new york a massive immersive exhibition celebrating artist vincent van gogh has leaned on some broadway talent for a little razzle dazzle during its visit to new york city producers of immersive van gogh have tapped tonyawardwinning set designer david korins for creative help after they secured a jawdropping 70000squarefoot venue for their exhibit in lower manhattan easily the biggest space the exhibit has landed they wanted something bigger fancier deeper said korins who has designed sets for hamilton and dear evan hansen and is a lifelong fan of van gogh i wanted to really try and find a way to help people in 2021 see him more as a human korins has added a ceiling installation that uses almost 8000 paint brushes to thrillingly reproduce the starry night a station that uses artificial intelligence to give visitors an individualized letter from van gogh a chance to cocreate a work with him on their phones and booths that explore the artists synesthesia corey ross the lead producer of immersive van gogh said the show leans into every place it lands in and new york was the biggest challenge of any city the show has visited the question was really how do we bring in the essence of new york he said and of course david korins is someone whose work i love and hes the top guy so he was the first call some elements of korins work are expected to be added to upcoming visits to other cities the exhibition has already been presented in san francisco chicago toronto and paris and plans are to expand to more than a dozen cities across north america including los angeles dallas denver las vegas minneapolis and pittsburgh the heart of the show is the same in each city a 38minute digital film projected across the hulking space that dynamically and elegantly weave images from van goghs paintings on the walls and ground to a soundtrack of gentle electronic music and ethereal piano those parts were designed by massimiliano siccardi with original music by luca longobardi the shows arrival in new york comes as the city emerges from a lockdown that shut down cultural events and art crowds i feel like this is a huge bright beacon of hope for arts in new york said korins all visitors must wear masks and social distancing cues are sprinkled throughout the exhibit korins made sure nothing needed to be touched perhaps except for visitors cellphones he said its fitting that van gogh was often isolated he is a perfect artist and this is a perfect time because weve all been wrestling with isolation there has lately been an explosion of renewed interest in the dutch postimpressionist artist and immersive van gogh is just one of several traveling exhibits that marry his work with technology theres even a rival in new york just a few miles away van gogh the immersive experience producers of immersive van gogh in new york had so much space