André Bruce Ward

Who in theater do you most admire?
Julie Taymor for her Lion King, which is just wonderful. Anyone connected with the magical Cirque du Soleil productions also has my admiration.

What’s your favorite play or musical?
Of course there cannot be just one: Royal Hunt of the Sun, The Heiress and Camelot (I have designed this one five times). Why? Because they tell such wonderful stories and the costumes are so interesting.

Where would you like to be in five years?
Retired and working in my garden and preparing to return to Theatre Memphis to guest design a wonderful musical.

Regal lines and form are Ward’s definitive costume statements in The Lion of Winter at Theatre Memphis.

What is the biggest challenge of your current project?
We are about to open our 85th season with A Little Night Music—it was done at Theatre Memphis in 1976, the season before I arrived. It is remembered by so many as such a lovely production, and I think that it will be quite a challenge to try to make it fresh and as memorable as the first production.

What was your most difficult project?
An original piece we did for our children’s theater, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, which had a very large cast and 12-foot-high puppets, including a polar bear prince and trolls! At the same time I was acting as Theatre Memphis’ interim executive producer. It was a very busy time for all.

Any advice to someone just starting out?
Look at everything, see everything. Read! Listen to all kinds of music. Everything that you hear or see will be needed someday on some project or another, even if you are never aware of it.

Photography courtesy of Theatre Memphis