UW Whitewater Theatre/Dance Department

First tech for “Sweeney Todd” is tonight, and things are getting close to being ready. If you’d asked me three weeks ago if I thought we’d be this far along at this point, I would have laughed in despair. I think I did laugh in despair. BUT, we all worked hard and together and here we are!

I don’t teach classes today, so this morning was spent in the shop (as will the afternoon). Here is a bunch of trim, painted yesterday and now awaiting installation during shop hours. To the right are the backs of the pie shop and bakehouse wagons.

For this show, I recruited a three person props team — Kelsey, Shauna, and Maddie. They’ve also been hard at work, and here are a varity of things laid out so paint could dry over night.

Here’re the fronts of the bakehouse and pie shop wagons, with the Pirelli corpse trunk (project for the afternoon) and the unpainted act two pie shop counter in the background (also project for the afternoon).

Sweeney’s sign:

Pirelli’s chart:

Building a third blood razor (the first two were built by my friend Nikki Hansen):

Our TD, Steve, is also lighting the show, so after he finished his morning cuing session, I wandered in and took a picture of the set as it is at the moment. The railings for the galleries are painted, and now need to be assembled and installed. There are also railings and decor for the stairway up to the tonsorial parlor.

I haven’t tried it out myself yet, but the slide from the chair is reported to work like a charm (Steve’s engineering).

Friday. We’re now less than a week from first tech. Our TD, Steve, will have another rare Saturday shop session to keep moving forward. There’s still a lot to be done, but on the other hand, I confess that I was quite feaful we would not be as far as we are after only about three weeks of build (remember, except for the two Saturday sessions, the shops are only open from 1-5 Monday through Friday).

Here’s a pic of the stage Friday afternoon. Hang is still commencing, though later in the day, Steve started focussing.

In the Hicklin, Allison got more pieces based and I lined them. Here are the walls for the pieshop wagon and the parlor wagon, nearing completion.

One of my day’s side projects was to work on the trunk in which Pirelli’a body is stashed. We have a large Pirelli, which meant building a larger trunk. It was built a few days ago and they’ve been using it in rehearsal. Here it is, at the midway point of decoration. There’s a little fabric covered slot for his hand to poke out at the near corner.

On Thursday, I built a spigot for the pie shop’s ale cask. I’m rather happy with it.

Finally, here’s Shauna, a member of the Intro to Tech class and part of the prop team. She’s painting the birds cages she designed and built for the bird seller.

Finshed one flat this morning before shop started, and then moved into the Hicklin to work on another. Once I’ve got this one done, I’m caught up as far as lining goes — as soon as Allison has more based for me, away I will go.

Since the big flats are largely all done now, our TD, Steve, has students installing them while the light hang also commences.

Forging ahead on “Sweeney Todd.” At the start of yesterday, here’s the selection of covered and primed flats awaiting further painting:

So my first task of the day was to finish what I’d started the day before, only., doing it in the scene shop since class was happening in the Hicklin:

During actual shop hours, lots of work for everyone. Here are two students pasting down muslin on the edges of the wagon walls. I haven’t seen these two before, so I suspect they’re cast members from the music department doing their production hours:

Here are two more suspected cast members measuring out framing pieces for flats:

Here they are, working with Alex, on the flat itself:

Braden (TA) and Brent (Intro student) work on framing another flat, while Lilliana (TA) is off to the side helping to feed lumber through the table saw:

And a better shot of Alex and Lilliana working together to rip down some lumber:

Back in the Hicklin, Allison does a little pasting down of muslin before priming a wagon flat:

While I drive another flat forward to painted completion:

And as flats get finished, up they go on the stage:

I think that blur is another Allison, on of the Intro students. . .

Over the weekend, the larger flats got covered and primed, so Monday afternoon Allison continued with basing and spattering them while I worked on the sketching:

I had to run off to a meeting, so this is as far as I got on this flat:

Today I will add the crosshatched shading and move on to the next flat. Other things that jumped ahead over the weekend were some of the backing walls for the wagon units:

Here TA Lilliana works with Alex and another Intro student (whose name I have forgotten) on laying out the facing for the bakehouse wagon unit wall:

I decided that the benches from “Radium Girls” were stylistically similar to where we were going for this show, so they’re doing double duty. However, for the pie shop scene that opens Act Two we need more benches, so here’s Intro student Dan working on duplicates:

Finally, here’s TA Quinn working on the wagon platforms:

The flats for “Sweeney Todd” are almost all framed and covered; I think this is the last of them, with Joe there on the side figuring something out:

On the other hand, not everything goes according to plan. As I started to sketch out the detail I discovered this flat had been put together backwards. Back into the shop to pop the facing, reverse it, and recover it.

Onstage, TA Brian works with one of the Intro students to attach the beam that runs along the front of the platforming:

I was back in the Hicklin doing the sketching on the flats. Here’s one just laid out:

And one nearing completion:

Allison was also in the Hicklin, and here she is spattering a panel:

. . . and then starting to brush in the base on the next one:

Because of the size of the show and the short amount of time we have to get it done, our TD Steve has declared a rare Saturday work day tomorrow. I’m, however, going to do some propping and read through the Econ department’s self-study for the Audit and Review Committee. Ah, the joys of academia!

Oh, and did I mentioned that the full draft of the book is due on Monday?

Some shots from this afternoon at the start of shop. Here’s the upstage platforming so far, with a rehearsal wagon. The columns and the rest of the staircase are about to be installed:

In the shop itself, a group of students work on framing flats. Oh, and there’s the harmonium there at the garage door. The director and I had just gone to pick it up because he has a van.

Our TD is using the Hicklin theatre as a paint space while flats are being constructed in the shop. Here TA Joe leads some of the Intro to Tech students in applying wheat paste and muslin to the completed flats. Some of the students are trimming muslin from the flats that are already dry.

I’m taking a break from painting scenery to forge ahead with paint elevations so I will know what to paint on upcoming scenery. Here’s a shot of the stage as it was at the start of shop yesterday, with the under-walls for the upstage platforming in place. That’s director Jim Butchart’s fainting couch center, which we’ll be using for Judge Turpin’s parlor.

In the shop, Quinn works on the framing for one of the roofline flats:

While Lilliana lays out the details of the next one:

Down in the costume shop, work is also continuing apace. Here shop supervisor Tracey Lyons shows Shelby how to thread the serger:

Meanwhile, Bridget works on one of the dresses:

And I return to the drafting table for the rest of the afternoon:

The end of the semester is fast approaching, and there is yet lots to be done. We opened “Radium Girls” this morning for the Arts Immersion Day matinee. Scenic Design by Eric Appleton, Costume Design by Tracey Lyons, Lighting Design by student Joe Berman, Sounds Design by student Mason Ronan, stage managed by student Allison Lozar, and Props Manager student Lilliana Gonzalez.

Act One, when Grace goes to meet Kathleen Wiley for the first time:

Roeder sights Grace watercoloring in the cemetery:

The faces of all the dead girls:

At the same time, I’m trying to figure out “Sweeney Todd,” and with every passing day there’s less time for planning and building, especially since the show goes up at the end of February and we don’t return from winter break until about January 20th. I scrapped my original direction and yesterday came up with some new thoughts, which Jim Butchart (the director) approved of.

Today has been spent working up a rough scale groundplan and truly rough quarter inch scale model to present at tomorrow’s production meeting so I can get some drawings into the TD’s hands next week.

Last week UW-Whitewater hosted the Wisconsin High School Theatre Festival. Three days, about 4000 high school students from all over the state presenting about 40 one acts, accompanied by a full program of workshops. Kudos to our department chair, Marshall Anderson, for organizing such a smooth running event!

Last night was our second dress of “Radium Girls.” Here is student lighting designer Joe Berman, light board operator Emily, and student sound desiger Mason Ronan getting ready.

The set under worklights. Spoiler: the pictures upstage are only revealed in the last moments of the play (nor are they completed, yet).

Student stage manager Allison Lozar settling in just before we get rolling:

Joe’s preset:

The girls chatting while applying radium paint to watch dials: