David McQuillen Robertson, originally from Champaign Illinois, after attending Illinois State University for acting, has previously worked in Melbourne, Florida, and is now a resident of NYC.
While in Melbourne, David worked with the Henegar Center for the arts as a scenic designer for fourteen productions and also took on the role of lighting designer. David also enjoyed working with two of the local area high schools in various capacities from scenic and lighting design to costuming. He has done four major productions in the past two years with West Shore Jr./Sr. High School. Under Director Maureen Fallon he worked with the school’s student tech crew to design, build, light, paint, and run two all school musicals with casts over 100 students, and two high school musicals with casts approaching 60 students. David also worked with Steve Rossi, the Theatre Manager of Merritt Island High School, as a scenic designer and painter for that school’s productions over last three years.
Now in New York, David has been designing around the city and country. He works frequently with Front Row Theatrical rental company as their Scenic Designer, including both of their Mamma Mia designs, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid. He is also thrilled to be working with, and teach a little, the students of Summit High School in New Jersey.
REVIEWS
Newsies
Speaking of the set design, I love what David McQuillen Robertson did with this production to keep true to the original Broadway show. We still retain much of the magic of the scaffolding look while also bringing a new flare to that design. While there have been a few regional productions mounted of NEWSIES, very few have been able to take what was on Broadway and bring it to the regional stage as David does at La Mirada Performing Arts Center.
-Cody Rodriguez, codyrodriguez.com
Hedda (Gabler)
When it came to the visual of the world of the play, both scenic designer David McQuillen Robertson and costume designer Jason Frey gave a subtle modern flair to their respective design.
-Michael Block, Theatre in the Now
David McQuillen Robertson’s scenic and lighting design very nicely signifies expensive taste without having to display it, in a non-representational set that evokes stuffy propriety in black and red.
-Julia Polinsky, theatrescene.com
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
And those chills will get goosebumps from David Robertson’s big bold scenic design, complete with enormous stained glass window and an array of enormous bells hanging from wood scaffolding…and all that baptized by Joshua Huss’s gorgeous, evocative lighting design.
-Pam Harbaugh, Brevard Culture
From the time I entered the theatre until the houselights came up after bows, David McQuillen Robertson's scenic design commanded attention. The positioning and sizing of the bells, the impressive presence of the Notre Dame stained glass, and the usefulness of his tiered set are inspired.
-Kristy Johnson, Broadway World
Ain’t Misbehavin’
“Lighting and scenic designer David McQuillen Robertson has created the best sets this reviewer has ever seen at the Henegar. A bar, a table and a few chairs, a small stage where a torch singer might have performed, establish the rich atmosphere of the era. Molding carves into the wooden walls. A tin ceiling hangs above. It all is moody and evocative and so appealing.”
-Pam Harbaugh, Brevard Culture
Follies
“David M. Robertson’s scenic design is oh-so-smart and artistic. With a few elegant painterly gestures, he creates a drab, run down theater which, at the flip of a counterweight, turns into a vivid, lively venue.”
