Stacey and Joe asked me to look at a built-in bookshelf they had that wasn’t working for them – just showing too much clutter. I suggested covering it with doors and drawers. We went ahead; they asked to match their kitchen style cabinets but in black… it was a challenge but it turned out well.
Luckily the bookshelf was square; however the wall and ceiling weren’t quite level so I had to consider that in sizing the doors.
Here are a few pictures of the process. I made my own doors out of MDF and painted them. It was a bit more of a process than I expected but turned out well.
This is an interesting play about a neurodivergent protagonist as he tries to solve the murder of his neighbour’s dog, and encounters some other mysteries as well.
The build happened over a week and a half, with some help from three volunteers. It was a very simple set although I still had to plan how to build it so it could travel. Note to self: measure the inside doors of the auditorium next time you assume they are the same size as the outside doors…
The set designer spent some serious time painting the set and backdrops. It looks fantastic!
Platforms, boxes, and stairs:
Joined platforms, stairs, and railings:
Canvases: I made 5 frames – 2 large ones, and 3 huge ones! Then looked at a couple of youtube videos to learn how to stretch canvas on them. It seemed to work out! Hayley took care of priming and painting them, luckily for me! The biggest ones are 9 feet x 9 feet.
Byron hired me to replace some rotten beams on the south side of his house. The top ones were the worst; the others had a few soft spots but were pretty solid so I patched them a little bit and left them. I did have to replace the main horizontal beam and the 3 pieces above it.
I bought 6×6 douglas fir posts and cut them to size. To make the curves I cut them down to 4×6 and then glued a 4×4 post to them, then cut them out with the bandsaw. I sealed everything with Kilz 3 exterior primer. It will be painted properly later.
A customer installed a brand new hot tub two summers ago and had used it only once, due in part to difficulty getting in and out.
She had the steps that came with the tub, but no handrails. I asked if I should build something sturdier, and she replied, “post-haste.”
Here is the result:
I used pressure-treated hem/fir lumber and then coated that with 3 coats of spar varnish. Normally I wouldn’t use varnish over fresh PT, but this customer had some success in the past on other small pieces, so we’ll see how this one does. (It’s a preference for look over functionality)
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.
Closing night
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
I recently finished the build for Gallery 7’s production of Sound of Music. It was two full weeks plus a bit; we had quite a few volunteers helping as well. It is mostly flies that drop down in different configurations to set the scene. Tickets available until March 24 at www.gallery7theatre.com. (Many shows have sold out so far.)
Design is by Jeff Kiers.
Here’s a few pictures from the build process and also a few from tech week.
Jeff adding finishing touchesLighting by Nigel Brooke
TWU’s last show will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream in March. I was contracted for set construction carpentry, and spent a couple of weeks at their workshop in January. It was good working with the TD and the few students that are left in the small production class. (Set Design is by Alaia Hamer)
It’s my second time building for this particular show, but the nice thing about theatre is that every time is different!
Here are a few pictures of the build in progress. I didn’t get as much finished as I would like; too many set builds happening at once and I ran out of time. I left it in the Technical Director’s hands, and hope that they can finish everything!
Tickets to the show should be available from TWU’s website in late February or early March. www.twu.ca
Gallery 7‘s production of Snowbound is now playing at Abbotsford Arts Addition. I had the privilege of designing the set and building it. Here are some photos of the set build and a few shots from tech week rehearsal as well:
Large window bought on FB for $506×12 flatsPainting a melamine table
The set is quite simple, just a small stage with a backdrop. But it did take two weeks to build and set up.
The window is an important part of the play; it needed to open easily with a pull bar, revealing a snowy background behind.
painting the floortouching up the seamsThis large “shrub” (plastic ivy stapled to a thin board) helps hide the backstage tech table from the audience.
The floor was done with painted stage risers; painted vinyl laid on the venue floor for the lower part.
A small set built and run by Gallery 7 right before Christmas was this little gem, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Due to venue constraints (MCA Abbotsford), our set had to be struck twice after load-in, so we kept it fairly simple. Design is by Jeff Kiers, and it was directed by Sarah Green.
Building 10 foot high windows
We had a library/entrance door on stage right, and a living room area on stage left.
View from backstageStage during light build
It was a lovely Christmas play; I attended closing night on Dec 23 with my daughter.
Don’t get me wrong. I did a lot of stuff right this year. As a handyman I’m doing so many different things in my job that there are quite a few opportunities for big mistakes if I’m not paying attention. And many jobs worked out wonderfully. However there are three that stick out in my mind – three too many – that I wish had gone the other direction.
Glass insert in door falls out: I replaced an oval glass insert and frame in a front door. A month or two later a good gust of wind sent it toppling to the floor. I had forgotten the silicone bead on the outside.
Round-up on some cedars. I read the directions on the bottle fairly carefully but somehow missed the part about watering it down 50 to 1. I very carefully applied roundup to a bunch of weeds. Somehow despite my care, a little bit got onto some nearby cedar trees (young ones) and caused some branches near the ground to turn brown.
Fireplace glass falling out on a gas fireplace. I cleaned the glass on 4 gas fireplaces in one house. Four months later, one of them fell out suddenly. I checked them and none of them were seated properly. Fortunately no one was hurt.
I was lucky, or blessed, that there was no lasting damage from any of these things. There certainly could have been. All of my customers were gracious with me. After learning about the problems, I made every effort to show up, fix what I could, as fast as possible. What makes it worse is that they were all small, fast jobs – half an hour each – with a low payout for me at the time, but in hindsight, high risk.
The other thing these had in common is that the problems all took time to show up. They were fine for months, and then suddenly I got the call. (What else is waiting to bite me??)
Anyway, so far I haven’t had to use my liability insurance. I hope to keep it this way!
handyandrew.ca 