theatre set

Set Build – Murder on the Orient Express

The latest show for Gallery 7 is now playing. The set was a large one with a few complications. Following are some photos of the build.

Set Design including paint is by Jeff Kiers and Director is Kate Muchmore Woo.

Jeff’s creative design was shared as a model:

He also provided basic dimensions and (most importantly) fly line locations for the 3 flies.

I realized that to build this I would need to draw this out to make sense of it. There are a few moving parts.

Then I divided it up into parts: risers, steps, walls, flies, observation deck, benches.

Here are some pictures of the flies. I made them in 8×12 sections with plenty of cross-bracing to help eliminate sag. (They are 24 feet long) One fly has 3 working doors so had to be structurally sound.

There is a wall that flips down to become a floor for scene changes. It is heavy as it is made of 3 sheets of 3/4″ plywood.

Jeff painted the outside of the train, and my assistant carpenter Karen worked on walls.

Things started to come together but there was still so much to do!

I was treated to a beautiful double rainbow at the workshop one January afternoon…

Load-in day at the venue came and with several volunteers we got the basic set together so that lighting design could commence.

It’s always nice to see things start to come together under the lights!

Set Build – Baskerville

Another set build! They just don’t stop. I guess that’s why I’m so behind on my other work!

This one is for Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Story, playing at Abbey Arts in March. See Gallery 7 for more details.

Set Design is by Jeff Kiers.

Here are a few pictures of parts of the set in production (1.5 weeks). The stage itself is relatively simple, but there are quite a few pieces that are flown in or wheeled in. It is ready for painting!

Set Build – Bright Star

I was contracted by TWU to build the base set for their upcoming Spring Musical. I wasn’t able to commit to the entire project, but I did give them a full week to get the balcony and stage going. I had a lot of help from the students at various times as well. (Design credit – V. Salim)

The set design is very creative and I look forward to seeing it after the TWU Production Team is done with all the scrims, paint, flats, doors, and other finishing touches!

Bright Star runs March 15-April 2 at SAMC Langley.

Last Train to Nibroc set

Gallery 7 recently completed their first in-person live theatre show in 18 months. It was called Last Train to Nibroc. Here are some pictures of set-building and load-in..

First, here is a portion of the model made by Set Designer Jeff Kiers. It is to-scale and the large set is based off of it.

Some challenges I had were related to scene changes. There were 3 scenes and no intermission. So set changes had to happen quickly (2 mintues or less). The pieces were large, odd-sized, and complicated. They were on casters, had brakes, flies, stairs, hinges, etc…The ASMs did a great job of working with all of it.

Overall it was a great show!