Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2014 - 34

consisted of an empty stage or very limited scenery, this was a
new experience for Shirley. She was even more amazed watching Musser light the columns, which, Shirley says, "appeared
so magical and seemed to float in space." She remembers
Musser focusing on the scenery with such ease, supervising the
crew with such authority, and displaying a dry sense of humor.
In her characteristically understated way, Shirley says, "After
seeing Tharon Musser work, I decided, well, that's very nice. I
think I would like to do that."
Shirley continued at Polakov's with an advanced lighting
class, also meeting on Saturdays so she could continue her fulltime job. They had to present a play each week, which helped
her perfect her drafting. She was taught by Charles "Chuck"
Levy from Strand-Century Lighting, who taught her a great deal
about electricity. It was through Levy that she designed her very
first play at an Upper East Side theatre. The theatre was producing a play on Malcolm X, the title which she does not remember, directed by Michael Whittaker. While lighting her first
play was a real challenge, she managed to create an impressive
design with the minimal resources available.

On Her Own as a Designer
By 1967, Shirley had designed several small productions on
her own. Mentor Tom Skelton suggested she take the United
Scenic Artists (USA) exam, as he felt it would be a "great
but traumatic experience" for her, even though she knew
she wasn't ready after one year at Polakov's. She took the
exam and failed. When asked what was the most challenging aspect of the exam, Shirley recalls, "The hardest part
of the exam was both the written and the practical, merely
because I was scared to death about focusing for the practical. I also knew that I was not that accomplished in drafting.
Remember, I had to take a drafting class to enter Polakov?
When I first took the exam my printing was lousy. Then later
I really got deeply into drafting."
Shirley's opportunity to design her first professional production was realized at the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC)
in 1967 with Summer of the Seventeenth Doll during their
official inaugural season at St. Marks Playhouse in Greenwich
Village. NEC, founded by Douglas Turner Ward, Robert Hooks,
and Gerald S. Krone, would become one of the preeminent
African American theatre companies in American history.
Known for developing new works that dramatized the black experience, NEC would produce a roster of outstanding African
American actors. In addition it cultivated and provided work
for numerous African American designers for whom there were
few places to develop their craft. Among the NEC roster were
costume designers Judy Dearing, Gertha Brock, and Myrna Colley-Lee, set designers Felix Cochran, Edward Burbridge, and
Wynn Thomas, and lighting designers William Grant, Marshall
Williams, and Sandra Ross, to name a few.
Shirley recalls that time: "I went down to help Marshall and

theatre design

& technology

he introduced me to Douglas Turner Ward. Marshall couldn't
light the show, so Doug asked me to design the production. I
explained to him that I had primarily designed dance. He said,
'So?' So, I did it. I will always be grateful for that opportunity
and NEC will always have a special place in my heart. It was a
realistic interior play. Ed Burbridge was the set designer. Gertha
Brock did the costumes. I remember sitting in the middle of my
living room with the drafting board and crying my little eyes out
about what I was doing. But I got through it."
Continuing her recollections of this production, from
which she learned so much, Shirley said, "One challenge was
distinguishing night and day. My biggest issue was dealing with
the fireworks. Buddy Butler was my board operator. I had an
instrument with different colored gels in it. We took it up to full
on a switch and then dimmed it down. The audience was so
crazy about the effect that I did it three or four times. Actually
color wasn't a big issue, but another challenge was trying to
light the staircase, so I ended up using tin cans since conventional instruments were too long for the throw."
Her next NEC production was as an assistant to Jules
Fisher, who was a designer and consultant with the company.
According to Shirley, "I was around when Jules Fisher was
lighting shows there, as he was the lighting consultant for
NEC. I assisted him with Kongi's Harvest [by Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka] as I really wanted to learn, so I became
one of his assistants. He also took us out for dinner for one
of the first previews, and that's one of my things. I always take
my assistants and electricians out before the previews."
Still a student at Polakov's, Shirley next designed NEC's
production of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men (1969) which
would run three different times Off Broadway between 1969
and1985. This was just before she passed the union exam. In
1969, she took the USA exam again and successfully passed.
Shirley remembers the exam being a two-day event in three
parts with a take-home exam. "The second time I was preparing for the exam, and Tom Skelton called to express that
he was worried about me and suggested we meet to go over
some pointers. He told me if I passed, I could be his assistant.
I was very determined!" During that year, she was also making
the trips with Marshall Williams and also working with Nick
Cernovich to help him in the city with Alvin Ailey.

The Broadway Years
Not only did Shirley pass the exam in 1969, but she also
made history by becoming the first African American female
to hold a USA card in lighting design, although she was not
aware of that distinction until later. (There would not be
another African American female to hold a union card in the
area of lighting design until 1986, when I gained my card.)
"I was excited about becoming a member, Shirley says. "I
had Tom behind me and he was really a mentor for me.
Also, Peggy and Lester Polakov were great."

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Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2014

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