I was asked to design and build the set for Seussical, produced by VTT at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre for their Spring Musical. It was an interesting challenge. I started designing around Christmasstime when I had some free head space. I came up with something like this:
And then when the time came to build, I made some set pieces on casters, and a stump:
Then some 2D trees; and painted the rented vinyl floor with the director’s vision:
Next I worked on the staging and some larger static set pieces:
I spent some time fire-retarding some things that would be hung close to the hot lights: paper mache stairs, and clouds. I self-tested samples of both the plywood and the paper mache to see how they would handle flame. They both seemed to survive 10 seconds of a blowtorch 2 inches away, and the samples that were treated did burn slower. (the one on the left) Both pieces self-extinguished, which was reassuring…
Then it was time for load-in! Parent and venue helpers were great!
There were a few fixes and changes after that but mostly things worked well.
The lighting design by Victoria Bell was incredible. In fact it added so much colour that the director decided to repaint some of the coloured set pieces to the off-white of the stage, as it was a bit too much to take in at times (especially with the colourful costumes too!) It was a good decision and balanced things out. Basic painting was done by myself, but most detail and colour was by the director and parent volunteers.
It was a wonderful show; superbly directed by Keri Smith and with great tech, stage management, acting, choreo, singing, band, costumes, etc, etc. It was my first exposure to Seussical; I do enjoy the silliness, as well as the way some important themes rise up.
photos by Galit Mishaal; Directed by Keri Smith; Costumes by Laura Meyers; Lighting by Victoria Bell; Choreo by Nicole Stevens; Set Design by Andrew Potts
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