Sometimes, you just gotta make it…
So, the past week or so I have been focused on getting “And Then There Were None” on stage and then struck at Thomas Jefferson School. All in all, it went great and the kids did an awesome job. I couldn’t be prouder and neither could they.
In addition, at New Line, last Saturday we hung and focused lights. This was my first time to do lights in the Marcelle because Ken has lit the last three New Line shows. I suspected that it would be easier than lighting a show at Wash U South because the fixed seating and no catwalks above meant moving an extension ladder around and working it into the rows of seats. In addition, WUS was not cabled for DMX and did not have auxiliary power outlets scattered in the grid…lessons that I used when planning the Marcelle. That used to take hours just cabling. We finished all of the the hang, cabling, and focus in just 6 hours at the Marcelle! What a difference. Plus, we were able to hang 2/3’s of it from scaffold rolling on the stage. The remaining 1/3 we could reach from a step ladder by moving one row of stack chairs! (more…)
Last weekend I detailed the bar and built the top half of the back bar. This is the last major component of the set to be tackled. Today, Melanie has to work at her real job and Kate is out of town for a couple of days with family. So, I jumped into the shop alone to attack the bottom half of the back bar. It is really just a big box made of 2×2 lumber and covered in luan plywood and I had little trouble dealing with it alone. After making the box (8-feet long, 3-feet high and 1-foot deep), I applied some 1×4 trim to the fact of it to make it look like doors. A 2×2 around the top edge, taped in, makes a counter top. 
Well, we had a productive weekend in the shop. I had committed to spending Friday evening and Saturday designing, focusing and programming lights for a friend who is directing a production of “Fiddler on the Roof” at Looking Glass Playhouse. So, I didn’t get into the shop to work on Atomic until Sunday.