set build

Set Build: Miracle on 34th St.

Gallery 7‘s nearly-sold-out production of Miracle on 34th St runs for another week. Here are a few build photos.

Set Design is by Sheldon Jeans, Director is Sarah Green.

Stairs, stairs and more stairs… it took 5 days in the shop to make mirror sets of these: 14 curved steps, had to be portable, had to be able to walk under the top part…

Then there were some curvy flats with 3 elevator doors (thanks to my dad for helping with those!), some stanchions, a “Macy’s” cut-out, and (les Pièce de résistance) 3 ugly desks.

what do you think? am i up for the “desk maker of the year” award??

Alright… how did Dalton manage to get on here twice?? (not that he didn’t deserve it) (truck ad: load-up day)

The coroplast cityscape gave us a few problems. It needed extra reinforcement because it was sitting on the second story platform, which despite being quite solid, did move a little…just enough to make the cityscape “wave in the wind…” fortunately some of our volunteers were kind enough to come help fix (most of) that! Thanks Josh, Steve, and Chris!

The troublesomely ubiquitous elevator door hardware

It was a cool, abstract set–great design work by Mr. Jeans! However with the curved stairs, the large platform, the 40 foot wide x 19 foot high city-scape and the six elevator doors…it was time consuming to put together. Plus…I will not mention the half-unexpected mid-run strike! =)

Anne (of Green Gables) Set Design and Build

Anne recently closed a successful run at Gallery 7 Theatre in Abbotsford in November. Set design started in the summer, and building happened in October. Below are some pictures of the model I made. The concept was simple: a block house, a tree, and a truck and flat that moved on/off in front of a sharktooth scrim.

New this year, I was asked to make a window for marketing photos as well as for patrons to take selfies with. I asked one of our volunteers, Steve, to make a sliding window, and then I build a small stand for it:

Then I started the “real” build…

My volunteer, Linda, helped a lot those first few weeks as we built and painted our way through Avonlea.

My dad, Chris, was kind enough to help with some special effects – we had some motorized wagon wheels and a motorized “sinking” boat. He also helped build a floor and a roof:

More building…

Chris, Rachel, and Dayton were a big help on a chilly paint day:

The train schedule was a fun little detail to add:

And then it was load-in day! Always appreciate help on this full day!

Here are a few photos from tech week – lighting was starting to build their cues:

Opening Night came! Can you spot the outline of Green Gables behind the scrim?

More official company photos:

Photos below are copyrighted; please do not alter them or use them for other works. Photos by Dianna Lewis Photography. (Set by Andrew Potts, Directed by Nelly Fargeon, Lighting by Ken Hildebrandt, Costumes by Vicki Bolan, Hair and Makeup by Avrey JantzKrahn, Props and some set dec by Dianna Lewis)

“Law Law Land” Set design and Build

Law Law Land was this year’s summer production by Gotta Sing Gotta Dance Vancouver, a musical theatre camp held at the JCC/NRT. It is produced once at the end of July, and once at the end of August, with different musical theatre students each time (3-show run). The July production had over 60 performers. I was contracted to design and build a versatile, lightweight, creative set, mostly working with the producer (the indefatigable Perry Ehrlich), but also the director and other choreographers.

The material of choice is 3/16 foamcore, because it is light and holds its shape reasonably well. It’s more expensive than plywood or MDF, but for this production it makes a lot of sense.

I spent a week plus in the workshop cutting, painting, and building pieces. Here are some build pictures:

I don’t have any pictures from the show (yet) but here are some rehearsal shots:

Play that Goes Wrong Set Build

The Set Build of my career… that’s how I felt about this one. It took twice as long as the average large set build. Most of the first 2 weeks was me just scratching my head and trying to figure out how to do stuff, but eventually it started to come together!

Here are some photos of the build and a couple of the finished set. Other relevant credits: Set Design by Jeff K, directed by Kerri N, Lighting by Nigel B, props by Shannon T.

This was a large undertaking for our community theatre (Gallery 7 Theatre). There were a lot of considerations, such as not damaging our venue rental, and the fact that we had to strike during tech week for a council meeting, so we had to be able to disassemble things fairly easily. The designer, Jeff, gave me some sketches on graph paper and I plugged them into Sketchup to make sure everything would fit. He also made a great model for the actors to reference.

It still fell to me, however, to make everything work. I attended several rehearsals and provided some rehearsal set pieces such as a doorframe, clock, and chaise. Stage management was terrific at communicating needs such as which way a door would open to hit an actor, how high the windowsill should be, etc.

Another challenge was the platform that falls. Gallery 7 put out a call and found a great welder, Arne L, who volunteered his time to design a steel structure using basic measurements and youtube videos that I sent him. He gave me the costs for steel and based on that we were able to request a slightly bigger set materials budget.

Here are a bunch of photos of the build!

Here is how I made the curtain bar fall – no magnets – just hinges, pins, and gravity. It worked pretty well overall, although not exactly perfectly!

I don’t want to give away too many more secrets, but here are some more things!

At some point we moved everything to a larger shop to paint, and also test some things:

And then we loaded the whole thing into the venue and held our breath while the actors started to play!

It was an intensive tech week while we figured out how to weight the platform, get all the tricks to work at once (there were 2 actor ASMs plus 3 actual ASMs), and fix all the things that kept breaking. So glad it worked well, had a successful run, and no one got (seriously) injured!! What a ride!

The following photos are official Gallery 7 rehearsal photos by Dianna Lewis. They are copyrighted and may not be edited or distributed without permission. Enjoy!

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:

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.

and now… a few Production Photos! (I’m the guy in the hat and tie) Photography by Dianna Lewis:

Parfumerie Set Design and Build

Parfumerie is playing at MCA (Gallery 7) until the end of this week. Here are some design, build, and set shots.

Set was made to be quite modular as it had to be struck twice during our rehearsal/run.

(Directed by Sarah Green, Lighting by Gabe Kirkley, Props by Madison Willoughby, Costumes by Des Hale)

Design

Build. Quite a custom piece with a few stock parts. Had quite a bit of help from several volunteers.

Set photos (during rehearsal). Such a fun little show with a lot of depth to the story. This script inspired the movie You’ve Got Mail. Definitely a team effort to pull off the set!

Prince Caspian Set Design and Build

Prince Caspian played at Gallery 7 Theatre recently. Here are a few pictures of the set design and build process.

It started with a meeting with the director and other designers, reading the script, and coming up with some sketches and ideas which eventually formed the set design.

The forest was built with several different kinds of trees (including by the actors themselves, which were creativily portrayed by the costume designer). I borrowed an idea from Youtube about making the tree canopy out of PVC pipe. I had some scrap ABS pipe and scrounged some other pipes elsewhere; the biggest cost was the 3000 zip ties. The flexible trunks were made of flexible drainage pipe and the big moveable tree was a regular set piece on a riser.

There were also the usual set piece suspects – boxes and furniture…

sheet vinyl flooring painted and clear coated

The big tree was a big undertaking. My dad framed it and I covered it with coroplast and spray foam and a few fibreoptic lights.

Load in took awhile, mostly to hang everything from the fly system at Abby Arts. The techs were great.

And then the lighting designer got to work his magic!

Set by Andrew Potts, Lighting by Ken Hildebrandt, Directed by Gabe Kirkley, Costumes by Kelsey Cleave, Props by Dianna Lewis. For Gallery7Theatre.com.

Dollars and Nonsense set design/build

Back in the summer I designed and built a lightweight set for Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!, a theatre camp held in Vancouver. They put on an impressive musical twice, once for each group of students, after just a few days of rehearsing.

This set had to be stored in an upstairs room between camps, so it had to be simple and lightweight. I was introduced to 3/16″ foamcore and used it as the main material. I was able to fit the entire set into the back of my pickup truck (not including items like the desk and chairs which the director sourced).

Production watermarked photos by Hannes Photo: www.hannesphoto.com

Produced by Perry Elhrich; Directed by Meghan Anderssen; Lighting Design by Victoria Bell, Set Design by Andrew Potts; Projections by Meghan Anderssen

The play Dollars and Nonsense has many references to a certain popular board game. My design capitalized on this and the play is set in Atlantic City so there are some hints of the boardwalk etc. as well.

Foamcore is fairly rigid but it wasn’t quite enough to just sort of stand up by itself. Also I learned that both sides have to be painted, or there will be a lot of bowing.