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“If it is a musical piece, first I listen to the score. If it is a musical comedy, I listen to the score and the lyrics. Never on cassette. I cannot hear it that way. It has to be performed. I find listening to the score performed by the composer and lyricist, even if they play badly and sing off-key – very few of them are particularly good – gives you an enormous emotional feeling. That generates my excitement. Then I get my ideas. I relate very emotionally to music”
--- Oliver Smith
Oliver Smith was a Broadway designer for most of his life. He worked at the American Ballet Theatre for Agnes de Mille's Saratoga production. He also designed the sets for West Side Story, The Sound Of Music, Camelot, and Holly, Dolly!
He won an abundant amount of Tony Awards (multiple times in the same year (s). His biography states, "... team of Agnes de Mille, Smith, and Aaron Copland created the landmark ballet Rodeo. Positive response to Rodeo was so immediate and its impact so great that it is considered to have changed the course of the American musical theatre." In an interview, David Merrick made a statement about Smith which said "most designers are masters of a single color. So if the basic color of your show is red, you get so-and-so; if it's green, you get somebody else. You can get Smith for anything"
One of his greatest accomplishments was creating a new style of set design; a versatile designer. This was first noticeable in his work for How Now Dow Jones. His style was heavily influenced by geometric forms. He would create the set designs on a small scale at first, then would have studio assistants take his design and turn it into a technical drawing. He would then color the elevations himself.
Towards the end of his life, Smith worked at New York University's Tisch School of The Arts where he taught several masterclasses on scenic design for 22 years till his death.
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