The
musical Working , based on Studs Turkel’s book of the same name, was in
the final five for selection for next year’s season of plays here at the
College at Brockport but it lost out to another show.
Actually
three of the final five were musicals we were considering were ones that we had
done before but we chose to go with a new show that is still running in NYC.
We
have not officially released the show titles for next year so I will have to
wait to tell you.
Hint:
Puppets
We
did Working
in December of 1986 and I thought it was very well done.
By
the time I sit through the technical and dress rehearsals for most plays I have
seen them more than enough, but there are a few shows I like to see every
performance if I can.
Our
production of Working was one that I watched it several times from the
theatre and also the control booth.
The
show had a cast of 15 and I think I am still in contact with about half of them as
well as some of the crew through Facebook.
 |
| Working, 1986 |
The
set was simple, an eight foot high scaffold type platform with staircases up
each end.
The
2x4 wood legs were covered with carpet tubes and painted to look like metal pipes.
One
of the tubes was used as a smoke stack on the upstage side of the platform.
We
had our fog machine attached to it and puffed out smoke several times during
the play and because it leaked there was always just a little smoke drifting
out of the pipe.
Instead
of standard acting cubes we used wire milk crates, “borrowed from the local Wegmans”, for the actors to sit on.
I
made Lazy Susan pieces that fit on the top of some of the crates and three
actresses used them to spin back and forth during their section of the play.
Back
in 1986 we did not have motion lights so I used a color wheel without any color but
with added tape crisscrossing the openings for a special effect.
I
used this effect to suggest truck headlights in the Brother Trucker number.
I
would use the same effect 15 years later for the play Guppies part of the Festival
of Ten, II.
For
that play I used the effect to simulate air bubbles in water.
Today
I would use one of our motion lights or gobo spinners to do the effect.
The
next play up that season was Master Harold and the Boys in February
of 1987.
More
on that play coming up next.
***
No comments:
Post a Comment