Set designer Andy Walmsley loves living among Vegas ‘sin’

Vegas Voices is a weekly question-and-answer series featuring notable Las Vegans.

You may not know Andy Walmsley’s name, but you definitely know his work.

The British-born, Las Vegas-based set designer won an Emmy for “American Idol” — and international recognition for various versions of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” (Including the one in the Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire.”)

On the Strip, headliners from Terry Fator to Frank Marino feature his designs. He had two Broadway musicals open in two years (“Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” and “Blood Brothers”) while he was still in his early 20s.

Walmsley, who’s now “49 going on 29,” repeats that two-shows feat in Las Vegas this month.

At The Smith Center through Sunday, the Broadway hopeful “Idaho! The Comedy Musical” shows off a rustic frontier style, while Super Summer Theatre’s “Memphis” (at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park through July 23) finds the designer revisiting the rockin’ musical roots he first explored in “Buddy.”

We recently caught up with Walmsley at The Smith Center where, deep in “Idaho!” rehearsals, he discussed how he came to Las Vegas — and why he stays.

Review-Journal: When, and why, did you first come to Las Vegas? What was your initial impression?

Walmsley: My first-ever trip was 1990 as a tourist from the U.K. I grew up in Blackpool, U.K., which is our version of Vegas, so to come visit the real deal was mind-blowing.

RJ: When, and why, did you decide to move to Las Vegas?

Walmsley: When you are on vacation you always say “I could live here.” I had been coming to Vegas on vacations every 18 months for a decade — and every time I said, “I could live here.” Eventually, I moved to L.A. to do “American Idol” and now I could drive to Vegas every month. So eventually I met a girl here and the visits became more frequent; I bought a condo here and the rest is history.

RJ: What are the similarities between Blackpool and Las Vegas?

Walmsley: Blackpool in many ways was the testing ground for Vegas, as it’s a town over a century old, built on entertainment with many shows, bachelorette parties, bars, clubs, restaurants and even Europe’s largest theme park. It’s a weekend trip town like Vegas and a general “what happens here stays here” atmosphere.

I grew up in show-business in Blackpool; my great-grandfather was a very famous headliner comedian, my mother was a specialty act and my father also was a well-known comedian. I started working initially as a drummer at age 13, then as a stagehand in shows and eventually as a set designer.

There’s a circus show in Blackpool where the entire ring/stage sinks down and fills with water. Cirque du Soleil’s “O” is still my favorite (Las Vegas) show by far, but we were doing pretty much the same show in Blackpool over a hundred years ago when that building was constructed and it’s still performing two shows a day. Vegas thinks it invented it all, (but) it didn’t. We were doing it all in Europe a long time ago.

RJ: Is it exciting to be working on a new show like “Idaho!” that may have a future on Broadway?

Walmsley: I work in television and all other areas of entertainment but you can’t beat musical theater — I absolutely love it. I have already designed the Broadway version of “Idaho!” and it’s a much more complex design, with automated computer-controlled scenery and major scene changes. But the bare bones and feel of it you will see onstage at The Smith Center.

RJ: What are the biggest challenges of designing for Super Summer Theatre?

Walmsley: The biggest challenge at SST is the budgets. I always design what in the real world would easily be a $700,000 (or) million-dollar set and somehow they make it happen for a few thousand dollars! Everyone loves it up there, so they get a lot of volunteers and materials for free. My only beef with SST is that the tickets are way too cheap. I know for a fact they could double the cost and still sell out because the audiences absolutely love the experience and most of that additional revenue would enhance the quality of the productions, which is already very high for community theater.

RJ: How long have you lived in Las Vegas?

Walmsley: I have lived right on the Strip for 13 years and I love it. I could never live in Summerlin or Henderson — “the sticks,” as I refer to it — as I need to be right in the thick of the action.

RJ: What’s your favorite “Vegas-y” thing to do in Las Vegas?

Walmsley: I don’t gamble and I’m not a huge drinker, but I love to be surrounded by “sin” — put me in a smoky bar full of drinkers, gamblers, mobsters, entertainers and I feel like I’m in a movie.

RJ: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve discovered about living in Las Vegas?

Walmsley: The people who live here and say, “Oh, I never go to the Strip.” Are you kidding me? You live in literally the most exciting city on Earth — why don’t you go live in Arkansas?

Read more from Carol Cling at reviewjournal.com. Contact her at ccling@reviewjournal.com and follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.