors to their creative process, revealing how the smallest choices—an actor’s gesture, a subtle color shift, the placement of a speaker, a perfectly worn T-shirt—carry emotional weight and historical gravity. With clarity, candor, and humor, the episode is a love letter to collaborative theatre and creative problem-solving behind the scenes of one of Off-Broadway’s buzziest plays.