Theater: Stage dressing and Construction

Wintersession allowed me to be a part of many sets at the same time, which I got to see being used in action. Seeing pieces that I worked on being used and played with by actors was definitely a gratifying and informative experience.

This is Collected Stories, which took place in a writer's apartment. The Matisse painting on the far right is mentioned often in the play, referring to the writer's eclectic style and fondness for collecting worldly art pieces. My art history helped me greatly in "curating" her apartment. 

Seminar was held in the larger upstairs theater. I constructed the stage and seatings here, and also painted some parts here and there. This one was definitely fun to watch how actors moved in a a minimal space like this set.

Theater: Set Design Studio

In conjunction with my theater internship, I took a class taught by a Brown University theater professor. I found that this class gave me an outlet for more conceptual stage designs, in order to maximize playing area flexibility and focus on building audience-actor relationship. While 2nd Story Theatre had contemporary plays, my class worked on Hamlet and Richard III to explore the universality of Shakespearean themes.

My professor often encouraged sets that were urban-inspired with a modernized time setting. I looked into places I was familiar with and remember being intrigued by the different levels and maze-like quality in a subway station. Descending into the winding corridors underground evoked a stifling environment that I felt was continuously present in Hamlet.

The space is modeled after the Sandra Gamm theatre, another small local venue. 

My foam core model. A restriction for this set was to include 137 seats, which was a challenge. I looked into wide stair levels, grates, and platforms as potential acting areas and seating. I also included a small area I imagined to be a newstand, which would provide some furniture if necessary,

For Richard III, I went in the direction of docks, piers, and boardwalks, which used linear pathways and connecting ramps/stairs. 

This theater space was modeled after Trinity Reperatory's larger black box theater. My first pass before adding in slate rock-like cliff faces.

Some texture included. 

If I were to return to the drawing board, I would start the level planning entirely with rocks. I experimented breaking apart my set, and thought this direction would be just as intriguing.

 

Theater: Stage Design for 4000 Miles

This Wintersession I had the great opportunity to work very closely with 2nd Story Theatre's technical director. The theatre is a local building with black box layouts both upstairs and downstairs, and I thoroughly enjoyed the space.

Wintersession being where it is, I worked on several plays in various stages (no pun intended) of completion. I found the most amount of design freedom and conceptual exploration through the 4000 Miles set, which is a contemporary play that takes place in a grandmother's apartment.

This is my quick Photoshop rendering I made on top of a Sketch Up model I made in order to draft a color scheme and room textures. Wallpaper became an important element to give a worn, outdated apartment look.

A near-planned view of the 4000 Miles set. I spent some time here to figure out what furniture could be used and gives flexible enough playing space.

A reference photo we used for the cramped, yet quaint and home-y atmosphere.

 

I visited the local stores to scout out for potential wallpapers. This one made it to the director's choice.

Theater: Stage

Our second summer production was Godspell, which performed outside on campus. I hadn't known about stagecraft beforehand so assembling staircases and dressing the set was a lot of hard work but great fun!

It's hard to see, but the center stage has two levels, so the band pit is in the center behind the performing area. The catwalk was the connect the stage to the AV equipment off to the far right. The towers are these amazing pieces of sound equipment.

I wasn't needed for additional deck duties in Godspell, but as props master I helped out more in the preliminary set up. You can see a bit of the lighting used in the show above.

Here are also some more set photos from Hello Dolly. Researching and pulling together (a stylized version) period setting was a great experience.

Top: Rich man Vandergelder's feed store. I dressed the shelves behind the counter.

Middle: The trick cake and pheasants in action!

Bottom: A New York hat shop. I helped put together the table set up.

Theater: Foam Cakes

Hello, Dolly called for an elaborate dance number called the Harmonia Gardens waiter's gallop. Waiters would dance around the stage with cake trays, and needed props that were light and sturdy.

Here is half of the small cakes secured to hand trays. These were rough cut foam pieces in cylindrical shapes. I used various sanding methods and knives to give shape to the cake icing on the top and bottom rims.

I didn't get to paint these cakes myself as another crew member was assigned to do so, but I think the colors are pretty fun.

One of the more complex cakes was what we called the 5-tier trick cake. A clumsy waiter would fumble around with this cake as it wobbled precariously on its tray during the dance number. My instructor found a way to stack rings of polystyrene foam on a fishing rod to get the right wobbling effect and I was assigned the construction of the cake

Here the rings, cut with a bandsaw, have already been glued together and are drying out in the sun with its frosting (made from caulking). The icing swirls are made from squeezing caulking out of a snipped bag- basically treating it like icing anyway. 

Sadly again, I didn't get to paint this one either. Before painting, I sanded any accidental sharp points created from the caulking and brushed all the rings with a layer of glue to keep the caulking from chipping. This is the cake at rest on its home prop table. Below is a clip showing how all the assembled layers wobbled (with my commentary).

 

Theater: Foam Birds

Hello, Dolly has an amazing scene (choreography and dialogue wise) that takes place in a fancy restaurant called Harmonia Gardens. The choreographer wanted a small moment where a waiter skewers a cooked pheasant from a tray, which meant the prop needed to be light and reusable. We placed a funnel inside a foam piece to work around those guidelines.

Just starting the roughing process.

Once the bird got to the fine sanding stage. I joked that the base made it look like a family crest meant to hang on the wall.

The scene later called for a second stationary cooked bird and a separated leg. Here they are with a base coat of primer ready to be fiberglassed for extra protection.

This is the second bird dressed on a dinner plate. Painted it to get a roasted texture.

We ended up scrapping the leg before it could get painted, but the tech crew kept it as a potential prop for future shows. Here I am holding it for scale.

This was my first experience working with fiberglass, and honestly the process worked much more intuitively than I originally expected. I had a lot of fun sculpting and sanding these birds out. It was a great first step getting a feel for these materials, as I'll definitely be using them for future prototyping in Industrial Design.

Theater: Duvatine Silhouette

Here's a simple silhouette I made out of black duvatine. In Hello, Dolly! the titular character mentions her interest in creating silhouettes of celebrities like Ada Rehan and pulls out an example to wow the stage. 

The silhouette is backed with muslin using fabric glue. For easy access, the ends wrap around two dowels so that the piece is stored conveniently rolled up in the main character's purse, ready to be displayed.

  

Preliminary sketching with white china marker. Below is the photo of Ada Rehan I referenced. 

Theater: Woodworking

Saddleback College customizes many of the stage pieces in Hello, Dolly! in their woodshop back stage. Below are three prop wooden crates used in the show. 

I pulled the bottom pre-painted crate from the prop cage as a reference- we wanted a simple, worn style as part of a feed store set. I then constructed the upper two crates to carry a certain number of soup cans and candles, which the script required. The crates were a matter of measuring the boxed items and using the table saw with a staple gun to do the rest.

I used the same techniques to construct flies that would support the background. Here I learned how describe dimension of wood and follow blueprints from my instructor to cut the correct measurement with the chopsaw.

A fuller view of the backstage shop. In the right there are green pieces I used the router on.

Theater: Graphics

I volunteered to create some graphic designs for the main character's business cards as well as the menu for the fancy dinner scene in Hello, Dolly! The graphics needed to be seen from the audience, so I focused mainly on bolded text. I researched products at the turn of the 19th century online and through books in order fits the play's period.

The menus were placed on black masonite as the waiters handled them while dancing.

My instructors decided to use both designs for the business cards and printed them on aged-color cardstock.