2025 – Page 2

Annie Jr. Set Design and Build

VTT produced the musical Annie Jr. at the beginning of April. I was contracted to design and build the set. (Credits: Dir. K. Smith, Lights V. Bell, Costumes L. Meyers)

Our starting point was a 19-foot long set of arches that the director secured and stored at the school. This was to be the mansion and the only question was where would it go, and how would it look? I ended up making it a second level, intending to put the orchestra below, but eventually we just used the lower level for stair storage.

The NRT has limited wing space and no fly tower, so most things had to stay on the stage or be hidden just off-stage. I made 4 lightweight flats that were 5×8 feet to construct an orphanage and brick walls. They were made of foamcore, with wooden frames and legs.

That was the basic set – arches, stairs, and walls. There were many other set pieces needed for the various scene changes: starting with the beds. I was quite proud of these – I made 8 – all very lightweight and stackable. The challenge was how to keep them from sliding around when the kids were jumping from one to another; some rubber furniture feet helped.

Other fun projects/items were the laundry cart, lamppost, garbage can, fire hydrant, filing cabinet, Warbucks desk (which had to get cut lower eventually), and oval office flag.

A big challenge for me was fabric – I wanted to hide the mansion at the beginning of the show, but since it was 14 feet high, the 8-foot flats wouldn’t quite do the trick. So I made a curtain rod at the top of the mansion and hung a curtain from that, with a cityscape sewn on. It didn’t quite work for the director, but they came up with a good solution thanks to our amazing costume designer’s help, and we were able to keep the curtain. I also made some large black city skyline frames on the sides, which looked fine, but were not as shiny and shimmery under stage lights as the expensive fabric I stretched on them promised. Live and learn!

Here are a few more photos of the build/tech process:

Annie Scenes! Photos by A. Potts:

Photos by K. Balin:

All photos are copyrighted by their respective authors. Do not use or alter without permission.

Overall, it was a wonderful play. At the end, I was tired. And then I had to take away (most of) the set, and return the rentals, etc… it was time for a break.

Footloose Set Build

Footloose the musical is playing at Gallery 7 Theatre for the next couple of weeks. It’s a big show with a lot of colour, sound, hundreds(!) of costumes, and sweet moves. The set was built in a barely-heated shop in February during the two coldest weeks of the year, and then the big load-in happened last week, after the set designer finished painting.

Set Design is by Hayley Bamford; director is Kate Muchmore Woo.

The main set piece is a large stationary railway bridge mid-upstage with the orchestra visible behind it. A large number of wheeled pieces come on and off to set up the large number of scenes. Building focused on tables, platforms, a house, and so on…

The 32-foot bridge is very solid. Some of the bracing/support is hidden. The forced perspective shot posted elsewhere in a set build group got me in a bit of trouble, with a concerned designer even calling in unsolicited from another country…because it looks like a 4×4 unsupported span, but that is not the case. (I just think it’s a cool shot.)

Hayley designed and executed a beautiful set, and I was proud to help make it happen. Everybody cut… footloose!

The following Gallery 7 production photos were taken by Dianna Lewis:

Custom cabinets for canvasses with 24 drawers

Stan and Tilly hired me to make a couple of custom cabinets. They were quite specific in that each drawer needed to hold eight 8×10 paintings. We settled on 2 identical cabinets and eventually I got to work:

Each cabinet has 10 2″ drawers and 2 larger drawers.

They then had me take the cabinets to a paint shop, which did a wonderful job with a smooth tough finish, much better than I can do! After which I brought them to the home, put the 48 handles on and installed all the drawers. They turned out very nice!

Custom Mesh Box

Sharon requested a box to hide some plugs and wires.

I made a 3 sided box out of MDF and painted it, and stapled some mesh in there.

Irena’s Vow Set Build (and acting!)

Irena’s Vow is now playing at Gallery 7 until February 1, 2025. The set was designed by Sheldon Jeans, and the play is directed by Stephen Wilhite. I built the set over a few days during the Christmas break, and Sheldon started painting/set dec.-ing soon after.

Personally, I have a strong connection to this show, as I am also a late-addition actor, playing the role of Lazar Hallar. It has been a privilege to be welcomed into the cast, and to play the part of a Jew hiding in the cellar of a German officer during World War 2. The show is quite an intense and emotional ride for all of the actors, and naturally there is a special bonding there.

Here are a few photos of the set build. I hope to add some production photos as well at a later date.