The set of the 2013 Broadway play I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers transitioned from afternoon to evening as the show progressed. Set design, Scott Pask. Lighting design, Hugh Vanstone.

It was too much for Hauck, the set designer, who watched that California dress rehearsal with tears streaming down her face. “It was the emotional journey of it all,” Hauck, 57, said recently ...