UW Whitewater Theatre/Dance Department

Work on the pivot units continue in the Hicklin. . .

. . . while Brianna, Anna, and Anastasia begin building the vertical steel strutwork pieces for the perimeter.

Intro to Tech student Kiley runs the board as focus continues for “Dancescapes.”

And meanwhile, in the Costume Shop, department chair and costume designer Marshall Anderson oversees some construction work. . .

. . . including Carolyn, cutting out a pattern.

As light hang for “Dancescapes” continues in the Barnett. . .

. . . construction of “Romeo and Juliet” is in full swing in the Hicklin. TD Steve Chene talks to students Eric, Quinn, Bruce, and Joe about putting washers on carriage bolts as the platforms are bolted together. Since rehearsals are in the black box theatre, it made the most sense to build in there so the actors (and director, and choreographer) have as much time as possible playing with the pivot units in their various configurations. When “Dancescapes” is over, the units will break apart and be rolled over to the Barnett.

Here’s a better view of the stage right unit, as TA Keri staples things.

Intro to Tech students Liz and Samantha work on measuring and cutting facing.

And now that the model has moved into rehearsal, I get to clean off my drafting table and use it for. . . well, “Muskie Love” and “Corpse” are coming up as our summer shows. Or perhaps I’ll just go back to piling my course materials on it.

My sad little model is complete enough to send off to rehearsal as soon as the glue dries. . .

Scenic design for “Romeo and Juliet” is finally done.

Now that “Into the Woods” is done and gone, our attention turns to “Romeo and Juliet” (while Dancescapes goes into tech this coming week). With two pivoting units, Angela (the director) has been eager to get more dimensional representation to help with blocking. My sad little model — in progress — is pictured above. It’s just enough to help her figure out what is where and what can be seen when which unit is turned which way. One of the challenges of teaching and designing is doing both at the same time — you can either catch up with grading papers and preparing coursework, or you can work on a model. And when you work on a model, you still have to get information to the TD so the set can be built. Which is why the model is just barely adequate.

On the other hand, here’s a picture much closer to what the set will look like, in Sketch-up. The pivoting units are already being framed up in the shop.