Professional Designs (please click on image to expand)
Henry IV Part 1 for the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Orlando Florida ​
Directors: Carolyn Howarth
Scenic Design: Burt Scott
Lighting Design: Philip Lupo
Sound Design: Britt Sandusky
Henry IV, Part 1 is an epic tale with both historical characters as well as some of Shakespeare’s most beloved comic characters. It features some of the funniest scenes Shakespeare ever
wrote as well as some very dynamic battle scenes, but at the end of the day I also think it is a story about families—those we are born into as well as those we gather around us. All of this family drama spans from the epic to the common and is a wonderful exercise in character work. This production also was a part of the Orlando Shakes’ series called Fire and Reign, an exploration of the History Plays that cover the War of the Roses. A large part of my work here was to help the audience know who they were rooting for and who was on which team. I did this mostly through color (greens and blues were used for
the rebels, reds and golds were used for Henry IV’s forces), but I also researched the family crests for all of the historical characters and then made simplified streamlined versions of those coats of arms. These were then printed onto fabric through Spoonflower and appliqued onto tunics, collars and capes.
This research and design work will be used throughout the rest of the Fire and Reign series, which I will be designing over the next few years with Orlando Shakes.
Nicolas Nickelby for the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Orlando Florida ​
Directors: Jim Helsinger & Christopher Niess
Scenic Design: Burt Scott
Lighting Design: Kevin Griffin
Sound Design: Britt Sandusky
​Adapted from Charles Dicken’s novel by David Edgar, this epic production featured a cast of 27 actors playing more than 150 characters. The story tells of young Nicholas Nickleby whose father’s death left him and his mother and sister destitute. Nicholas has a series of adventures that place him in the company of fools, lechers, innocents, selfless benefactors and even some actors.
In total, I created over 200 renderings, worked with three shops, 4 stocks and over 30 costume technicians. We went through hundreds of yards of fabric, countless hours of meetings and tech rehearsals and in the end created theater magic. Terry Teachout of The Wallstreet Journal said, “Jack A. Smith's period costumes are just right…but why go on? Everything about this production is right!”
The Buddy Holly Story ​for Maples Repertory Theater, Macon Missouri
Director: Tim Seib
Scenic Designer: Ali Strelchun
Lighting Design: Jess Fialko
Sound Designer: Sky Aguilar
This production is really a celebration of the incredible music of Buddy Holly and how he changed the face of music and popular culture in the 1950s. My focus here was to keep the show moving at a rapid pace, to work with Tim Seib (the director) to keep the look of the show as clean as possible. We worked to keep the iconic look of Buddy Holly as the most important focus using original source materials as our guide.
"With a spectacular number of costumes from that decade, the music of the era, and even the dances that were so popular then, Orlando Shakes does an excellent job putting the audience right into the summer of 1922."
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Michael W. Freeman, Freeline Media Orlando
"Though the aesthetic elements of this production are immensely successful, it is ironically the humanity and realness of the characters that make this adaptation just as compelling as the original novel."
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Kelli McGurk, Broadway World
The Great Gatsby for The Orlando Shakespeare Theater- Orlando, Florida
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Director: Anne Hering
Choreography: Richard Lamberty
Scenic Designer: Dan Conway
Lighting Design: Kevin Griffin
Sound Designer: Britt Sandusky
The Great Gatsby is a memory play. One of the things that I was very interested in exploring with the production was how our memory works for us. The play is written in a very cinematic fashion and could require multiple costume changes for all of the characters in the play and the span of time it covers, but as we conceived of the visual elements of the show I spoke with Anne Hering (the director) about how I “see” things in my mind and the example I used was when I think of my mother I see her as she looked in 1976—a beehive hairdo and white crochet shawl driving a tan Gremlin—though she has changed her hair, fashion styles and cars dozens of times over the years.
I suggested that since this play is a recollection of Nick, who for whatever the character’s personal reasons, is obsessed with the character of Gatsby. So, for that reason we kept all the other characters in variations of one look each but with Gatsby (because of Nick’s near obsessive behavior surrounding him) we changed his look constantly just as Nick remembered him--larger than life. This treatment allowed the script to move along at the pace that it was written for and supported the visual story we were trying to tell—Nick was obsessed with Gatsby and everyone else was a blur, a snapshot in his mind without the importance of Gatsby.
Twelfth Night for The Orlando Shakespeare Theater- Orlando, Florida​
Director: Carolyn Howarth
Choreography: Kim Ball
Scenic Designer: Kat Conley
Lighting Design: Bert Scott
Sound Designer: Britt Sandusky
Twelfth Night was a passion project for Artistic Director Jim Helsinger, who conceived of an original practices production with the goal of transporting a modern audience back to 1602 London and allowing them to experience Twelfth Night as authentically as possible. The piece featured an all-male cast, original pronunciation, stage practices and period accurate costumes, music and lighting.
The experience of designing costumes that were to be as close to the original as possible was exciting especially when those costumes would then be constructed by some of the finest costume technicians I have ever worked with was a thrill to say the least. The production was beautiful to watch and incredibly educational for all who worked on it.
"....Jack Smith’s costumes dazzle with their patterns, sparkle and brilliant color. Shakespeare and his fellow Elizabethans wish they had it so good."
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Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel
Industrial Design for The IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) 2019 Expo
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Producing Director: Marc Collins
Choreography: Lindsey Smith
This was more of a curated work, as the Producing Director contacted me very late in the process as the original designer was unable to finish the work and they need something that could be quickly purchased on line and shipped directly to the team in Orlando who were mounting the work. I was responsible for finding modern pedestrian costumes for five couples and four drummers.
The color pallet needed to be in line with the company’s new logo and pull five couples together. So, I produced some quick digital renderings, a couple of styles for them to choose from and then compile the shopping list. In the end, both the Producing Director and the Client were very happy, and the conference attendees got to see some lively modern dance work with drumming as a segue between conference events.