Bob Lavallee hugging his daughter Elise Lavallee on the set of Let's Make Music.
Robert Martin Lavallee (born October 6, 1949 in Winooski, Vermont) is best known to be a production designer for Barney & Friends. Outside of Barney & Friends he has designed for live theater (including children's theater, musicals, dramas and operas), multi-camera video and a single camera feature film.
Career[]
Barney & Friends[]
While Lavallee was working as a senior scenic designer for Peter Wolf Design, the producers of Barney & Friends, Jim Rowley, Ben Vaughn, and Jeff Gittle, arrived at the studio due to a desire of having an addition to the present of Barney & Friends at Studio A at Las Colinas. He was given the task on behalf of the company. After he fulfilled the desires of the producers, he also showcased another idea he had for another set piece so the series could be shot in 360. While the producers liked his idea, Lavallee didn't hear back from them for a year.
The producers of Barney & Friends decided they wanted someone who could build and design at the same time. The crew came back to Peter Wolf Designs to exclusively hire Lavallee and not the company itself. While other production designers were conversed with, Lavallee was hired due to the crew wanting someone who had sculptural and 3D sensibilities, rather than having a frontal proscenium base. Within that year, Ben Vaughn showcased Studio A to Lavallee and hinted that his work will be showcased and done with the respective setting (which eventually became the home setting for seasons four through six of Barney & Friends at the time).
At the time, Lavallee knew nothing about video (as he'd only done theater), but the crew of Barney & Friends were patient enough to teach him about it.
Post-Barney[]
When Barney & Friends went on hiatus for the final time, Lavallee, and his set designer at the time, stayed on with the series for a couple of months exploring ideas for a refresh that was meant to explore where Barney lived, with Barney's land, but it didn't go anywhere.[2]
Credits[]
Barney & Friends[]
Gallery[]
Designs[]
Trivia[]
- Lavallee's daughter, Elise Lavallee, was an assistant choreographer for Let's Make Music and Let's Go to the Fire House and was a performance director for all the "I Hear Music Everywhere"[3] interestrial for the fourteenth season of Barney & Friends (despite being credited in all episodes for that respective season).
Video[]
Interview[]
References[]
- ↑ Bob Lavallee | LinkedIn Retrieved February 29, 2024
- ↑ Talking Sets with Production Designer Bob Lavallee - Purple Tales Podcast Episode 12 May 21, 2019 Retrieved February 29, 2024
- ↑ MORE ABOUT BALLET CONCERTO Retrieved March 1, 2024