If bold and italicized, this was explained later by Haven for more accuracy. 

Photo credit: Haven Hanson, Patrick Chavis

Written by Patrick Chavis

If you’ve frequented OC theatres in the past couple of years, you probably didn’t realize you had seen the work of Haven Hanson. He’s a multi-hyphenate theatre artist who, at only 20, is the head Production Designer at J Stage, the theatre wing of Merage JCC, a 220,000-square-foot Jewish community center in Irvine, CA. Although he’s still in school, he works on more than 10 professional shows annually in Orange County and Los Angeles.

OCR was more than enthusiastic about learning a little more about the artist behind many of the sets and costumes we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing over the years. I met Haven to the left of the Unity Bridge, and we had a good talk as we walked the bridge back and forth from South Coast Plaza to South Coast Repertory and back. Here is some of the stuff we talked about!

Patrick:  What got you into theater? 

Haven: So my family [has] been performing for a long time. My sister, my older sister, who’s now in law school, she was really passionate about it. She kind of dragged me along. I’ve always been a singer, so I was really interested in theater. And then, we were doing things at a black box theater company.  Haven explained to me that it was called the Starlight Theater Company at the time.

Haven’s first community theatre experience was at the Mysterium Theatre, performing in the Mysterium Theatre’s production of The Little Mermaid at the age of 12 as Herald the Sea Horse, a production Hanson cited as being one of the shows that inspired him towards the creative aspects of the theatre world.

Haven Hanson Costumes from Music Rooms The Little Mermaid

The Music Room in Orange Source: https://themusicroomtmr.com/

Haven explained that much of his theatre experience in middle and high school took place at THE MUSIC ROOM in Orange. Without the support of  Cindy Wilson and the scholarship, Haven most likely would have had to drop out of the program.  

Haven: The music room in Orange was where I started doing theater as a kid. That’s the big part of why I design. I couldn’t afford to do any of the classes or anything because it was way too expensive. My family couldn’t afford to do it. But my mentor, Cindy Wilson, who’s now one of my best friends, said I will give you a scholarship if you help me work on the sets. She taught me scenic painting, and she started teaching me all these different things [all these different technical skills]. She’s also a wig stylist. This is why I do so many things [this is where I got my start in multi-hyphenate work]. I got to work with Amanda Lynn Hart, an amazing painter, and she was one of my teachers at OCSA (Orange County School of the Arts). She went out of her way to show me techniques with paintings.

Patrick: What is your mindset when designing your sets and costumes for Mergage JCC? 

Haven: I try my best to create the highest quality I can with the budgets I’m given. I put in my own money into a lot of those shows so that they can look the way I want to. I believe that if I put the time and effort in, more people will come, and people will see what we’re doing, and they’ll be inspired by it, and they’ll want to support us, and they’ll want to be involved. That seems to be coming true.  Hanson further clarified that Beauty and the Beast had much greater community involvement and viewership than previous productions. 

Beauty and the Beast @ Merage JCC (2024) Photo credit: Matt Bobke

Patrick: If someone knows a little bit of everything, they’re the best producers. Has that ever crossed your mind? 

Haven: It’s called a multi-hyphenate artist. It’s becoming, kind of, unfortunately, more of a thing because they can’t afford to pay as many people. But in my sense, it helps a lot because my brain does work in the capacity where I can think of how to come up with a whole thing and collaborate with a lot of people to make that thing happen.

Patrick: How do you collaborate with so many artists and maintain your vision?

Haven: It’s really hard as a designer to accept help, to let other people put their impact on the work you do. It’s hard to do. I’m gonna let this person help make things because I’m very particular about how I make costumes and how I paint sets, but I’ve had wonderful people. Marissa [Albert] is someone that [has] been with me at the JCC, who [has] been incredibly helpful in making all these things come true. She is a really skilled seamstress and draper. Sophie Sonntag is a student at UCI, who’s a brilliant painter. I had brought [her] in for Beauty and the Beast to help with painting. Kat Scott did 60 wigs for the show, and it was a lot. I’m letting things go, and I’m kind of bringing in people to create a broader community.

What has been your experience so far working at Merage JCC? 

JStage has only been around for a few years, but Haven is thrilled with its accomplishments so far.  

Haven: It makes me happy. I do it because I like seeing the people coming to the shows, the community involvement. It makes my heart happy when I get to see whole pictures because I like to make a whole world. It’s why we paint the floor. I want it to feel like we’re really there. I like [immersion], and it’s hard to do that in a giant theater.

Patrick: You do so many things. Is there anything that really grabs you?

Source: playbill.com

Haven:   Costumes have always been my favorite passion. Irene Sharaff is one of my favorite designers, who did Hello Dolly the film, King and I and Meet Me in St Louis. Something about what she did with the colors [captivated me]. She wouldn’t really do things [that were] historically accurate. She would do like the 50s version of the 1890s, and she would make it her own world. It was so exciting because a lot of people feel like they have to fit into a mold, and they have to make things fit what you want it to be, what everyone wants it to be [she proves that wrong].

My grandma taught me how to sew when I was 13 years old. I started to get much better at it when I ended up creating and sewing over 50 dresses when we had to stay home during the pandemic. While she is bedridden now and struggles to speak, I still show her photos and videos of the shows I’m working on.

Haven explained that, like his idol Irene Sharaff, he wants to show people how he sees the world. Similar to Sharaff, he uses historical references, twists, and lots of color! 

How is it working with your long-time collaborator, Director Carina Morales?

I feel free working with Carina, she’s a very collaborative director!

Carina Morales on the left next to Haven Hanson.

Through work and collaboration, Haven explained to me a revelation he had about himself and others in the industry.

Haven: I realize now that a lot of other people have the capabilities to do those things [creative positions], and they just don’t see it, or they were discouraged. Haven explained that some people massively discouraged him along the way. And then, once I did that first show by myself, I said, you know what? I can do this. I’m really big on empowering people and creating. That’s why I’m so big on bringing those people I really trust and love to work on these projects with me. They’re exhausting. I make people put so much time into the shows that I design, but it’s because I want us to sit back and go.

I’m so glad we spent 50 hours making that stupid wall.

While it’s good to have a focus, Haven’s wide range of experiences as a multi-hyphenate artist have made him better at working with creatives and collaborating because he understands what they are going through. He’s been there, done that, and is ready for more.