William Schmuck, Set Designer/Scenic Artist

March 3, 2023

William Schmuck has been designing scenery and costumes in Canada and the United States throughout his four-decade career. He trained as a scenic artist at The National Ballet of Canada and is known for his work with Opera Atelier in Toronto. As The Design Director at The Shaw Festival for 20 years, he was responsible for all visual aspects of the theatre from its performance spaces and merchandising venues to its handbook imagery.

Some of his opera designs include Peter Grimes starring Ben Hepner at the Vancouver Opera, Albert Herring and The Magic Flute at The Canadian Opera Company, Andromache at The Houston Grand Opera/Versailles France and The Turn of The Screw at Pacific Opera in Victoria.

Theatre designs include The Crucible, Importance of Being Earnest, She Stoops to Conquer at Vancouver Playhouse, All My Sons, Seven Stories, An Inspector Calls and Tons of Money at Theatre Calgary. He has designed over 60 productions at The Shaw Festival, most notably Floyd Collins, Lady Windermeres Fan, Hobsons Choice, Pal Joey, Wonderful Town, Philadelphia Story, Caesar and Cleopatra, Mack and Mabel and After The Dance. Also Productions at The Grand Theatre London, Tarragon Theatre and CanStage Company and The Stratford Festival. He has been an instructor throughout his career at many Universities and Colleges including Dalhousie, University of Waterloo, University of Windsor, Ryerson/Toronto Metropolitan University, and Sheridan College. He has mentored many young designers and theatre artists through out his career.