Pump Boys and Dinettes, 2016. Photo courtesy of Village Theatre Company.

Issaquah, WA: 2016 - 2017

Village Theatre Company

Lead Scenic Carpenter

The Village is a musical theatre company that also presents new works, educational productions, and straight plays at three different venues every season.

Highlights

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The 39 steps

Adapted by Patrick Barlow
Directed by Matt Walker
Scenic Design by Burton Yuen

The 39 steps Lamppost

The scenic design for this production required a lamppost to appear as if from nowhere and then disappear twice as fast. I was the Lead on this project and therefore responsible for its successful implementation.

First, I had to modified a previously built elevator setup to support a different set piece and fit in a new space. I removed the unnecessary materials, condensing the size of the lifting towers so it could fit the tighter quarters of the pit. After re-building the elevator, creating new pieces to spec, like the center carriage, and troubleshooting the motors, it was time for dry-fitting. See gallery for images.

The 39 Steps elevator in the dry-fit stage.

The 39 Steps elevator in the dry-fit stage, aerial view.

A counterweight was required for the lamppost, and it had to fit in a very small area. drilling and tapping a stageweight was the best choice.

The added stageweight mounted on the lamppost.

Assembled elevator rig installed in the orchestra pit at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre.

The biggest challenge of this lamppost was coordinating the two-stage lift that facilitated its appearance on stage. First, the platform and base would rise, then the lamppost itself would extend out of the base. The expansion of the lamppost needed to be less than 15 seconds to fit the intended stage direction. Similarly, the lamppost needed to disappear from the stage faster than it appeared in order to keep up with the pacing of the show. See below videos for the lamppost in action.

Gladly, this project was successful and completed in time for its use throughout Tech.

the 39 steps archway

The following photo gallery shows a complicated piece of flown scenery that I built for the production of The 39 Steps. This arch was an intricate build full of odd angles, which I hand calculated because every piece was a custom cut.

Layout of kerfed 1x1 steel trusses.

Assembling both trusses into one archway.

Drawings for the arch's hanging position.

Front view of arch drawing.

Arch covering in process.

Completed arch after being covered in lauan and muslin.

Singin' in the rain

Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Songs by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown
Based on the classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Inc.
Directed by Steve Tompkins
Scenic Design by Bill Forrester

The singin' in the rain lamppost

There is the iconic scene in Singin' in the Rain where Gene Kelly hangs off of a lamppost in the rain. For the Village, it's production would be incomplete without it. Since the lamppost needed to support the weight of an actor, I was tasked with solidifying the lamppost and giving the actor a sure place to stand. I welded the two aluminum pieces together, replacing the set screws used previously, and built custom-angled brackets for the new step. Afterwards, the reinforced lamppost was ready for the performance.

The lamppost before modifications.

The now much stronger lamppost.

The lamppost as seen on stage with new step attached.

John David Scott (Don Lockwood). Singin' in the Rain Production photo. © 2016 Tracy Martin. Property of Village Theatre.

Pump Boys and dinettes

Book, Lyrics, and Music by John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan,
John Schimmel, and Jim Wann
Directed by Brandon Ivie
Scenic Design by Andrea Bryn Bush

The script for Pump Boys calls for a Winnebago to be onstage. A winnebago wasn't feasible for the Village, but a small pickup truck was. This truck had to back in and out of the garage on stage, and as the Project Lead it was my job to make that happen. The first task was to create a carriage that could mount to the bottom of the truck and allow it to track on and off in a controllable manner.

The first thing I did was create lift blocks for the truck to sit on while I worked underneath. These blocks were made with 3/4" plywood and completely filled with extruded polystyrene foam. This solid column design allowed these blocks to hold a large amount of weight in comparison to their density since the weight was completely and evenly distributed.

Then I designed and built the frame and modified the truck to accept this new frame and bolted the two together. After these photos were taken, more casters were added to reduce the grooving of the MDF flooring.

Below is a gallery of process photos of this project and a press image capturing my truck on the left hand side during a performance.

The truck, sans engine, being lifted up on to the blocks.

Truck carriage frame, before extra casters were added.

Truck with carriage frame attached.

Truck as seen on stage.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibilities included, but were not limited to, the following:

Produce scenery in I.A.T.S.E. Local 15 represented scene shop
Load-in and out shows in 3 different spaces
Maintain scene shop and stage equipment
Perform rigging inspections
Install and maintain automation motors, control, and networks
Assess and address notes during tech and production runs