biography
David Esler is a New York City-based production designer who has created sets, costumes and projections for over 200 productions including dozens of local, regional and world premieres.
In New York, his designs have been seen on Theatre Row and at Irish Repertory Theatre, HERE, P.S.122, The Working Theater, The Sheen Center, Chashama, Chelsea Playhouse, and the Ohio, Westbeth, Algonquin and Greenwich Theatres, among others.
David’s regional credits include designs for Northern Stage, Capital Rep, Maltz Jupiter, Adirondack Theater Festival, Gateway Playhouse, Stamford Theatreworks, Cape Playhouse, Southern Shakespeare Company, Princeton Rep, Stage One, Augusta Opera, and the Hangar, Muhlenberg and Surflight theatres. He designed the 2013 North American centenary tour of Titanic, and the world premiere Civil War musical Battle Cry in Gettysburg, PA, as well as productions of Hairspray, Jekyll & Hyde, Miracle on 34th Street, Footloose, and Fame at various casino showrooms across the country.
Internationally, David’s designs have been seen at London’s Pleasance Theatre (Assassins) and at the Midwinter Night’s Dream Festival in Tallinn, Estonia (roger&tom).
He was Resident Designer for Personal Space Theatrics and for the International WOW Company, and has enjoyed collaborations with directors Kareem Fahmy, Gabriel Barre, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Stafford Arima, Josh Fox, Scott Schwartz, Raúl Esparza, and choreographer Doug Varone, among many others. He has also assisted other designers on a wide variety of projects ranging from the world premiere of Alan Menken & Tim Rice’s King David at the New Amsterdam Theatre, to Broadway’s Mary Poppins, the Lost Colony outdoor historical drama and the Big Apple Circus.
David’s production designs for film include Pat Metheny’s Juno-nominated 3D concert film The Orchestrion Project and the sci-fi thriller Fade To White. During the pandemic shutdown, he served as virtual design consultant on the Minneapolis Playwrights’ Center’s developmental workshop of Crystal Skillman’s Pulp Vérité.
Also an accomplished scenic artist and muralist, David has painted extensively on and Off Broadway, regionally, and for film and television including The Good Wife, The Knick, Mozart in the Jungle, Motherless Brooklyn, and six seasons of CBS Television’s Madam Secretary. In 2019, he had the privilege of painting sets and murals for the Warner Bros. feature-film adaptation of In The Heights.
David received his MFA in Scenic and Costume Design from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and is a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.