Designing Penny Dreadful ’s 1938 Los Angeles

Penny Dreadful is back, this time centering on a shape-shifting demon known as Magda (played by Natalie Dormer of Game of Thrones fame), who transforms herself into a stylish couture-clad ghoul, a fräulein, a Chicano gang leader, and a calculating assistant to a city councilman with mayoral aspirations. Set in 1938 Los Angeles, Showtime’s spin-off series Penny Dreadful: City of Angels weaves the tale of Mexican American detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) and his partner Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane), who are investigating a macabre murder at a time of racial tensions, the rise of radio evangelism and the Third Reich, and the building of the city’s first freeway (with demonic forces of the supernatural thrown in for good measure).

Production designer Maria Caso created the world of 1930s Los Angeles, replicating a neighborhood close to the new freeway that consisted of 38 houses, Main Street, a cannery, a nightclub, shops, and a rough part of town. The series is filmed on the soundstages at Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch, and the designer was no stranger to the shooting location. She created her Emmy-winning Western streets of HBO’s Deadwood at the historic site.

Set in 1930s Los Angeles, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is a spin-off of the 2014 series Penny Dreadful, which was set in Victorian London.

401 - Santa Muerte

Set in 1930s Los Angeles, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is a spin-off of the 2014 series Penny Dreadful, which was set in Victorian London.
Photo: Justin Lubin/SHOWTIME

“John [Logan, the show’s creator and producer] develops characters who are really layered and intricate, and he weaves them through the story lines,” Caso tells AD. “All of the characters have a connection, and we felt like the sets have to evolve and grow like the characters. The biggest challenge was turning the former Western-town streets into North Main.” The design team spent the majority of their preproduction time measuring period buildings in Los Angeles, such as the historic City Hall, and doing research. “John is really well-read and like a historian. He talked to us about history, art, films, and his vision for the show,” which evokes the period aesthetic of films such as Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, and Mulholland Falls.

A garage filled with religious artifacts becomes a sanctuary for matriarch Maria Vega (played by Adriana Barraza).

401 - Santa Muerte

A garage filled with religious artifacts becomes a sanctuary for matriarch Maria Vega (played by Adriana Barraza).
Photo: Justin Lubin/SHOWTIME

One of the primary sets is the Vega house, where the detective’s mother, brothers, and sister all live under the same roof. Creating it involved a deep dive into the designs of Mexican culture and folklore of the time. “We wanted to show the family and their struggles and the relationships with each other, and show the contrasts between each, so you will see a lot of family photos,” Caso says. She and set decorator Brent Mannon scoured flea markets, yard sales, and antique shops all over Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Sacramento, and San Diego for period-appropriate furnishings and accessories. The team wanted to hit as many locations as possible, and to avoid prop houses, she says, because “you see the same things over and over [in shows].” One of the more memorable sets is Detective Vega’s mother’s garage sanctuary, which is filled with an array of angels, figurines, and candles that also involved a good deal of research into Santa Muerte (known as the Mexican folk saint of death). “Everything on the set is there for a reason and has a meaning, as details are very important to John,” says Caso.

A Pasadena house and a soundstage doubled as the well-ordered traditional home of German pediatrician Dr. Peter Craft (Kinnear).

403 - Wicked Old World

A Pasadena house and a soundstage doubled as the well-ordered traditional home of German pediatrician Dr. Peter Craft (Kinnear).
Photo: Warrick Page/SHOWTIME

For the house of German pediatrician Dr. Peter Craft (Rory Kinnear), the design team located a pristine well-appointed two-story estate in Pasadena and shot the interiors on a soundstage. “We first did a board of what would be in the location,” Caso notes of the design process. “Dr. Craft is German, very proper, and everything had to be precise. We wanted to show the loneliness and emptiness between him and his wife and tried to do it subliminally.” Caso also added “landscaper” to her résumé while creating the set. “For the birthday party scene, there was a huge tennis court at the house, so the greens department had to go in, turn the court into a yard, and put in trees and fencing. The gentleman who lived next door liked it so much he wanted to hire our crew to tear up his tennis court as well!”

Indicative of the Golden Age of Hollywood period, the all-white Finnister home is a study in Streamline Moderne (from top, Bishé and Madigan).

Episode 406

Indicative of the Golden Age of Hollywood period, the all-white Finnister home is a study in Streamline Moderne (from top, Bishé and Madigan).
Photo: Warrick Page/SHOWTIME
Caso and set decorator Brent Mannon sourced flea markets and estate sales from Bakersfield to Los Angeles (Madigan, seated, and Bishé).

403 - Wicked Old World

Caso and set decorator Brent Mannon sourced flea markets and estate sales from Bakersfield to Los Angeles (Madigan, seated, and Bishé).
Photo: Warrick Page/SHOWTIME

The white-on-white interiors for singer and radio evangelist Sister Molly Finnister (Kerry Bishé) show just how essential production design is in narrative storytelling. “I never really like to design an all-white set, but for this character, it was important. We wanted to show she is pure, untainted by the world, and lives in this great open space with her mother.” Her color-coded closet is a lesson in anal-retentiveness. “It was designed to show her character was controlled by everything and that she doesn’t have any other life except for the world she created for herself,” Caso says. The living room was constructed on the ranch’s soundstage, where the designer added a large window that “symbolizes Molly is looking out into a world she doesn’t have a connection to, and when you see the mother [played by Amy Madigan] on the upstairs balcony looking down on her daughter, you know she is always watching and in control.”

Series creator John Logan wanted a sexy, seductive look for the Crimson Cat nightclub.

409

Series creator John Logan wanted a sexy, seductive look for the Crimson Cat nightclub.
Photo: Warrick Page/SHOWTIME
See the video.

Perhaps Caso’s favorite set was a nightclub on North Main known as the Crimson Cat that showcases the series’ electrifying dance numbers. The designer took her cues from Logan, whose directive was to create “a place for people to feel sexy so they could be themselves and feel who they are.” Keeping it simple with added levels so the audiences can view the action, the designer details, “Since the nightclub didn’t have a lot of money, we wanted [to create] an impact when you walked in, so we looked at photographs of real dance halls, used a lot of swagging fabric, and made the lighting mismatched.” As one of the show’s more memorable sets, the Crimson Cat provides the perfect backdrop to the introduction of the pachuco culture and the frenetic dance numbers as well as a respite to the serious and often sinister storylines.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels airs on Showtime on Sundays at 10/9c.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest