Posted in Uncategorized on February 23rd, 2022 by Eric Appleton
We opened our two one act operas this past weekend. Directed by Bruce Cohen, Music Direction by Bob Gehrenbeck, scenic design by me, lighting design by student Samuel J. Hess, costume design by Tracey Lyons, props managed by student Michael Bates, stage managed by student Samantha Ness, and tech direction by Ruth Conrad-Proulx with student ATDs Abby Smith-Lezama and Mary Sportiello.
The pics below are from the first dress rehearsal. I have to sort through the photos from final dress, but once I do, I will post a selection.
Here’s Ruth talking to Sam over the tech table. That’s board operator Trevor to the left.
Posted in Uncategorized on February 15th, 2022 by Eric Appleton
Monday was dry tech, Tuesday was the sitz/wandelprobe, and tonight we start tech proper for “The Harpies” and “Signor Deluso.” The plan tonight is to tech one of the pieces, and then tech the other tomorrow night.
Here we see student stage manager Sam and student lighting designer Sam having a confab at the tech table after meeting the director and talking through plans for for the rest of the afternoon’s dry tech.
Here’s the state of the set two days ago — the sidewalls up, and the Deluso flats in place. That’s orchestra director Bob Gehrenbeck setting up the music stands and positioning chairs.
Finally, one the classes held this semester is a group independent study for scenic painting. Right now, the students have a couple of projects going — finishing up a study in dilution, shades, and tones, paying attention to detail and brush control as they letter lines of text, and then image transfer and lining practice as they copy a painting.
Posted in Uncategorized on February 14th, 2022 by Eric Appleton
We head into tech this week for “The Harpies” and “Signor Deluso,” and I realized I had not yet posted some shop photos I took about a week or so ago. So, to start, here are two of the Intro students running lumber through the table saw. I’m not sure of the name of the student at the front, but that’s Valerie in the back, supporting the lumber.
Our props manager, Michael, is new to props, but is chugging right along. For “The Harpies” the Argonauts each require a shield. I had him do a bit of research and he came up with a design which he then fabricated. The pic below shows the shields waiting to have their handles and straps installed.
A side project: After “She Kills Monsters” closed, I felt bad about discarding the rather complicated props and puppet pieces we’d constructed. Our associate dean suggested I contact the university Community Engagement Center to see if they had any display space. Kate Prange, who is temporarily running the CEC’s gallery, said to bring it all over and she’d put together an exhibition with the dragon heads as a centerpiece. The exhibition will open later this month, featuring our “She Kills Monsters” work, as well as selected pieces from the art and design department’s permanent collection.
I built stands for the dragons, and here’s the prototype standing in the shop:
On Friday last week, student Abby and I took the stands over to the gallery and set up the dragon heads. Here she is, screwing a cross piece to one of the stands. She was very excited to head over, as she’d been a student employee in the college’s Crossman gallery. Hoping to get a bit more exhibition and curation experience, she is looking forward to seeing if she can help out or even get employed in the CEC gallery (one of her interests in entertainment law and administration).