Maleah Miller - xanadu

Theatre Company of Bryan-College Station

Director: Adrienne Dobson

Assistant Director: Rodney Bettis

Set Design: George Joubran & Justin Goodman

Costume Design: Shannon Van Zandt

Lighting Design: George Joubran

Projection Design: Jing-Yun Chen

Scenic Charge: Maleah Miller

Production photos by Vivian Vu

The last show I painted at TTC before leaving for my summer 2025 internship at the Pacific Conservatory Theatre in California, Xanadu is a delightful meeting of mythical figures and 80s roller-rink shenanigans. For the fixed, rounded bandstand dominating the upstage, I applied a white marble treatment with flecks of groovy pink, allowing the water and paint to drip loosely down to reflect not only the rain that washes away Sonny’s chalk drawings but also the dripping graffiti spray at Venice Beach. The two retaining walls protecting onstage audience seating zones from wayward skaters also received the same marble treatment. I had lots of fun applying G-rated, 80s-inspired graffiti messages on all sides of a rotating telephone booth, but by far my favorite project for this show was painting Peggy, the tiny thrifted carousel horse we turned into a flying Pegasus. I was given full rein (pun intended) to gussy Peggy up however I saw fit, so I dove into the Lisa Frank archive for inspiration and whipped out the pink spray paint. The final touches for Peggy were, of course, sparkly eyeshadow and a cartoon twinkle in her eye.