TOM BUDERWITZ – Theater Designs (excerpts from Press Reviews) as of 12/2011

THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL – South Coast Repertory
Thomas Buderwitz's versatile sets span the gamut from a claustrophobic city apartment to an abandoned farmhouse that could have been lifted out of an Andrew Wyeth painting. – F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times

the family farm in Bountiful it's a crumbling shell (the best scene in Thomas Buderwitz's meticulously rendered set design) - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

PEACE IN OUR TIME – Antaeus Company
This beautifully mounted production, directed with poise by Casey Stangl, deserves to be a smasheroo in Los Angeles. The absorbing fictional world that it creates is like a sepia-tinged photograph sprung to life. Every aspect of the staging, from Tom Buderwitz’s London pub set to Jeremy Pivnick’s shadowy lighting to Jessica Olson’s convincing period costumes, ushers us back in time to a moment not so long ago when civilization was hanging by a thread. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

Tom Buderwitz's pub set is glorious with period detail – Terry Morgan, LAist

THREE DAYS OF RAIN – South Coast Repertory
The play looks perfectly at home in the loft set designed by Thomas Buderwitz. This intriguingly urban space with character-enhancing brick walls is barren except for a bed in the first half (set in 1995) and becomes more cheerfully tenanted as we march back to 1960 in the second act. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

Technically, "Three Days of Rain" is a masterpiece, beginning with Thomas Buderwitz's superbly mounted loft backdrop, shown in bare-bones format in the first act and nicely furnished in the second. - Tom Titus, Daily Pilot

KISS ME KATE – Reprise Theatre Company
Tom Buderwitz's revolving proscenium arch set is ingenious – Terry Morgan, Variety

THE WEIR – South Coast Repertory
The setting is a generic barroom in rural Ireland, one of those local hangouts in which conversational color is expected to make up for the drabness of décor. Scenic designer Thomas Buderwitz resists the temptation of fire-roaring kitsch, opting instead for a cozy bareness that never lets you lose sight of the wind howling outside the door. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

There are many such moments in this production, staged on a lovingly detailed and completely convincing set by Thomas Buderwitz (you'll swear you catch the odd whiff of peat fire and stale beer). - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

DANGEROUS BEAUTY – Pasadena Playhouse
the scenic design by Tom Buderwitz transports our imaginations to the festive 16th century heart of the Italian city-state. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

The production’s design work is world class in every respect. The set by Tom Buderwitz is a triumph of simplicity, utility and beauty. With a shoji screen’s ease of movement part of the stage floor vanishes exposing the black waters of the Grand Canal. Balconies and staircases interconnect with the grace and bewilderment of an Escher drawing. Fabrics decorate windows and doorways and when Venice is ravaged by plague are torn down exposing naked architecture, mirroring the ease with which the veneer of civilization is dispensed in times of crisis. – Trevor Thomas, EdgeLA

GIGI – Reprise Theatre Company
Tom Buderwitz's gorgeous set is an airy arcade hung with art nouveau reproductions, with a retractable scrim obscuring and revealing the orchestra. – Terry Morgan, Variety

The simple and elegant design is another visual delight in this production. A scrim can reveal or conceal the wonderful on-stage orchestra. Set pieces glide in and out cinematically in Tom Buderwitz’s lovely set design. – Sarah Taylor Ellis, EdgeLA

THE AUTUMN GARDEN – Antaeus Company
Hellman’s tapestry of yearning and regret finds a splendid home in Tom Buderwitz’s breathtaking set, a genteel living room and trellised porch sheltered by arching white beams. The layers of space allow director Larry Biederman to create depth of field — visual and emotional — in keeping with the play’s sharp edges and shadows. – Charlotte Stoudt, Los Angeles Times

CRIMES OF THE HEART – South Coast Repertory
Tom Buderwitz's superb set – David C. Nichols, Los Angeles Times

Thomas Buderwitz's dog-eared kitchen set adroitly captures time and place. - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

MY SISTER IN THIS HOUSE – DeafWest Theatre
Tom Buderwitz’s two-tiered set is a study in claustrophobic elegance – Charlotte Stoudt, Los Angeles Times

PARADISE LOST – Intiman Theatre
Paradise Lost begins in 1932, in the Jewish-American Gordons' parlor, well-designed by Tom Buderwitz – Misha Berson, Seattle Times

Tom Buderwitz’s corner-thrust stage offers four avenues for the comings and goings, the most creative of which is a staircase to the home’s second floor, where we can barely make out a hallway and ghostly rooms behind a translucent scrim of period wallpaper.. - Margaet Friedman, Seattle Weekly

Tom Buderwitz's set is a haunting emblem for the family's decline, as its tasteful furnishings and flourishes are stripped to a near barren shell by act three – David-Edward Hughes, Talkin’ Broadway

COUSIN BETTE – Antaeus Company
Beautifully versatile period set by Tom Buderwitz – K. Primeau, LA Theatre Review

CAROUSEL – Reprise Theatre Company
Tom Buderwitz's set design may be stark, but his simple arrangement of boxes, planks and chairs efficiently establishes every scene without the need of verbal comment, and his quick creation of the carousel is a real showstopper. – Robert Hofler, Variety

NO MAN’S LAND – Odyssey Theater
On Tom Buderwitz’s airless set, death seems to be just on the other side of the door. – Charlotte Stoudt, Los Angeles Times

PUTTING IT TOGETHER – South Coast Repertory
the couple's enviable Manhattan condo. (Set designer Thomas Buderwitz conjures the ambience in a conspicuously consuming manner that combines a gaudy chandelier, showy artworks and a dramatic staircase with a breathtaking skyline view that could easily double the apartment’s price tag.) - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

Everyone looks smashing on Thomas Buderwitz's set, a swanky condo that I'm sure left even captains of industry in the opening-night audience drooling with real estate lust. - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

LIFE COULD BE A DREAM – Hudson Theater
Tom Buderwitz’s delightful basement set is perfectly in period. – F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times

COLLECTED STORIES – South Coast Repertory
Tom Buderwitz’s set comfortably situates us in Ruth’s home, one of those spaces neglected by superintendents but cherished by their city-dwelling tenants who inhabit them with the fullness of their creative personalities. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

MAURITIUS - Pasadena Playhouse
the sets, designed by Tom Buderwitz in a realistic manner with poetic touches, establishes a handsome ground for the ensuing games. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

The exquisite crumminess of Philip’s office and Jackie’s home, detailed by Tom Buderwitz, is mute testimony to the characters’ need to break free. - Bob Verini, Variety

MAN OF LA MANCHA – Reprise Theater Company
let me pay homage to the sensational design team. Tom Buderwitz’s set, which provides just enough sense of the metallic dungeon Cervantes finds himself in, well situates us for the ensuing narrative journey of that comically beloved knight-errant who’s forever tilting at windmills. Swift and inventive, the impressionistic physical environment lays the groundwork for Lap-Chi Chu’s hypnotic lighting, Garry Lennon’s effective costumes and Philip G. Allen’s thrilling sound effects. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

Director Michael Michetti and his creative team, especially scenic designer Tom Buderwitz, have conjured a moody and understated setting that perfectly captures the intent of book writer Dale Wasserman - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

THE HEIRESS – South Coast Repertory
Thomas Buderwitz’s sumptuous drawing room set. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

Tom Buderwitz’s excellent set is just right. It strikes the right balance of scale, color and perspective to give the stage energy but never overpower the players. – TheaterTimes

Thomas Buderwitz has designed a sumptuous set that telegraphs the long-established wealth of the Sloper home. It’s angled slightly so we have a good view of that all-important window where Catherine waits for the late-night elopement carriage that never comes. - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

An imposing, majestic setting by Thomas Buderwitz establishes this elegance most splendidly. - Tom Titus, Daily Pilot

THE SPIN CYCLE – Rubicon Theater Company
the play’s rambunctious style is comfortably arrayed on Tom Buderwitz’s jaunty set. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

RED DOG HOWLS – El Portal Theater
The production is beautifully executed. Tom Buderwitz's sets, particularly his old-world conjuring of Vartouhi's Upper Manhattan apartment, are superb. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

Tom Buderwitz offers his usual impeccable scenic design work with Rose's perfectly appointed apartment and a rollaway platform that effectively changes looks for Michael and Gaby's house, and the hospital. – Terri Roberts, Theatermania

JOAN RIVERS: A WORK IN PROGRESS – Geffen Playhouse
The production boasts a fabulous set designed by Tom Buderwitz. - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

DOUBT – South Coast Repertory
Thomas Buderwitz's set, which swivels smartly between Aloysius' office and a garden just outside her window, is the most effective scenic design I've seen for this play. It drives home the point that "Doubt" takes place in a cloistered, confusing place where danger may or may not lurk, heated accusations fly to and fro, and everyone claims the moral high ground - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

PARADISE LOST: SHADOWS & WINGS – Theatre @ Boston Court
Design team achieves stunning effects irrespective of 99-seat budgetary or space restrictions. Tom Buderwitz's imposing granite rear wall, incorporating platforms and a zigzagging pathway to the top. - Bob Verini, Variety

PIG FARM – South Coast Repertory
Thomas Buderwitz's well-executed rundown farmhouse interior offers a properly seedy setting for these rural shenanigans. – Julio Martinez, Variety

A DELICATE BALANCE – South Coast Repertory
The look of director Martin Benson's production, as created by scenic designer Thomas Buderwitz, is at once classy and rather oppressive. The angle of the beamed ceiling feels menacing – Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times

SCR's production team have done Albee proud, beginning with a first-class scenic design by Thomas Buderwitz. What is so marvelous about this rather grand structure, the interior of a proper Westchester County mansion, is that it is there, substantially and meaningfully, yet it gradually disappears. The characters blend in so gracefully as to allow one to forget that there is a set.. – F. David Lohrey, CurtainUp

THE ICE BREAKER – Laguna Playhouse
a convincing picture of self-imposed exile in a beautiful but forbidding setting. Tom Buderwitz's set shows us both the chaos of Lawrence's life and the awe-inspiring vistas of the remote desert - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

EQUINOX – Odyssey Theater
Tom Buderwitz's beautifully lived-in cottage setting – Julio Martinez, Variety a sensual play, aided considerably by Tom Buderwitz's knockabout- elegant drawing room of a set – Charlotte Stoudt, L.A. Times

set designer Tom Buderwitz superbly captures the shabby/elegant bohemianism of Charleston. – Neal Weaver, Los Angeles Weekly

BACH AT LEIPZIG – South Coast Repertory
Thomas Buderwitz creates a sense of lofty, sacred space in his marvelous church set. – F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times

PROOF – South Coast Repertory
Scenic designer Thomas Buderwitz delivers a weather- beaten old Chicago house that looks like it's held together by generations of grime and grief, surrounded by a bleak yard whose centerpiece is a broken-backed chair.. - Paul Hodgins, Orange County Register

GREAT EXPECTATIONS – Arizona Theater Company
But it is the sprawling wood set that will knock you for a loop. Designed by Tom Buderwitz, it is richly detailed and seems to be in constant motion- a living room glides on, a judge’s chamber glides off. The awesome set, like the Dickens tale it so masterfully contains, is full of surprises. – M. Scot Skinner, Arizona Daily Star

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – P.C.P.A. THEATERFEST
Designer Thomas Buderwitz’s witty pop-up stage, cut-out flats of Dr. Seussian landscapes, droopy plants and perky puppets.. – Sylvie Drake, Los Angeles Times

SUMMERTIME – Theatre @ Boston Court
Visually, Tom Buderwitz’s set is a stunner, with long graceful branches from floor to ceiling topped by a crown of umbrellas pulled together with flowing sheer drapes. – Debbi K. Swanson, Showmag

PERA PALAS – Theatre @ Boston Court
Tom Buderwitz's superb set enhances the epic feeling of the piece, filling the stage with hotel room, lush palace and small apartment. Buderwitz's detail - - Turkish tile lining walls and steps, silhouetted skyline of the minarets and domes of Turkey on the upper balcony, huge pictures of Turkish royalty and the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk -- is masterful. – Joel Hirschhorn, Variety

TITANIC – Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities
Credit designer Thomas Buderwitz with creating a paneled set that captures the celebrated ship -- from the stern and the bridge to the first-class dining salon, the upper promenade and the decks below. This stage version creates its own sense of greatness, and the majestic Titanic becomes the show's leading character. – Ed Kaufman, Hollywood Reporter

Buderwitz's multilevel Titanic envelopes the expansive Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center stage, offering an impressive re-creation of life aboard the nearly quarter-mile-long steamship. Buderwitz uses a creative array of shifting panels to highlight the full range of the ship's activities, from the revelry in upper-deck first class down to the lower-level stokers' boiler room. The scenic highlight, however, is the second-act unveiling of the eye-popping, wood-paneled, marble-staircased grand salon. – Julio Martinez, Variety

THE LADIES OF THE CAMELLIAS – Colony Theater
The stage is encompassed by a lavish gold-trimmed proscenium, a fitting framework for Tom Buderwitz's sumptuous set, which vividly re-creates a Paris theater, circa 1897. – F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times

UNDER THE BLUE SKY – Geffen Playhouse
designed in fine detail by Tom Buderwitz. – Don Shirley, Los Angeles Times

PRIVATE LIVES – Pasadena Playhouse
Tom Buderwitz's set slyly echoes this thought (everything that happens is by chance) by planting a seaside Ferris wheel -- looking, for all the world, like a roulette wheel - in the distance beyond the balconies. He also provides a portentously cloud-clumped sky, enclosed in a huge picture frame. The frame emphasizes the frank theatricality of Coward's characters. – Daryl H. Miller, Los Angeles Times

But it's the set, designed by Tom Buderwitz, and Peter Maradudin's lighting that enhance the freshness of "Private Lives." Inspired by French art and photography of the time, the relatively spare terrace and apartment sets have an art deco appearance. And the stunning backdrop of a cloudy sky, bathed in red and blue lights, is accented by a giant Ferris wheel and by the Eiffel Tower. The overall effect is elegant, but not distracting. – Jeff Favre, Backstage West

TOYS IN THE ATTIC – Colony Theater
Tom Buderwitz’s marvelously shabby set: first-rate, fine trappings for a conscientious production – F. Kathleen Foley, L.A. Times

AGAINST THE GLASS – Court Theater
From its kitschy Midwestern kitchen to its junk-filled garage, Thomas Buderwitz’s set is a gem of realistic detail. – F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times