Dracula, 1992 (Updated 10/19/17)

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Dracula was one of the biggest productions I have worked on while at Brockport.
It had a big set, many special effects and challenging lighting requirements.
The set was built with all hard covered or Hollywood flats.
The walls were mostly all custom size and built just for this show.
Incorporated into the set was a ledge for Renfield to climb up on, a section of stone wall that could be pushed back to reveal a passageway and a cave.

The cave was fun and not used until the end of the play.
As the heroes chase offstage after Dracula the main curtain came in and they find a trap door which they open and fog flows up.
The cave was built on the orchestra lift that had a steel framed platform covering it.
As the heroes are running out to the trap door the audience is surprised to see that the lift was rising up to reveal the cave.
The walls and posts holding up the platform were covered with spray foam to give the look of stalactites and stalagmites.
The designer and student helper got sick from the fumes given off by this early version of spray foam.
The result was great.

We had many special effects which included flaying bats.

A team came in from the former Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo to rig the flying bats.

They work mostly well but I always thought that they looked a bit more like black Jell-O then bats.

Blood.

It is hard to do Dracula without blood.

Two of my advanced students worked on multiple recipes for blood; including one that looked good under the lights, was washable out of costumes and even an edible version.

The Special Effects Blood Team, Rich and Ray, even made a large stake that shot out blood as it was driven into Dracula killing him at the end.

To my disappointment the costume designer insisted on having Dracula in a purple shirt instead of a white shirt which would have shown off the blood.

I wish I had just offered to buy six shirts, one for each performance, because the big killing moment just was not seen as well as it should have.

The play had many other special features and firsts for us like a score of original music, the use of a computer and video camera onstage, fog and more.

The play was a lot of work but lots of fun and sold well.

Updated 10/19/17

Brighton Beach Memoirs, 1992

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Brighton Beach Memoirs was third play in our incredible 1991-92 season.

Each play was bigger and better than the last.

The design and production staff worked well together and we were lucky to have a great group of students in the technical area.

I looked back at the tech students we had then and many went on to work professionally in theatre.

The set was big and real.

We basically built a two story house onstage with a few modifications.

The walls were built with 2 x 4 and covered with lauan ply instead of sheetrock.

They became stud-wall legs.

The second floor was framed with 2 x 6 and was the largest “stress-skin” platform that I have ever used.

The base unit was 8’-0” x 16’-0” with supports only on three sides.

Other platforms were added over the kitchen and by the stairwell.

The 16’-0” downstage edge was open and unsupported.

Prior to the 1991-92 season we were still using traditional flats for most shows but after the season we rarely would use them again.

Traditional 1 x 3 canvas covered flats have become a thing of the past and building them has become a lost art.

We still have a few in canvas flats in stock and use them on occasion.

Thinking back over the last twenty-five or so years there are times I should have used traditional flats when  I needlessly used heavy hard-covered walls.

If you look at the one photo of the set under construction you can see the cables that we attached to the platform frame.

Simulating a crane, we used four cables on four different line sets to lift up the large and heavy platform into the air and then the walls were put in place underneath.

After the walls and platform were attached some wiring was done for ceiling lights and the ¾” plywood was added to the top of the frames and then the rest of the set added on.

Looking back at the photos I can see that the set was mostly new construction with the exception of the stair landing platform.

It was a an exciting time building such a big set with new techniques but having confidence the other production team members that we could do it.

The set for the final show of the season, Dracula, would push our collective skills even further.

updated 12/04/17

A Christmas Carol, 1991

In 1991 we did a production of A Christmas Carol which turned out to be the first of three productions the show over the next five years.

It was a big production with 40 members in the cast and both a choir and chorus of 25 each listed in the program.

To be honest I do not remember what the choir and chorus did, I think we had some singers backstage, but not 50 people.

The cast had many college students plus a mixture of faculty, staff, alumni and young children.

There was also several musicians who walked about the stage playing during the show.

The set was a bit abstract with several levels of platforms and panels from Stamping, Shouting & Singing Home modified and reused.

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To the translucent panels 1 inch strips of 1/4 " ply were added every few inches.

There was some special effects for this show but not as many that would be used two years later in the next production of A Christmas Carol.

There was at least one funny moment during tech when some of the effects did not work and it left Dick St. George, who was playing Scrooge, just standing there looking silly.

From the tech table we all laughed and yelled out "Just look scared Dick and it will be all right".

We did the 6 regular performances plus 3 school matinees of the show and made a ton of money, so much that we decided to do it again two years later.

I do not remember anything else special about this production but the one in 1993 would offer many more challenges and stories I will share as I move forward in my Blog.

If any of my readers worked on this or any other productions described in this Blog have any special memories or stories please share them in the comment box.

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