Technical Theater

Lots got done this day. I didn't leave until 10 pm. Two students USC bolts to hold the boards that will be the cafeteria walls. They completed both locker wagons. hile they  A bit of humor after I accidentally created a big hole in one of the panels.

While I know that all can be done, there is always a part of me that wonders if I designed something I can't deliver. The closet with the secret door to the lab was one of those. Not sure why. I think it may have been that it was so important to the performance. The other design that worried me is the window. That will be a challenge for sure. First the hole for the door had to be cut out. Then the frame had to be built and then braced in so it can support the closet door. After bracing the frame, I paneled it. I had some French doors that fit perfectly which meant I didn't have to buy plywood.  I added a shelf to the design. Not sure why there were so many bi-folding doors in our stock, but they came in to good use. I took apart a set and used them as separate doors. We might cut a set and use them as shutters.                                      Below is the lab table w...

This semester we have a bit more funds, but not enough for us to purchase the rights to a script, and I don't want to do Shakespeare  AGAIN .   With the help of both my daughters, I wrote the script for this semester's production.  It's titled  THE CURIOUS CASE OF JACQUELINE HYDE . It's based on the book by Robert L. Stevenson published back in 1886,  The Curious Case of Jekyll and Hyde.   In my story, it's about a young chemistry prodigy who creates a potion that will make her desirable to others.  It's the story about how the potion's effect affects her life.  Our custodian did some dealing with his neighbor.  The lockers were "lent" to us on the promise that we'd  return them in better shape than when we got them. When we agreed he loaded them onto his truck and brought them to us. And here we thought that the lockers would be the hardest to acquire. We were wrong. Students are sanding them down and getting them ready for a primer ...

When you first start up a program, and I have started many from the ground and some from nothing at all, there is much you do on your own for many reasons.  You spend lots of hours building, painting, planning, purchasing, raising funds and the list continues exhaustingly. The first show is exhausting because there is usually very few that can do what you do, and logically there are few since you haven't taught anyone to do what you do.   Then there is the lack of funds along with a lack of supplies and tools.  There is also the inability of others to share in your vision because they've never seen what you can do, what it can be when you know what you are doing.  However, by the second production, there is buy in.  The funds start coming in, students are more knowledgable, you usually have some supplies, and some tools.  By the time of the third show,  you have the need to upstage your last production.  It is easy to wow your first time audien...