What was your process like in creating the design for Murder on the Orient Express?

Murder on the Orient Express is filmic, it flows constantly from scene to scene and location to location very quickly, so there are a lot of puzzle pieces to fit seamlessly together. The process had to be much more methodical. We actually went to the Ringling Museum, where they have a Pullman car, and took proportional measurements. There is a completely separate production that the audience will never see happening behind the set as exteriors come on and off and elements are connected or disconnected throughout the show.

How would you describe the style of the train? 

There are definitely Art Deco elements, but I didn’t want to lean too far in that direction because the train is actually in existence prior to that artistic trend really taking root. The design is also a hybrid of Art Nouveau, and turn-of-the-century elements, and a real sense of craft as well. It almost has a nautical feeling to it, like a yacht on train tracks, which certainly speaks to the grandeur of the train we are trying to capture. There is a “more is more” sensibility to the period that we want to honor without overwhelming the eye with too much detail. It’s like a piece of Louis Vuitton luggage: beautiful, elegant, and the more you zoom in, all these fantastic details emerge. There are burled wood inlays, which are built with huge numbers of small wooden pieces that need to fit together with a high varnish and cut or etched glass throughout the train that communicate that luxurious, “no expense being spared” feeling.

What was your process like in creating the design for Murder on the Orient Express?

Murder on the Orient Express is filmic, it flows constantly from scene to scene and location to location very quickly, so there are a lot of puzzle pieces to fit seamlessly together. The process had to be much more methodical. We actually went to the Ringling Museum, where they have a Pullman car, and took proportional measurements. There is a completely separate production that the audience will never see happening behind the set as exteriors come on and off and elements are connected or disconnected throughout the show.

How would you describe the style of the train? 

There are definitely Art Deco elements, but I didn’t want to lean too far in that direction because the train is actually in existence prior to that artistic trend really taking root. The design is also a hybrid of Art Nouveau, and turn-of-the-century elements, and a real sense of craft as well. It almost has a nautical feeling to it, like a yacht on train tracks, which certainly speaks to the grandeur of the train we are trying to capture. There is a “more is more” sensibility to the period that we want to honor without overwhelming the eye with too much detail. It’s like a piece of Louis Vuitton luggage: beautiful, elegant, and the more you zoom in, all these fantastic details emerge. There are burled wood inlays, which are built with huge numbers of small wooden pieces that need to fit together with a high varnish, and cut or etched glass throughout the train that communicate that luxurious, “no expense being spared” feeling.

What are some challenges with capturing the scope of those vehicles as well as their motion?

We want to see a piece or a few pieces of the train, but the trick is to make it feel like it is endlessly linked to other cars. Those measurements we took actually did a lot to help unpack how the train itself was put together architecturally to create this grand sense of scale even though the compartments themselves were relatively small—it’s deceiving in that way. In terms of motion, the scenic, lighting, and projection departments are really working together to create that sensation (which luckily doesn’t last the entire show). In addition to the turns the set makes, there are special treatments in the windows that synchronize with lighting and video so you really can’t tell where one stops and the other starts.

What has been the most surprising or enjoyable element of working on Murder on the Orient Express?

Figuring out the mechanics of how we are actually doing this. I’ve talked about being influenced by magic and illusion—David Copperfield actually did an illusion called “The Mystery of the Orient Express” where he made a Wagons-Lits train car disappear. That isn’t exactly what we are doing here, I wouldn’t call it a magic trick or an illusion, but in the end we want to remind audience members that we are in a theatre, telling a story onstage, and we have been this whole time. 

Reprinted with permission from Asolo Repertory Theatre.