The "grand illusion" of theatrical design.

• Position: Focus on Theater - "Grand Illusion: The Art of the Theatrical Design" exhibition

THE TASK of the theatrical designer--through machinery, lighting, scenery, and costumes--is to transport members of an audience from their time and place to an entirely different world. "Grand Illusion: The Art of the Theatrical Design" shows how designers create their magic, with a behind-the-scenes look at stage productions, from the Baroque courts of Europe to the Broadway venues of the U.S.

The exhibition features the work of 21 designers--including Nicholas Roerich, Robert Edmond Jones, Boris Aronson, Oliver Smith, Florence Klotz, and Tony Walton--relating to 28 separate stage productions, such as "Show Boat," "My Fair Lady," "Grand Hotel," "Sleeping Beauty," "Chicago," and those produced for Ballets Russes and Ziegfeld's Follies. Additional items include music manuscripts in the hand of George Gershwin and Frederick Loewe, and letters and scripts by Ira Gershwin, Freddy Wittop, and John Kander.

Among the theatrical designs are finished renderings, works in progress, technical drawings, and designers' research materials supporting the development of the look, feel, and movement of a production. The exhibition also features correspondence and documents circulated among designers and their collaborators that address importance of scenery, costumes, and lighting in the conception and success of a production.

There are 43 exhibition items, including a scale model of the stage set for Walton's "Grand Hotel." An audiovisual presentation explores his creative process for the "Grand Hotel"...