Properties Designer

Meghan Savagian, the Properties Designer for PICNIC, is kept very busy in her roles of hunting for props and decorating and dressing the stage.

The process for Meghan begins with research to understand the types and style of props that are needed for the production. She works closely with the scenic designer to make sure that they both have a coherent vision. For PICNIC, many props are needed, including a bottle of Moonshine, a Lady Baltimore cake, a bicycle, and furniture that is appropriate for a 1950s setting.

In order to be successful as a properties designer, you have to have a little knowledge of a lot of different things. Meghan's interests and experience has provided her with the skills needed to be a success. Her career as a student began at UW-Milwaukee where she studied music. An elective in mask-making led her to change majors and pursue technical theater. She gained experience in prop design with Milwaukee Shakespeare before going on to build props with the Big Apple Circus Production Co. While she enjoyed painting pinstripes on balls, working on 15 foot puppets, and accidentally parking Donald Trump in with her props van at Trump Tower, she also worked for other productions in New York before coming back to Milwaukee and working with the MCT on several productions.

For her work on PICNIC, Meghan has enjoyed the 'nice, stream-lined, and realistic' props that she needed to hunt and gather. Since she was able to find and utilize items that are from the fifties, she also appreciates the stories and collective history that is told by these artifacts. She is fond of the family of talent that has come to be a part of her experience within the Milwaukee Chamber Theater and the range of productions of which she has been an integral contribution.