In the third episode of ‘The Late Show Podcast‘, Stephen Colbert was accompanied by Jim Fenhagen, set designer and Meredith Bennett, co-executive producer.
Jim was the designer of The Colbert Report set, but is also an old friend. Jim and Stephen met through his wife Evie when they first lived in Manhattan and he was also the son of the Episcopal priest that performed their marriage ceremony.
Meredith first met Stephen at the launch of The Colbert Report and was, at the time, a line producer. When she was first hired, she had prepared to participate in a certain activity, which she ended up putting on hold-swimming the English Channel. She still has aspirations to swim it one day.
The focus of the conversation remained around the discussing the Ed Sullivan Theater and how they plan on using it for the show. Jim said it’s a very big space, so it’s been a challenge to design. Jim recalled that Stephen wanted to find a way to keep the jokes contained in such a large space and still maintain a sense of intimacy.
When it was first announced Stephen was going to take over The Late Show, they had chosen to wait a few months before going in and checking out the space. They didn’t want to intrude all at once. Some of the staff saw the show live from the audience to get a feel. Stephen said he wished he could have done this. Stephen recalled being a guest on the show and looked forward to watching it later to see what made Dave laugh honestly. Stephen wants to be able to see the audience, as a performer, and be able to look everyone in the eye. With this, they attempted to take out as much equipment as possible that was blocking the view of the audience.
They all agreed that the theater is beautiful and tried to bring out many of the elements that were hidden. They had found old wooden elephant columns under the stage. Ed Sullivan wanted to have elephants on a guest so he needed the columns to support them. They also found old stain glass under the stage, but they are not going to use it (too costly). It is a historical building, so needed to get permission about the construction. However, they were happy to report that everyone has been satisfied with the changes and are also happy they are protecting the architecture.
The set is large so they have lots of space to play with. They need a place for the permanent band, any guest bands, places to do sketches and a place to do introductions, like the equivalent to the old fireplace. They also want to put up quotes, like they did on The Colbert Report.
This show is more expensive than The Colbert Report. Meredith said it’s twice as long and has twice as many people. They used to do 160 shows a year; now they will be doing 202 shows a year for an hour. Stephen replied, “I have to start running. I have to swim the English Channel.”
Available on ‘The Late Show‘ website and iTunes.
The Late Show Podcast, Ep 3: Jackie Gleason's Trap Door
In the third episode of ‘The Late Show Podcast‘, Stephen Colbert was accompanied by Jim Fenhagen, set designer and Meredith Bennett, co-executive producer.
Jim was the designer of The Colbert Report set, but is also an old friend. Jim and Stephen met through his wife Evie when they first lived in Manhattan and he was also the son of the Episcopal priest that performed their marriage ceremony.
Meredith first met Stephen at the launch of The Colbert Report and was, at the time, a line producer. When she was first hired, she had prepared to participate in a certain activity, which she ended up putting on hold-swimming the English Channel. She still has aspirations to swim it one day.
The focus of the conversation remained around the discussing the Ed Sullivan Theater and how they plan on using it for the show. Jim said it’s a very big space, so it’s been a challenge to design. Jim recalled that Stephen wanted to find a way to keep the jokes contained in such a large space and still maintain a sense of intimacy.
When it was first announced Stephen was going to take over The Late Show, they had chosen to wait a few months before going in and checking out the space. They didn’t want to intrude all at once. Some of the staff saw the show live from the audience to get a feel. Stephen said he wished he could have done this. Stephen recalled being a guest on the show and looked forward to watching it later to see what made Dave laugh honestly. Stephen wants to be able to see the audience, as a performer, and be able to look everyone in the eye. With this, they attempted to take out as much equipment as possible that was blocking the view of the audience.
They all agreed that the theater is beautiful and tried to bring out many of the elements that were hidden. They had found old wooden elephant columns under the stage. Ed Sullivan wanted to have elephants on a guest so he needed the columns to support them. They also found old stain glass under the stage, but they are not going to use it (too costly). It is a historical building, so needed to get permission about the construction. However, they were happy to report that everyone has been satisfied with the changes and are also happy they are protecting the architecture.
The set is large so they have lots of space to play with. They need a place for the permanent band, any guest bands, places to do sketches and a place to do introductions, like the equivalent to the old fireplace. They also want to put up quotes, like they did on The Colbert Report.
This show is more expensive than The Colbert Report. Meredith said it’s twice as long and has twice as many people. They used to do 160 shows a year; now they will be doing 202 shows a year for an hour. Stephen replied, “I have to start running. I have to swim the English Channel.”
Available on ‘The Late Show‘ website and iTunes.