Bus Stop and One Year Complete

The second production of the summer of 1983 was Bus Stop and I got to design both the sets and lighting for the play.

It was going to be first my first real full designs at Brockport and I wanted them to come off well.

Bus Stop Set Rendering, 1983

We only had 6 days between the end of Show Boat and the opening of Bus Stop so we had to work fast.

The construction started right after Show Boat opened, as we worked in the shop by day and ran the musical at night.

It made for long days but everyone seemed to enjoy it and took pride in getting it all done and often we would stop at Barbers or The Rox for a beer before heading home.

 

Although it was hard work it was not as long and crazy as the summer I spent at Gateway Playhouse when we did four big shows plus several children’s production, but it was still a lot to get done in a short time with our small crew.

We used a lot of stock canvas flats and a few custom-built triangular ones for the ceiling and side return flats.

I was very happy with the results and the play went well.

The play takes place during a snow storm and we had a little effects projector that looked OK but I think it died soon after the play opened and we had no snow effect for most of the performances.

At that time the Department would to hold the second show over and perform it one weekend right at the start of school in September.

This is why I had worked on Sherlock Holmes the first day I got to Brockport almost a year before.

I had a new place to live, one of my colleagues sublet me his house while he was away on sabbatical, and I let two of the cast members stay with me the week of the hold over performances.

Because they had just graduated and moved to Boston but came back for the shows I thought the least I could do is save them some money and have them stay in my extra room.

The first year went well but was not without incident.

I already mentioned that Ralph dislocated his shoulder during Show Boat but he also cut his elbow open at strike.

He got back from the hospital in time to take another student who had stepped on a nail to the ER.

While putting up some final decoration for the play a student came in during the afternoon and he was warned that some of the stage battens were down and we were working with them.

Well he just kept walking bent down and ducked under the first pipe but came up hitting the second one and knocked himself out cold.

He came to quickly, and although a bit Woozy, he performed that night.

Back in February there was a major incident on The Tangled Yarn just a day or two before it opened when one of the actors, who was also a bit off, went completely nuts and caused some problems and was thrown out of the show.

Of course he was pissed, made lots of noise, smashed a few things on the way out and disappeared.

He was arrested few days later when he attached a girl on campus and we never saw him again.

The actor who took over, Ralph, did a much better job even with a script in hand. 

As I went back and read through the programs from my first year at Brockport I found that about sixteen former students and six other people I met that first year are current Facebook friends with me.

Like most summers I have had  a few visits from former students and I always enjoy when they come by, regardless of whichever “generation” they are from, the 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s and even ones who just graduated in May.

I like to hear their stories and hope that time at Brockport had helped them along their life’s journey in some way.

I did not know back then how much the experiences and people from that first year had built a foundation from which my life would grow.

With the first year of school and productions and with a few weeks off but I was eager to start my second year and see what adventures were still ahead.

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