You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Prop Design
Adventure Theatre MTC
Production Credits
Adventure Theatre MTC, Glen Echo, Maryland
Director: Kurt Boehm
Music Director: Elisa Rosman
Choreographer: Ashleigh King
Prop Designer: Mercedes Blankenship
Scenic Designer: Josh Sticklin
Lighting Designer: Lynn Joslin
Sound Designer: Brandon Cook
Costume Designer: Paris Francesca
Photos by: Alan Kayanan
Head Over Heels
Prop and Scenic Design
Wildwood Summer Theatre
Production Credits
Wildwood Summer Theatre, Theatre 2 at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center (Silver Spring, Maryland)
Producer: Siena Maxwell
Director: Ileana Blustein
Music Director: Anton Van De Motter
Conductor: Daniella Ignacio
Choreographers: Kit Aylesworth and Caitlin Valleskey
Fight Director: Kiefer Cure
Intimacy Coordinator: Abigail Chase
Prop Designer: Mercedes Blankenship
Scenic Designers: Gabby Goldman and Mercedes Blankenship
Lighting Designer: Finnegan Gavelli
Sound Designer: Josie Danckaert
Costume Designers: Maddy Cooper and Giuliana Weiss
Hair & Makeup Designer: Aisley Wallace Harper
Dramaturg: Katie Quinn
Photos by: Delaney Gregg
Bat Boy
Prop Design
American University
Production Credits
American University Department of Performing Arts, Harold & Sylvia Greenberg Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
Director: Clancey Yovanovich
Music Supervisor: Marika Countouris
Music Director: Lucia LaNave
Choreographer: David Singleton
Prop Designer: Mercedes Blankenship
Scenic Designer: Jonathan Dahm Robertson
Lighting Designer: Jason Arnold
Sound Designer: Justin Schmitz
Costume Designer: Sydney Moore
Photos by: Kate Zuckerman
Bat Boy
Prop Design
Imagination Stage Performance Ensemble
Production Credits
The Lerner Theatre at Imagination Stage (Bethesda, Maryland)
On the set of their production of Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
Producer: Nikki Kaplan
Director: Randy Baker
Music Director: Laquavia Alston
Choreographer: Madalaina D'Angelo
Prop Designer: Mercedes Blankenship
Scenic Designer: Mollie Singer
Lighting Designer: Paul Calahan
Costume Designer: Kristina Martin
Photos by: Jeremy Rusnock
Prop Highlights
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Matching camouflage backpacks for the 3 Taylor kids (in true West Virginia fashion)
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Ripping apart several stuffed animals in order to allow Bat Boy to drink their blood.
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The $13 armchair found at a thrift store
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Rick Taylor's butterfly knife (chosen instead of a Bowie knife because it was less conspicuous and because it's funny if Rick doesn't actually know anything about knives).
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Dr. Parker's syringe, which is a repurposed meat injector, specifically chosen for its resemblance to a veterinary syringe. Undoubtedly my favorite prop in the show.
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My beloved severed cow head — made from a latex cow mask, stuffing, and spray foam. She was dubbed "Simon Cowell" by the actor playing Bat Boy.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Rehearsal Stage Manager / Prop Design
Imagination Stage Performance Ensemble
Production Credits
The Lerner Theatre at Imagination Stage (Bethesda, Maryland)
On the set of their production of Corduroy
Producer: Nikki Kaplan
Director: Tyler Herman
Music Director: Laquavia Alston
Choreographer: Madison Chapman
Rehearsal Stage Manager/Prop Designer: Mercedes Blankenship
Scenic Coordinator: Mollie Singer
Lighting/Projections Designer: Sarah Tundermann
Costume Designer: Celeste Ranney-Howes
Photos by: Jeremy Rusnock
Prop Highlights
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An absurd amount of paperwork and office supplies
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Teaching Biggley and Finch how to knit so they could actually knit on stage
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Loading the briefcase for Finch's "Saturday Morning Ballet" (unfortunately, not pictured)
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Designing the cover for "A Secretary's Guide"
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8 Electric razors made from styrofoam and aluminum foil
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Foam swords for the Pirate Dance
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Comically oversized and on-the-nose Bible
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Finch's presentation, which included photoshopping Biggley onto 3 different magazine covers
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Scenic Design
Wildwood Summer Theatre
Production Credits
The Gaithersburg Arts Barn (Gaithersburg, MD)
Producer: Gabriela Schulman
Director: Abigail Olshin
Music Director: Ginny Moses
Choreographer: Cole Friedman
Technical Director: Line Bower
Scenic Designer: Mercedes Blankenship
Prop Designer: Kelly Gentilo
Scenic Highlights
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Each of the classroom posters on the set represents one of the spellers, and the "lesson" they learn over the course of the show.
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I got to design two of those posters myself, because I couldn't find designs that I liked for the specific "lessons" we'd chosen.
"Scenic Designer Mercedes Blankenship and Props Designer Kelly Gentilo set the tone for the show by giving the stage the appearance of a run-down gymnasium. The visual combination of the bleachers, replete with miniature water bottles, and the multi-colored inspirational posters hung on the walls created a hilarious juxtaposition with the competing spellers’ delusions of grandeur. [...] The artistic team took a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and let the audience in on the joke."
—Kaley Beins, MD Theatre Guide