Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

 The last play of my second year at Brockport was Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Like the previous play the set was large and had many challenges to add extra fun.

To start with the hydraulic stage lift in the front of the stage broke.

Because of a hydraulic fluid leak or other mechanical malfunction the lift was stuck just above house level and I was force to build platforms that would come up to the stage level before I could then start building the real set for the show.

Most of the set was taken up with the bedroom of the house with a little side room visible on Stage Left and wrap around veranda that came all the across the back of the set and down on Stage Right.

The main platform of course had to be raked (slanted) was about 16’-0” x 30’-0”.

Being young, foolish and over eager I over-designed the sub-structure and built an entire open wooden frame with the required angled legs first and then we put the stock platforms in place and attached them.

After the play was over I thought it would be good to save time and materials in the future and had the 4’-0” x 16’-0” frames covered with plywood and added them to our stock.

They would be used many times over the coming years and student would often bitch about moving them especially when they had to carry them up the stairwell when the stage lift was not available.

They got used many times and most are now gone after being altered many times to fit a current show’s needs but I think I may still have one at the bottom of our platform pile in the basement.

As much work as the platform was, the walls took even more time and effort to get done.

At this time, 1984, we were still using traditional 1x3 canvas covered flats and the scene designer had me remove all of the fabric from the frames.

The walls, 20’-0” high, were then covered with numerous 1’ slats of ¼” plywood that had been ripped down.

Again this was at a time before we used lauan plywood which would have been a lot lighter and easier to use.

I also had to make about eight to ten tall columns with 1x2 pine board strips to mirror the slats on the walls of the set.

Some of the columns were still in the basement until a few years ago when they were stripped down and the wood recycled into a new show.

Windows and doors were also made just for this set.

I also used some stock doors on the set that the scene designer had me cut slots into the door panels and I was a bit shocked when he took a hammer and smashed out some the pieces.

We also hung two ceiling fans over the main room with longer blades that we made so that would better fit the scale of the set.

But wait there’s more!

Behind the Cyc there was a lighted moon box that would be raised up a little bit at a time as the play progressed.

The moon box was attached to our then new Genie lift, a hand cranked Genie.

When it first came everyone thought it was great and it made things easier, well at first that is.

To rise up you would have to just use you two hands and crank yourself up.

Easy, no problem; well the first time at least.

Each time you needed to move first you had to crank down, be moved, then crank back up and then repeat and repeat.

After a few times you arms would numb and you could not use it anymore.

After a month or so the gear works got gunked up and it was even harder to use.

When it was replaced some time later with an electrical model it was a welcome addition.

To dress the set the scene designer went out along the Erie Canal and cut some bushes and brought them back and dressed the columns on the veranda of the set.

This was nothing new for him to do but what it unique for this production it that over the course of the production the plants continued to grow and both leaves and flowers bloomed but most had dies by the time of the last performance.

Just before the show opened the scene designer glued pieces of tissue paper behind the slats on the set that caught the light as it came through.

He told me that it was his gift to the lighting designer who of course did not like it but I think it made the set look great.

Most people who knew the scene designer at that time might tell you he was a bit wacky, odd or whatever, but this was one of his better sets that I worked on.

So if that wasn’t enough there is yet even more ! ! !

In the space upstage of the set and in front of the Cyc some special effects were used.

The lighting designer hung down from a pipe several electrical wires that had little homemade firework bundles attached that were fired off during the play.

They were made with model rocket launcher squibs, flash paper and a small amount of real firework “fixings”.

They looked great, but of course were a fire hazard and I had to seal in the back of the platforms after seeing sparks come under the set at the first set.

Somehow we did not burn down the theatre and everyone survived the play.

The production was well received and of course it looked great too.

It was a ton of work, crazy most of the time but lots of fun.

Note that the cast parties were numerous and fun.

Soon after the play was over the lighting designer got a letter telling him that he did not get tenure.

Needles to say he was crushed and the next year would be hard for him as it would be his last.

I did not know it at the time but things would soon change for me in ways I did not plan or see coming.

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The Threepenny Opera

The spring of 1984 brought two large productions.

The first was The Threepenny Opera by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill.

The actors enjoyed being in show, especially those paying the thieves and whores as it gave everyone a chance to let go and have fun.

I had worked on it just three years before at Theatre Three on Long Island and although it was a nice production the Brockport production was on a much larger stage and had a more complex set.

The Threepenny Opera, 1984

It was the first show that I worked on at Brockport to use the lighting bridge as part of the set.

The lighting bridge is a moving catwalk that spans forty feet across the stage just upstage of the proscenium and holds the first and second electrics.

I needed to build tall staircases up to the bridge from each side of the stage so that the actors could go up and cross over it as needed.

It would be used twenty years later as part of the set for the summer musical Cabaret.

The set had lots of moving parts; set units that rolled on, flew in or were carried on.

I was excited on opening night as a friend from college came out from Buffalo to see the show.

The Threepenny Opera, 1984

Everything was ready and set to go so I felt comfortable that I could go out to dinner before the show and sit with my friend in the audience.

Big Mistake.

Unbeknownst to me, at sometime in the afternoon the set designer (Richard) decided to dress the set and added many items from the prop room on to the wood beams that were flown in as part of Peachum’s shop.

Richard had poorly wired tons of junk on to the set and during the black out for the scene change I heard a big bang as the beams smashed into the floor and then several crashes as pieces fell of the set.

He did not tell anyone that he added the items nor did he re-weight the pipe that the beams were on.

I jumped out of my seat and ran backstage to see what had happened.

This is one of the big reasons that I do not like to sit in the house during performances.

We were lucky as no one was hurt as anything broken but it could have been worse.

I know that I cannot be everyplace that there might be a problem, but locked in a seat makes me feel trapped and it makes hard to run backstage or to the lighting booth to fix whatever problem that might arise.

Although made up mostly students, there were several college staff and community members who helped fill out the cast.

The role of Jenny (a prostitute) was played by the faculty costume designer and I seem to remember that some of the scenes with the student actors were a bit awkward.

As I think back to this show I recall that it had small double swing café doors similar to ones I need to hang ones on my current production’s set tomorrow.

After forty years in Theatre I find that things do repeat more and more often, but there are still many challenging and interesting problems that come up with each new production and that is what keeps me going.

 

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The Next Play

When I started my Blog I thought I would write at least once a week, and then I fell back to twice a month at best.

I still have plenty of stories to share and will have more time to get back into my Blog after the next play opens on December 2^nd.

The current play: Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters.

http://www.brockport.edu/newsbureau/1675.html

A few construction photos of "The Current Play":

The Sevant of Two Masters

For those who work in Theatre it is always the current play, meetings, construction and lighting focus calls, rehearsals and performances that takes our full attention.

We always think that we will have more time once the current play opens.

I do have at least six weeks off and plan to play more with my new scanner to add many more photos before I have to get to work on "The Next Play".

 

Oh, the next play: Coyote on a Fence by Bruce Graham in February.

New Scanner

Just a short update today.
I bought a new slide scanner and I am able to scan old slides that I have not seen in a long time and I will add them to my into my older blog posts.
I will let my readers know after I have added them.

I do not have a lot to say today so I thought I would add some Technical Theatre related covers that I like and find interesting and they are over 100 years old.

After reading the stats for my Blog I still find it amazing on the number of international readers that I have and I hope that you still find what I have to say interesting.

The lastest play that I worked on had just closed; dark play or stories for boys.

Follw the link to see picyures of the production:

http://www.brockport.edu/theatre/DarkPlay.html

Next up for me A Servant of Two Masters that will open in December.

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Androcles and the Lion

Our second production in the fall of 1983 was Androcles and the Lion directed our new faculty member Richard St. George.

A Children’s Theatre play would not have been his first choice but he had been assigned it and did a nice job.

I do not remember why but the set was designed by our Costume Designer Susan Tucker.

To add to the fun the play was to tour to local schools in addition to several performances at the college.

The design was fairly simple why a raked platform that had poles on each side with a cable running across so that curtains with different painted scenes could be used.

Actors would hide behind the backdrops and jump out from time to time during the play.

There were also several trap doors in the platform that were used to hide props and a few foam cutout scenery/props were used.

The platform is still in our basement storage area and it was used for at least one other play.

I kept it because of the method used to build it was a variation of the old parallel platform frames and it is very different from the standard 2x4 platforms that we use most of the time.

Adam Lazzare was teaching a large section on Introduction to Theatre with close to 200 students and being the nice guy I am, I offered to help grade some of the critiques.

Okay, so Adam was still the Dean back then and I thought it would be good for me to be helpful.

Anyway one of us, and I do not remember who, found a critique that was not like the others.

Yes from time-to-time we would find people who copied each other’s work but this one was unique.

The student had copied a 1946 New York Times review of the play for his critique.

His defense when confronted was: “You told us to do some research”

I do not remember what happened to the student but I am sure he was not expelled for cheating.

Adam was a very popular teacher here at Brockport when I came in 1982.

Often on the first day of class he would walk into the large lecture hall in sun glasses and a trench coat, fire off a blank gun and run off.

He said that he wanted to expose the student to a “Theatrical Moment”.

Not something that would go over well today.

He was the Dean for a few years and then stepped down and was our department chair for a few more years and retired in 1991.

I invited me to his house for Thanksgiving one year after hearing me talking with his secretary that I did not have any plans and was not going back home to Long Island.

Being young and not knowing any better I brought some cheap wine as a gift.

He was not insulted but chose to open a 100 year old bottle of Madeira he was saving for a special occasion after dinner instead of the Gallo swill that I had brought.

The tree planted in his horror after his last production at Brockport still stands in front of the Tower Fine Arts Center and is now taller than the building.

The Diary of Anne Frank

The summer plays, working on the fireworks and having fun with my friends was a nice cap to the end of my first full year in Brockport.

My younger brother Mark, then 20, drove up to visit during the summer and I gave him the grand tour and we had a few beers with my friends and some fun along the way.

I was eager to begin my second year at Brockport.

My first year was exciting and I felt I had learned a lot and had a new confidence in myself and my skills.

I was no longer the new guy; I had a good working relationship with the older students and had a good crop of freshmen and transfer students to work with.

Our first play in the fall of 1983 was The Diary of Anne Frank.

It was a large set with three levels that started 11 feet below the stage with stairs and platforms coming up from the orchestra pit to the stage level.

There were two side rooms that were raised platforms and an attic level above the kitchen area upstage.

Above the set was a large roof section resting on a long ridge beam hanging from cable from the grid.

It was a large and complex set but somehow we got it done with the time we had.

When we set our production season today I try for us to avoid large productions in the first slot in the fall because of the short period of time we have to get it ready.

I had 19 students in my Stagecraft class plus at least 5 or 6 work study students working together to get the set done.

The play had a good cast and the production was well received.

I remember that the strike lasted late into the night and it was one of the last where we had beer onstage when it was over.

I recently posted some of the photos seen here on my Facebook page and got many positive responses from the students who had worked on the show.

One of the actors reminded me of the cat we used in the play and how it infested the set and actors with fleas.

I remember waiting at someone’s house for a the cast to come for a party when the photo call was completed after of the performances and they were all late and pissed because it took longer than the play itself.

The director wanted pictures of ever moment and I remember seeing photos of scenes that I never saw during the play as she most have reposed things just for the photo call.

It was a good start to my second year and the next play was all together different, but fun, always fun.

My 1st Year at Brockport Done

In addition to four department plays and two summer arts productions I had plenty of other events to keep me busy my first year at Brockport.

Harlequins, the student Theatre group, produced two plays and there were at least six senior project productions that year.

My first year at Brockport was also the last year of the Music Department and I helped on a number of their large concerts and several senior recitals.

My level of involvement varied on these events but I often choose to do more than I was required to.

I was happy to design the lighting for one senior project because it had been over a year since my last design and helped build the set for another play.

Over time I learned to let student do more for themselves, but have always tried to be there help when needed and to prevent problems when possible.

There would be plenty of changes over the years.

Of course the student population is always changing with students coming and going; some stay just a semester and others never seem to leave.

There would also be many changes in the staff over the past 30 years.

One of the Theatre professors left at the end of my first year to become a Dean at another college and we hired Dick St. George to take his place for the next year.

As I started my second year at Brockport it was nice that I was no longer the new guy.

I was eager to take what I had learned during my first year, make some changes and hopefully do a better job the next year.

The productions during my second year were bigger and offered many more challenges than those of my first year.

The plays for the 1983-84 season were: Androcles and The Lion, The Diary of Anne Frank, Threepenny Opera and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  

Stories to follow.

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