More progress on “I Hate Hamlet.” I think we are closer than we look. . .
Platforms have gone up:
Walls are getting painted:
The throne is built:
And my globe is getting closer:
Construction continues on our upcoming production of “I Hate Hamlet.” Of course, we’re also in the midst of the light hang, and here is TA Bruce leading students on hanging and circuiting the first electric:
In the shop, painting commences on various walls:
My side project is the creation of a Renaissance globe that is also a bar. The globe portion has dried, and here it is, cut into hemispheres. Yes, that it a beach ball used as a form.
And here is the stand, placed on stage for the evening’s rehearsal so actors can get a sense of its size:
At the end of the shop day, TD Steve Chene leads students in assembling, flipping over, and placing some of the platforming:
So, we’ve also got “Three Excellent Cows” heading into rehearsal. For today’s production meeting, I’m working up some prop drawings.
“I Hate Hamlet” is in the shop! Here are Austin and Lilliana working with an Intro to Theatre student on the table saw.
I spent some time in the theatre painting the deck. I laid down a base color yesterday afternoon. . .
. . . and today laid in some grainy texture. The scenic painter for Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s “Boeing Boeing” mixed a certain amount of acrylic sealant into the paint for that wood floor; it imparted a nice depth as each layer went down. I’m trying that on this floor. So far, so good.
The semester has begun! “I Hate Hamlet” moves into the shop this week, production meetings for “Three Excellent Cows” have begun, and we’re in the process of planning the first production meeting for “Radium Girls.” Here are some of the “I Hate Hamlet” drawings in the hallway outside our TD’s office:
Meanwhile, in the shop, I began the process that I hope will end with a globe that has a bar in it.
Yesterday was also our department’s open house, where we try to get the current students and the new students all together in one place for a meet and greet and welcome. Here are some of the bright and shining faces of this year’s departmental student body, as we wait for everyone else to arrive.
I swung by campus today to spend some time in the office on the upcoming production of “Boeing Boeing” at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Here’s a start of thoughts on the drafting table:
The challenge of this show is going to be how to get anything over the stage — certainly we can hang things before scenic load in, but once the set is in place, there’s very little space for a lift to move around, except right down center. It will be interesting.
I also popped my head into the Hicklin to see how the set of “Suds” is going. It looks pretty done (and I’m told that student Alison Lozar did the lion’s share the paint work):
Here’s the finished set for “Arrangement for Murder, No. 2:”
Next week, they’ll be striking that and loading in “Suds!”, which is under construction and being rehearsed in the Barnett.
Allison Lozar is doing pretty much all the paint work this summer. Here she is, walking across the shop.
I think that’s Bruce, over there to the side.
While I went off on a brief vacation, TD Steve Chene and the students have been hard at work getting the Summeround shows built.
First, reminders of the designs:
This is for my murder thriller, “Arrangement for Murder, No.2:”
And this is the musical “Suds:”
Both are in the Hicklin, our black box theatre.
Here’s “Arrangement” nearing completion:
The brick wall things are stand-in paintings.
Here’s Allison, props manager, gluing down pieces of art:
In the shop, TAs Quinn and Bruce work on the walls for “Suds.”
I’m told that Allison spent most of yesterday cutting out bubbles. . .
Last night was the first tech rehearsal for the UW-Whitewater production of “The Furies.” It went pretty well; things were discovered, things were addressed, lists were made. Here are a few photos:
A preliminary preset (lighting design by student Logan Bydalek):
The Furies take the stage:
Athena begins the trial of Orestes:
The Furies object to the results of the trial:
As we head into first tech for “The Furies” tonight, here’s a look back at some of what happened yesterday in shop!
First, Here’s TA Joe putting wheels on Athena. . .
. . . who looked like this at the start of shop:
. . . and this at the end of shop:
I also started laying out the mortar work on the stage floor. The snake-like route is the path Clytemenstra follows.
And a picture of the stage as a whole, with TD Steve Chene working with some students on the cover for the stairway to the underworld.
