By Benito Vila

When the stage lights come up tonight in the Pierson School auditorium on the middle school production of “Annie”, audience-goers will be treated to the workings and wonder of a simple but effective set designed by Pierson senior Hannah Cook.

The musical has two primary settings, the orphanage where the title character “lives” and the mansion of billionaire Oliver Warbucks where Annie “visits” as the storyline unfolds. Also folding in and out during the performance will be Cook’s set, a series of muslin panels that will open and close to create the proper scenic backdrops.

Cook has worked on all of the middle school plays since she was in seventh grade, and the small Pierson stage and the resulting challenges she and her fellow stagehands have had moving set pieces proved to be a part of the inspiration to her solution.

“‘Annie’ was actually the first show that I ever worked on here at Pierson,” said Cook after rehearsal last weekend. “Me, as a little seventh grader, picking up and rotating a four by eight foot set piece didn’t really work out too well. And there have been many other times since then where the sets were totally impractical and sometimes a bit dangerous. I wanted to make sets that were totally opposite,”.

The opportunity to create this set came from conversations Cook had with Pierson art teacher Peter Solow, who suggested she select a “senior project” to challenge her obvious visual talent. In choosing to design “Annie,” Cook was destined to break new ground, never having designed for the stage before.

“Thinking of a structure was harder then I thought it would be,” explained Cook. “There’s not much you can do in a theater that doesn’t have any fly space to lower set pieces from the ceiling or trap doors to raise set pieces from the floor.”

“Also, the only set pieces I had worked with were rolling flats, so my knowledge was very limited,” she added. “When I saw ‘The History Boys’, directed by Michael Disher, last year at Southampton Cultural Center, I loved how they changed between classrooms. They just had two big panels that turned, like turning a page of a book. I had never seen anything like it before, and it looked so easy. Their scene changes took less that 10 seconds whereas most of ours usually take more than a minute.”

In describing her design process, Cook added, “It wasn’t until I built a half-inch scale model of the stage and started playing with folded cardboard that I figured it all out. I also did a lot of research on 1930’s architecture, orphanages, beds, fads, and Hoovervilles. In addition, I looked at the set design from other ‘Annie’ shows, which was very helpful, even in figuring out what I definitely did not want to do.”

To work out her solution, Cook discovered “playing with cardboard and sugar packets can be really inspiring”. She also found that “letting people do things for me” was more difficult than she expected.

“I am a perfectionist so handing over my flats to parents and other students to paint was so hard,” said Cook. “I knew what I wanted everything to look like and I didn’t want anything to get messed up. Ultimately though, I never would have gotten everything done without them, I am so grateful they were there to help.”

“Working with a budget and under such a time constraint was also very hard,” continued Cook. “There were Mondays where I would say, ‘OK, I need to get this, this and this done this week.’ And then, before I even realized it, it was Friday and I hadn’t done anything, and that’s when I would get really frustrated.”

With the school year moving on while she designed, Cook also had to keep up with her class work and complete college applications. A recent acceptance to Drew University has taken some of the pressure off, with notices from other schools still to come.

Next up for Cook is “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” the Pierson High School spring musical. And, she says, she’s “eager to start designing the sets, now that I have more of an idea about what my process will be.”

Kudos for Cook

Doug Alnwick, Pierson’s applied technology teacher and the long-time master of the school’s woodshop, said this week, “Working with Hannah Cook was a pleasure. The plans she submitted to me were thorough and professional. They included a reduced scale model of the set, a detailed sketch, complete working drawings, as well as a materials list. The entire process was straightforward with no unforeseen problems to be worked out.”

“Most of the set construction was completed after school in the shop with the assistance of some seventh and eighth grade student volunteers,” he explained. “It was then transported to the stage for installation and painting. What is truly amazing is the talent pool of creative, insightful, artists, students and adults alike, who transformed the empty flats into colorful, eye-catching period pieces.”

In talking about his role, Alnwick added, “My aspect of the job was relatively painless and simple this year. The incredible amount of research and planning Hannah had invested in the project prior to actual construction, was the reason for that being the case.”

“Hannah went way past the extra mile to make sure that everyone else involved with the sets would have clear, concise, efficient guidance,” said Alnwick. “She deserves a standing ovation.”

“Annie” will be performed in Pierson Middle/High School auditorium (200 Jermain Avenue, Sag Harbor) at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 4 through Saturday, February 6. A Sunday matinee begins at 2 p.m. on February 7.

Top: Hannah Cook and her set for “Annie.” Michael Heller photo.

Popularity: 1% [?]