Welcome to another Meet Our Team Monday, where we get to introduce you to the talented group of artists that created an original production of The Brave Little Tailor just for you.

We hope to see you at one of our remaining public performances of Tailor: May 31 at Smith Memorial Playground and June 6 at Morris Arboretum.

This post features Composer Charlie Gilbert and Set Designer C. David Russell. All interviews were conducted by our Marketing Intern, Rachel Hulsart.

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Charlie Gilbert: Composer

Rachel: Our audience primarily consists of children with a wide range of dreams about what they want to be. When you were a child, what did you want to be?

Charlie: I grew up in Chester County, not far from Philadelphia. I was always interested in music, literature and poetry. I didn’t get involved in theatre until high school, though we staged some plays in my backyard when I was little. I’m not sure I ever thought a whole lot about what I wanted to be. My dad was an engineer who started his own business, and I’m pretty sure I always wanted to be my own boss. It’s not surprising that I was drawn into the life of the freelance artist.

Rachel: Where did you attend college and what drew you into pursuing a career as a composer?

Charlie: I was an undergrad at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE, where they let me design my own major of  mixing music and theatre together. I grew increasingly interested in musicals and had the opportunity to compose, write, direct, and conduct while I was there. I wrote the songs for several children’s musicals while I was an undergrad and found it very gratifying.

From there, I went to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and got an MFA in Directing in the School of Drama. I kept up my music activities in grad school, and wrote a musical for Scotch N Soda, the student drama group. Some of my classmates started a theatre company, and I went to work there after graduating, playing the piano, music directing and composing for shows.

Rachel: What were some memorable theatrical experiences that you remembered having growing up or even recently?

Charlie: I don’t recall much about attending theatre growing up. I didn’t really see a Broadway show til I was an undergraduate student, but once I did, I was hooked. A few random highlights: the premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass when the Kennedy Center opened in 1971; Sondheim’s musical Company in London, with the original Broadway cast, in 1972; The Gospel at Colonus at the Annenberg Center in 1986; the Broadway opening night of Assassins at the Roundabout Theatre Company in 1994; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in London two years ago. I’ve been in the theatre all my adult life and have seen hundreds of shows, and I don’t know that this list will mean much to anybody besides me.  One recent experience I’ll mention is the production of Into the Woods that I just saw at Theater Horizon. I know this musical inside-out, but their production was so fresh and original and honest that it was like I was discovering a brand new work.

Rachel: How is working with Enchantment Theatre Company different from any other company that you have worked for before?

Charlie: Enchantment is definitely different! We never start with a script or a score, just with a story and a group of performers. Everything gets figured out with the actors on their feet. Later, I sit down and score the action like I was writing music for a film. Then the actors come back and learn to perform the show to the music I’ve written. There’s never a question of whether the work we create will be a “hit” or a “flop,” we know that there are eager audiences waiting for every show we make.

Rachel: What was the first theatrical production that you saw as a child?

Charlie: Wow, I can’t answer this one! Really, I don’t associate childhood and theatre, isn’t that weird? Theatre became a thing for me when I was a teenager, I guess, I loved doing musicals like Guys and Dolls (I played Nathan Detroit) in high school, but I don’t have any memories of attending theater until college.

Rachel: If you could bring any of your favorite fairy tales or childhood stories to life onstage, which would you choose and why?

Charlie: I can’t think of an answer for this one. I’m old enough that I don’t have much recollection of stories from my childhood. I know I enjoyed reading stories like Where the Wild Things Are and Home for a Bunny to my sons when they were little, and to my grandson who is almost 4 now.

See Charlie’s blog at chasgilbert.com.

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C. David Russell: Set Designer

Rachel: Our audience primarily consists of children with a wide range of dreams about what they want to be. When you were a child, what did you want to be?

David: A Zookeeper and Archeologist.

Rachel: Where did you attend college and what drew you into pursuing a career in set design?

David: Ohio University BFA and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts for MFA. Design was an answer to my various passions. It incorporated painting, drawing, music, sculpture, poetry, stories, myths and drama.

Rachel: What were some memorable theatrical experiences that you remember having growing up or even recently?

David: Seeing the Christmas tree grow during The Nutcracker when I was a child, and when I was in London this past summer, I saw an amazing site specific piece called OPUS 7.

Rachel: How is working with Enchantment Theatre Company different from any other company you have worked for before?

David: Most companies do not do as much development through workshops as Enchantment does. Not many companies incorporate puppets, masks, illusions, dance and design in the way that Enchantment does.

Rachel: What was the first theatrical production that you saw as a child?

David: The Nutcracker.

Rachel: If you could bring any of your favorite fairy tales or childhood stories to life onstage, which would you choose and why?

David:  Some of the Native American myths and legends.

See David’s website at cdavidrusselldesign.com.

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Thanks, Charlie and David!