The Versatile Visionary As he racks up TV and film credits, the acclaimed, genre-jumping scenic designer John Iacovelli attributes all his right moves to his theater background. By L.B. Hamilton Issue: June/July 2001 John Iacovelli “Mostly I like to go with the flow and see what serendipity can bring,” says scenic designer John Iacovelli. Colleagues insist that talent and commitment to collaborative dialogue have more to do with the ever-burgeoning résumé of this visionary behind such scenic gems as the highly acclaimed “look” of TV’s cult “Babylon 5” series. Says Sheldon Epps, artistic director at the Pasadena Playhouse, for whom Iacovelli’s designed several shows, “John’s a wonderful collaborator and incredible talent. He’s interested in finding out what I have in mind as a director rather than what is simply pretty or satisfying to him personally. Also outstanding is his ability to work in so many different styles.” Former mentor, Lloyd Burlingame, chair emeritus for Tisch School of the Arts’ Department of Design adds that it’s “John’s generosity of spirit which stands him in good stead professionally and in his teaching. It affects everything he does and all who deal with him—everybody wins.” “Winning” Iacovelli modestly claims, “is about making the right choices in the things you can do well and about the people you get to work with.” His choices have led him to Broadway, designing The Twilight Of The Golds and the Cathy Rigby-starring revival of Peter Pan; to films like Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and A Question Of Faith; to working with many of the nation’s best directors on 12 to 24 plays and up to 30 television projects annually. A production of The Glass Menagerie gives Iacovelli another forum for him to express his singular artistry. Making right choices came early. As a child, Iacovelli became interested in puppet theater—“especially the backgrounds.” Entranced with the notion that one could create different worlds, he began working on scenic design by high school. He long fancied theater—“the place where the true art was done,” while film and TV were “The Evil Empires.” Then while pursuing his MFA at NYU, he discovered “there was actually a lot of artistic input and involvement in those mediums.” Now he believes designing for all media keeps him growing as an artist. With so many theater-trained designers finding their way into film and TV, Iacovelli, who somehowfinds time to teach twice weekly classes at the University of California/Davis, campaigns for design programs to embrace all three genres. “In one season on ‘Babylon 5,’” he confides, “I worked with 35 people in the art department, thirty-four had theater degrees and none had any nuts-and-bolts training in film or TV.” Although he says “a lot of people get wooed away from the theater,” Iacovelli stays loyal to his first love: “Everything I learned from the theater influences my work in other mediums.” He has designed nearly 300 stage plays and won numerous awards, including a Special Lifetime Achievement in Scenic Design citation awarded by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle this past April. Even the look for “Babylon 5” came directly out of a rigorous theater training which gave him the know-how “to do things at half the cost of the ‘Trek’ shows and use a lot more texture, color and opulence.” That training also taught that successful concept comes from text. “It’s not thought about that much in film and TV, but if we actually explore the text we have a greater storytelling ability. It’s not about what the building should look like. It’s about what the scene should look like.” Iacovelli’s aptitude for creating an evocative, detail-laden set is illustrated here with his design for a theatrical adaptation of the film noir classic, Laura. “I think John’s one of the best,” says director/actress/choreographer Debbie Allen, herself a celebrated veteran of all three mediums. As director/producer of the PBS’s play-to-video movie, The Old Settlers, Allen wanted a production designer who came from her own background. “What it does,” she explains,” is run one’s creativity and ability to envision things. The three worlds intertwine to create a whole new sense. We were always on the same page and I was thrilled to work with him.” As for his nice-guy reputation, Iacovelli sheepishly speculates that it causes him to get passed over from time to time. “People often get so histrionic in the theater about the minutiae. I figure you get two battles on most projects and they better be worth fighting.” What could be left for this gentle, generous genius to fight for? “I have two goals,” laughs Iacovelli. “One: get sleep—the other: get a personal life.” He’d also like a shot at designing Cyrano de Bergerac. “However,” he cautions, “as designers we never get to choose what we do, only what we don’t do. Your career is made up out of opportunities that come your way and what you make out of the projects you’re given. Why choose things that you can’t do well or that you can’t win at?” sd L.B. Hamilton is a freelance director, playwright and arts and entertainment writer currently working in Washington, D.C.