If you’re an avid television viewer, you can often point out reused locations. For instance, University High School in Los Angeles has been used as a location for “Arrested Development,” “7^th Heaven,” “Lizzie McGuire,” “My So-Called Life,” and “Even Stevens.”

And these are big budget productions that typically have money to burn.

When it comes to non-profit theatre organizations, the need to reuse, repurpose, and recycle becomes not only a choice, but a necessity.

According to Eric Moore, Technical Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company, nearly two-thirds of set materials are repurposed.

“I’m very proud that we have reused many doors and windows from stock this season — seven alone in The Suffragette’s Murder. Additionally, almost everything in Gutenberg! The Musical is reused except the proscenium (the arch of the stage that separates the stage from the audience). The spiral staircase in Gutenberg! has been in at least half-a-dozen shows. In fact, it was originally built for The Comedy of Errors in the late 1990s.

Gareth Saxe, Linda Mugleston, Curtis Wiley, and Matthew Boston – Photo by Jamie Kraus Photography

“We recycle all the steel framing that can’t be reused, and some is repurposed for storage. For example, the Emma proscenium became seat storage in the Wolf Theatre basement. The Lehman Trilogy mezzanine panels reappeared in Phamaly’s Cabaret and our recent production of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter before being repurposed into shelving.”

The Theatre Company is in the fortunate position to own a 24,000-square-foot warehouse where it can store props, furniture, rugs, scenic elements, and more — all of which are reused in multiple productions. Similarly, costumes, shoes, and wigs fill dozens of storage rooms in the DCPA’s administrative and production offices.

“While we can’t save everything,” said Lisa Orzolek, Director of Scenic Design, “if we know the design needs for upcoming shows far enough in advance, we can save materials such as walls for future productions.”

For instance, the theatre deck (or stage floor) that was used in the 2024 production of A Christmas Carol will be reused in the recent production of Little Shop of Horrors and stay in place for A Christmas Carol next season. And, if you pay close attention, you’re likely to recognize the backdrop of Little Shop of Horrors from the 2011production of Map of Heaven, the fencing in Little Shop of Horrors from the 2017 production of The Book of Will (which had a previous life as wood bleachers that were purchased on the cheap), and the backdrop in last season’s production of Hamlet, which previously appeared in The Secret Garden (2017) and Quixote Nuevo (2022)

None of these cost-saving measures are intended to limit a designer’s vision or the production values that audiences have come to expect. But “by having department managers who are also designers,” Orzolek said, “we can make suggestions to our guest designers that will achieve their vision while staying within the budget. Our department heads work together to achieve the ‘idea’ that a guest designer has asked for by first providing options from within our own stock.”

“We always try to pull first, buy second,” said Moore. “And if we purchase something, we try to buy second-hand before we consider purchasing something new.”

Case in point, the blood-thirsty plant in Little Shop of Horrors was purchased from California’s South Coast Repertory. Denver Center Theatre Company artisans then modified the plant to meet our production’s needs including a mechanical overhaul plus new paint, and additional leaves, a much more affordable option than creating such a prop from scratch.

All of these decisions require the cooperation of designers — both resident and guest. “Arnel Sancianco (scenic designer of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter) was okay with The Lehman Trilogy panels being redressed. Reid Thompson (scenic designer of The Suffragette’s Murder) let us choose a paint treatment instead of a stain so we could re-use old molding to save money, and Alan Muraoka (scenic designer of Little Shop of Horrors) chose patterns for cornice molding, tin ceiling, and brick that we already had molds for, so it is relatively cheap and easy to recreate.”

“We did a production of Misalliance back in 1997, which featured what appeared to be a marble floor but was really faux painting by our artists,” Orzolek recalled. “We received many rather heated questions about our budget, and what we said then still holds true. We are frugal, we are creative, we are responsible stewards of the money we receive from patrons and donors.

“And we are grateful for the investment our SCFD community makes in us so that we can provide world-class productions that engage, uplift, and entertain thousands of individuals every year.”