9 months since my last post!! No, I didn't have a baby.

There's only one word to explain my lack of posts for 9 months: WORK!
And I can't complain about that.

Since June of 2011, I've worked on ten productions in various capacities, but mostly designing props.  Of those ten, five have been at my new full time place of employment: the Arden Theatre Company.  Currently in its 24th season, the Arden is a nationally recognized LORT D and C house with a reputation for creating high quality productions with amazing actors, directors, designers and an outstanding in-house production staff.  While here I've already had the pleasure to work with acclaimed scenic designers Dan Conway, David P. Gordon, James Kronzer and Tom Gleeson.  Some pics of the Arden productions follow. All photos courtesy of Arden Theatre Company.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

 The infamous family dinner for TWELVE with all real food.  Actors feasted on roasted chicken, green bean casserole, collard greens, roasted potatoes and biscuits along with both ice tea, red and white "wines".




The family photo shows off the set table for the dinner scene as well as the custom built table.  The table top was switched out at intermission to extend it while the base remained the same.  The tablecloth was also custom made as none existed in just quite the right dimensions.

The couch seen in this shot had quite a journey during the process of putting together this show.  It started as a steal - $35 sofa bed found at my favorite thrift store. After the costs of fabric and the labor for reupholstering and transportation to and from, it ended up being an $800 couch.

THE WHIPPING MAN

 Set at the end of the Civil War in a bombarded manor in Richmond, Virginia, this played called for both period props and highly distressed props.  We rented most of the furniture and created most of the other props in house.  The picture to the right shows the Seder meal scene. I like this shot as it shows a lot of hand props, but also the mattress we built for the production and the two practicals built for the show.  The lantern on the banister and the candelabra on the pedestal were both rigged up by our Master Electrician, Martin Stutzman.

Here again is a shot of a third practical - the lantern attached to the end of a rifle.  Like all the other candles onstage (save the one on the trunk in the first picture) it was electric. Also seen are one of seven different whiskey bottles used throughout the production.

This final shot is again from the Seder meal scene and shows two of my favorite props from the show.  The first, in the actor's left hand, is a piece of hardtack which I made weekly for the show. 

Consisting of wheat flour, water and salt it didn't take much artistry but was an exact recipe used in the era. The second, in the actor's right hand, is a homemade Haggadah.  As it needed to be both period and in Hebrew, I found the easiest solution was to create one from scratch. 

CHARLOTTE'S WEB

In our critically acclaimed production, we kept it simple.  Doing away with the usual children's theater costumes and spectacular, we let the simple story of Wilbur and his friends shine through. In this shot, Wilbur gets used to his new home while sitting in his very own tractor tire.  Luckily, this tire was able to be rented from Anything But Costumes and was a perfect fit for our show.

In this shot, you see Wilbur's pig trough, which I simply bought online, filled with my favorite prop from this show - the pig slops.  I wrote a detailed blog on the Arden's website about the slops and you can check it out here: http://ardentheatre.org/blog/page/2/

In this final shot, you can see the bronze medal presented to Wilbur on his last day at the County Fair.  Its made from two paint can lids, glued together, with a cardboard star and laurels added, then painted bronze. Placed on a red, white and blue ribbon and it was done.




CLYBOURNE PARK

 A particular challenge in this show is the propping and set dressing for two different time periods: 1959 in Act I and 2009 in Act II.  The catch is that the acts take place in the same exact home with 50 years of age and distressing.  Seen in the picture to the right, on the staircase is one of two Korean war army footlockers featured in the show which we made in house.


In this shot, from Act II, you can see the house is a bit more dilapidated and all the furniture and set dressing has been removed. 

Back in Act I, this shot shows the china cabinet, table and chairs we bought for the production - a few of the pricier props I've procured in my time.  The rug was rented again from Anything But Costumes.  Also of note, is the sconce in the background.  There were about seven sconces around the set that were all removed as part of the intermission shift.  An amazing video of that shift can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46RakTesQAI&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1




CYRANO

The beautiful set designed by Dan Conway called for 16 over sized gold-leafed picture frames.  The production team and I collected and built the frames, then hand gold-leafed each one before suspending them in the air at an impossible angle.  They each are fitted with a rear projection screen and two-way mirror surface so that they could alternate between mirrors and images as seen here in the infamous balcony scene.

My favorite prop in this show is the basket of tarts, sweets and pastries seen in this shot behind Cyrano on the table.  While we rented several of the pastries, the Neapolitans and donuts were created in house by my prop intern Tate Obayashi and the set designer's assistant Paige Hathaway.  Awesome work!

Obviously, Cyrano calls for weapons.  With ten fight-worthy swords and six muskets and a dagger, the safety protocols have been well placed and the actors well trained by the fight director, Dale Anthony Girard.  Also, in this pic are some of the 4000 autumnal leaves that fall during the transition in act II from 1640 to 1655.



MORE TO COME as we prepare for Robin Hood and Tulipomania: The Musical!

Lost in Yonkers - Set and Prop Designs

Plays and Players Theater Company produced Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers this month and I had the pleasure of designing both the set and props for it.  The show was performed in the Skinner Studio, which is the smaller third floor venue at the historic playhouse located in the Rittenhouse district of Philadelphia.

The space is a black box with a low ceiling and modular risers for seating.  This was the last show in the space before it is completely renovated for next season.  It gave me some challenges, but in the end turned out to be a perfect fit for the Yonkers apartment.  The room itself was built around the turn of the last century, so it had a lot of the same qualities of a room from the show's1940's period.

Skinner Studio's existing wall which became the SR wall of the Yonker's set

Inspired by the room's existing walls, I designed the set walls to match with a patchy plaster job covered with layers of different paints. Grandma herself must have been making the repairs all those years without her husband and sons around.

Because of the upcoming renovations to the space, we were able to pull the baseboard from other parts of the room and use them in the set.  This allowed for a continuation of the trim from the room's existing wall stage right around the entire set (as you can see in the picture to the right).

The wood floor in the space was cleaned up a little to look more like a floor in someones home and less like a floor abused by decades of rehearsals, concerts and plays.  After some aging and distressing of the walls and doors, the entire set had a very nice "lived in" quality.

Brick facade, window and store sign

To give just a hint of the world outside this second floor living room, a semi-complete window unit and brick facade are featured down stage right.  A sign for the "Kurnitz Kandy" store hangs off the brick facade and disappears into the floor as if continuing down to the lower level. (seen in the picture to the right)

One of the biggest challenges of Yonkers was the furniture.  It was impossible for us to find a pull-out couch that was the right size for the stage, would fit up the stairs to the theater and had enough of a style to pass for early 20th century furniture.  In the end, I modified a trundle bed from Ikea which ended up looking just fine.



Director Betty Chomentowski was incredibly helpful in procuring some of the period set dressing (seen above).  One of my favorite set pieces was an authentic Philco Radio from 1940 (seen below) that I found waiting to be used up in the Prop Loft at the Barn Playhouse in Norristown where I am the Chair of the Props Committee.

Good shot of the 1940 Philco radio

Along with Andrew Cowles' lighting design (an amazing feat given the limitations of the space electrically) and Kate Edelson's detailed costumes, we presented a very believable setting.











Check out my interview with Andrew Cowles for my podcast, Out of Sight (part of the Represented Podcast Network) via the link below:
http://outofsight.repradio.org/2011/05/27/102andrewcowles/

Happily, the reviews of the show came in and they were all pretty spectacular.

Toby Zinman, theatre critic from the Philadelphia Inquirer, had this to say about the set:

The set (designed by Christopher Haig) gets all the details of this WWII New York apartment right - you can almost smell the years of accumulated cooking odors.


Read the whole review here: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20110607_Family_charm_of__Lost_in_Yonkers_.html#ixzz1Obctwy5c









By far, one of the best reviews I've ever received and much appreciated.  The review helped ticket sales soar and the show was extended an extra week.  It will be sad to see it come down next weekend, but that's the nature of the beast.  Love it while it lasts!

David P. Gordon

David P. Gordon

Check out the link above to hear my latest creative endeavor.

I am the host of the Represented Podcast Network's newest segment OUT OF SIGHT.

On my show, I interview the artists, designers and stage managers who make Philadelphia theatre come to life. It's a behind the scenes peak into the minds of those who create amazing theater but who never receive a round of applause for their work. Those folks who remain "out of sight" in the wings either imagining the world of the play or running it once the show opens. I will feature all types of professionals working in the field and look forward to picking their brains. If you want to be interviewed, just email me at christopherhaig@yahoo.com

My first segment is with the amazingly talented and prolific scenic designer, David P. Gordon. It was an absolute treat to have a sit down with David and hear about his process and experiences. Enjoy!

Next up will be local lighting designer, Andrew Cowles. If you haven't worked with Andrew yet, you will. He is a busy busy man.

The Credeaux Canvas

It's been a long time since I've blogged...must have been busy.

With Jesus Christ Superstar wrapped, I focused on my next prop job, Theatre Horizon's THE CREDEAUX CANVAS by Keith Bunin.  http://www.theatrehorizon.org/

What a fun show to prop. Right up my alley. The play takes place in an East Village artist's studio.  Winston, played by Andrew Kane, is a painter working on his thesis and navigating the manic-depression of his roommate Jamie, played by Chris Bresky.  Jamie's girlfriend, Amelia, played by Clare O'Malley, serves as the wedge between the two men. In a small but pivotal role, Susan Giddings rounds out the stellar cast as Tess, an art collector and socialite misled by Jamie into the possible purchase of a Credeaux "original" actually plagerized by Winston.  It's an intense show that blends artistic philosophic rhetoric and complicated sexual relationships quite well. Director Matt Decker nailed this one, as usual, and gathered an amazing team of designers and crew to create an intoxicating theatrical experience.

The joy I had as the Prop Designer on this show was creating the world of Winston's art studio.    Set Designer, Maura Roche, created a claustrophobic world of grimy, paint splattered and dirty brick walls, covered in sketches, paintings, canvases and pictures torn from art books.  Below is the scale model designed and constructed by Maura:

As you can see the place is a bit of a mess.  Creating a "mess" can be a real challenge as a designer.  As the Prop Designer, one of my favorite jobs is set dressing.  The script calls for all manner of art supplies, materials and artwork.  Maura and I went through countless art books and magazines to find the right pictures that Winston hangs on his wall.  I was able to procure all of the art supplies, materials, paintings and sketches through the generous donations of several local artists and the Greater Norristown Art League, who are also presenting an exhibition of their members' works in the lobby of the theater during the run of the show.  http://www.gnal.org/

One of the challenges of this "mess" was maintaining actor safety.  There are two fight sequences and the area of these had to be strategically clear while not appearing clean.  Another, and perhaps greater challenge, was the easels used in the show.  We have two: one which Winston paints on (seen in the model above) and the other a display easel that is brought on with the infamous Credeaux canvas.  Finding the easels was hard enough, but being able to clear sightlines was the real challenge.  To allow actors to be seen while viewing a canvas on the display easel downstage, I had to cut the legs down (we went inch by inch until we found the right height - only took about 7 tries).

Finally, the bane of most prop designers' job - consumbables.  This production calls for edible muffins and a ton of beverages - coffee, vodka, orange juice, Maker's Mark... To defray costs, we received a generous donation from Wegmans.  After a day of shopping, I brought over 30 muffins, 4 gallons of apple juice, 2 gallons of orange juice and enough food dye to make "coffee" to the theater.  And that was just the first food run...

If you are able to catch this one, it is well worth the trip to Norristown.  The show runs through April 30th!

Below are some pictures of the finished design and set dressing in more detail:

 

MMM...Brains

As promised, here is the second installment on my prop work for Plays & Players' production of A NEW BRAIN by William Finn.  Last week I discussed the food I created for the show.  This week, it's all about a brain.  Gordon's Brain specifically.

Director Daniel Student explained his vision to me at our first meeting and I was both inspired and challenged at the same time.  Basically, we needed a head that would house a brain that would have pieces of paper inside of it which represented all of Gordon's songs waiting to be written. After some brainstorming (haha), I presented him with a design and the pictures can tell the rest of the story.  It was a lot of fun to make and I'm happy to say Gordon's Brain remains one of my favorite props to date.

 Gordon's head was made from a styrofoam wig

  form that I split in half and shelled out to hold Gordon's Brain.  

Above, the raw brain before cooking and then after it had hardened and was painted with a red base coat. 

 

The holes in the picture to the left housed the rolled up pieces of sheet music that Gordon handed out to the other characters as seen in the photo at the bottom.   





  It came onstage as part of a full body replica of Gordon being wheeled in on a gurney so I tried to make the head form look as much like Brendan Norton as possible.

Magnets were added to avoid the head opening accidentally and a twine hinge was placed on the back of the head to keep it as one unit once it was opened. 

Here we see The Doctor (Joe Sabotino) explaining to The Mother (Susan Johnson) how a shunt was going to be used to drain fluid from Gordon's brain. 

Gordon pulls the songs literally from his brain.

Brain Food

Recently, I had the fortune to be asked to come aboard the creative team mounting William Finn's musical, A New Brain at Plays and Players in Philadelphia. The production was directed by Daniel Student, set designed by Andrew Thompson and I had help on props from Jacob Riley. Daniel is a director with a wild imagination and his vision for this production was bold. The props were a definite challenge as the musical mostly takes place in a hospital where a semi-lucid composer attempts to write his greatest songs before dying from a brain disease. It's actually a lot funnier and uplifting than it sounds. There were the usual medical props required: IV stands, x-rays, gurneys and medical charts. All of which were hard to come by, but there were also some specialty items that needed to be created, which gave me the chance to flex my creative muscles. I'll talk about the brains in another post. Today: FOOD.

Three items of food appeared onstage - baked ziti, a goat cheese salad (no cheese) and scallopini (oh - and a diet coke). Since the food was rushed around on a tray by a frenetic waitress during a fast-paced musical number and seen onstage for less than five minutes, Andrew Beal, like all good Production Managers, requested we avoid real food to cut down on costs and save pre-show food prep time. I was happy to oblige and created the items out of simple materials pulled from around my studio and the theater; a bit of foam from here, some fabric from over there, a bit of sculpting and painting and done.

Baked Ziti - To create the baked ziti, I carved a piece of foam to shape, painted and sprayed with a glaze finish to give it that moist look. The green garnish is a piece of dried latex paint found in the shop stuck on top. The whole piece is glued to the plate for ease of movement.

 

Goat Cheese Salad - To create the goat cheese salad, I cut up random pieces of green fabric found around the studio and hot glued them to the bowl. The croutons are simple pieces of the same foam I used on the ziti.

   

 Scallopini - To create the scallopini, I cut out a thin layer of cardboard and glued a few smaller strips of cardboard to the top. Then I wrapped the whole thing in masking tape and painted to look like cooked veal. The garnish consisted of round balls of foam painted green and glued to the top to serve as capors and the whole thing is drizzled with a thin line of orange acrylic paint. Mmmmm... During the previews, Daniel said he couldn't really see what was on the plate from farther back in the audience, so added another piece of dried latex paint to the dish.

  

Oh & a Diet Coke - Luckily, we had this plastic cup in stock that already had bubbles in it. By adding a few squares of brown gel (graciously donated by lighting designer, Joe Glodek), a pipe joiner for weight and a straw to the inside of the cup, the drink was complete and looked great onstage.

Design Presentation to the Cast of Superstar

    The design presentation to a cast and crew is always one of my favorite events during the course of a production.  As a set designer you get a lot more time than you do as a prop designer (if you get any at all), so it is the best time to get a lot of information to the team.
    Last night, I met the entire cast of Jesus Christ Superstar (well, actually, Jesus wasn't there, but I digress...).  What a talented and super interesting group of actors...so many great stories were told as we all got to know each other. Kudos to director Linda Hunt for leading us in that "get to know you" exercise.  One thing I love about community theatre is that everyone is in it for the same reason.  Just for the love of it, for the fun of collaborating and creating together and putting on an amazing production.  We all know there is no money, fame or awards attached to this work, it's purely for the enjoyment we each get from the process.

    So, I got to show the cast my Google SketchUps and thought I'd share them with the faithful followers of my blog (heehee, I think its up to one whole follower now).  In any case, I enjoy writing my thoughts down here and keeping a journal of things.
    Note in the pictures how the two set of steps change from scene to scene.  The entire set is stationary except for these two step units and some furniture.  Working closely with lighting designer, Brian Mahoney, we plan to make these various stage areas really come to life as unique locations when filled with actors and props (and maybe some cool special effects too).

Enjoy my SketchUps!


High Priests configuration - the moving staircases create a pyramid for the priests to stand on as they look down upon JC and his followers.  This is one of the most open layouts as the entire cast comes onstage for the Hosanna number.





The Temple configuration - In this scene the steps are moved side to side and placed dead center for JC to enter the Temple all mad and righteous.  He's got plenty to be mad about too!  Look at those skanky 80's girls dancing in the corner and that cock fight being waged upstage and is that girl holding a scarf or some kind of organ...don't get me started on the guys on the pillows.  I do love Google SketchUp for the cast of characters you can download into your sketches.



The Last Supper configuration - The Last Supper opens Act II and I really want to give the feeling that we were inside a secluded space that served as a home base for JC and his apostles.  To do this, I designed a canopy that cuts the stage in half both sideways and front to back.  The fabric will have some translucency when softly lit from above.  We'll also be adding small lights to the lowered deck by JC's feet in this pic.  These will cast a candlelight mood on the inside of the canopy and allow us to play with shadows.  The beams used to hold the canopy will actually be real tree trunks roughly 4" in diameter, untreated and set into holes in the stage.  Pillows and mats will be made of burlap and other woven fabrics. I'm contemplating bringing the two moving step units to each side of this canopy to further enclose the scene and give the apostles some more sitting options.