UW Whitewater Theatre/Dance Department

More progress on “Three Excellent Cows!”

I finished the barn floor tiles today:

While much priming occurred elsewhere. Here’s Intro student Julia working on the rail fence:

And then joining Austin to prime the picket fence :

Here’s Intro student Alex cutting boards for the crate in which the frozen yogurt machine is delivered (I’ve forgotten the name of the student working with him. Darn all these new names and faces to remember every year!):

In the Barnett, student lighting designer Quinn focuses his area light:

Tech director Steve Chene works on the the vegetable stand, which is covered with parts of “I Hate Hamlet:”

While TA Bruce completes the election speech lectern for Mrs. Crumpley:

“I Hate Hamlet” is up and running, and “Three Excellent Cows” has been in rehearsal for a little while. Since the scenery is rather slight (it’s our touring children’s show and must fit into a van), it’s more important to get rolling on the plethora of props I wrote into the show. Darn that playwright.

Here’s the hat El Superdog Grande makes for Daisy to wear when she runs for president:

And the start of one of the wings for Rupert’s attempt at space flight:

In the costume shop spray booth, Intro to Theatre students Alex and Anthony glue newspaper onto Felix’s yogurt stand hat, complete with giant spoon.

Costumes for the show are being designed by student Stephanie Ruch, and work on those continues in the costume shop. Here’s Emily (who is also stage manager for the show) and an Intro student working on a piece:

Bergen cuts out a pattern for Felix’s vest:

And Bridget works on what looks like Miss Bigglesby’s dress:

It was down to the wire, but “I Hate Hamlet” opened last night. The muslin for the sky arrived yesterday morning, the final trim went up in the afternoon, but it’s done. I think all of us agree that we were prefer not to cut it so close ever again.

Here is a photo from fight call (featuring Dennis and Nick) before the final dress, with the set arranged for act one:

Here is the stage set up for the second act:

During yesterday’s work call, one of the tasks was paint touch-up. Here’s ASM and TA Lilliana seeking out unpainted ends and bits:

I finally finished the globe that is also a bar:

And then headed to the office to draft a plate for “Three Excellent Cows,” which will start getting built this afternoon.

As well as work through some ideas for “Radium Girls,” since we have another production meeting this afternoon.

We headed into tech this week, and here’s a photo from last night’s first dress rehearsal. As you can see, there’s still a lot to be done on the set, but at least it’s mostly detail. This is what happens when you lose a lot of experienced TAs to graduation, the TD is also the lighting designer and you, him, and the director all forget a cardinal rule: Don’t do a realistic interior for the first show of the season. This is because the first show has two weeks less build time than the shows later in the semester. Still, everything the actors need is on stage, and when we finish up Tuesday afternoon, I will be fairly happy with it.

During rehearsal I wandered in and out the shop, painting doors so they could get installed before the next rehearsal. This is the door to Barrymore’s rooftop hideaway:

Classes, of course, continue, and in Intro to Design (team taught with costume shop supervisor Tracey Lyons, who is inc charge of the costume third of the course), we had presentations on designers this week:

And in-class work sessions so students can get feedback on their upcoming final costume design project:

And next week, we move right onto getting “Three Excellent Cows” built. I’ve also got to start getting “Radium Girls” going, and we will also have our first production meeting for “Sweeney Todd.”

Good heavens, that’s a lot.

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.

As we move into the first week of classes, I am finalizing designs for “I Hate Hamlet,” our first production of the year. This is a Sketchup rendering of the set. It’s sort of an Act One image, with the boxes and modern furniture, but trying to get the computer program to do drop cloths and sheets covering objects is more trouble than I’m prepared to attempt at this point. Just imagine a lot of white sheets covering things.