REPFEST
Click
here to watch a short video of ATC crews
changing sets during the 2003 RepFest.
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Arizona Theatre Company is nationally renowned for the excellence
of our production departments: Scenery, Costumes, Lighting,
Props and Sound. The RepFest presents these skilled professionals
with a special challenge – building three shows that
must all fit on the same stage and be able to be set up and
removed relatively quickly. We spoke recently with David Cap,
Production Manager at ATC, about the process of planning and
creating three different worlds in one theatre space.
ATC is mounting three shows at the same time for RepFest.
What are the special challenges and creative solutions to
making them all interchangeable on our stages?
One of the first challenges is spreading our lighting and
sound equipment amongst three very different shows. Through
some borrowing, renting and creative scheduling, we all helped
to solve some of those issues. Another large issue we dealt
with was the show floors. Each show required a different size,
shape and color of flooring. Some of the first conversations
we had were about how to build and change the floors. We decided
to make one show the base and place additional flooring over
that base floor.
How do you the set and lighting designers have
to alter or adjust their designs to accommodate two other
shows in the same space?
The set and lighting designers have to make lots of compromises.
It took two months of phone calls and emails back and forth
talking about each scenic element.
Were there any moments where you felt that two
designs would not work together? If so, what did you do to
solve the problem?
Not really; I believe that we talked quite a bit prior to
putting designs to paper. This helped the set designers start
with some parameters to design within.
Are there any set/lighting/sound design elements
that the shows share in common?
Sound and Lighting will share equipment among the three shows.
Scenically, each show only shares the stage masking (the black
curtains concealing the backstage area). We tried to make
each design unique so that our audience members could see
three different stage pictures.
What did you learn from the last RepFest in 2003
that you are implementing with this one?
The biggest lesson was to try and spread out the technical
rehearsals over a few more days. We also worked with the designers
to make the shows simpler to changeover.
What is the biggest challenge for the crew in
changing over three shows from day to day?
The planning and the process of changing from one show to
the next is simple.
The biggest challenge is going to be time. The physical time
of taking down one set and setting up another is the one element
we cannot change. There is scenery and props to shift, speakers
and sound cable that need to be moved, and lighting instruments
will need color changed or shutters adjusted.
What is the quickest turnaround time between
shows in RepFest?
A usual changeover would be after a 2pm matinee going into
a different evening show. At roughly 4pm, we would begin striking
the show onstage. The changeover will take 1-2 hours depending
on which show we have onstage and which show we are changing
into. We then finish a changeover at 6pm, give the crew an
hour for dinner and then have an evening curtain of 7:30pm.
How many crew members are required to changeover
sets and lighting?
For each show there will be one lighting person, one sound
person, one wardrobe, two stage managers and one or two deck
stage hands.
Are there specialty crew members hired for RepFest
or is it all accomplished with present ATC staff?
We will have one person for Love, Janis to run projections,
one additional sound person to help with changeovers into
Love, Janis and assist in the fourteen-day stretch
when all three shows are in performance, as well as an additional
wardrobe person to maintain wigs and run some shows during
busiest part of the festival.
How many hours per week does the crew work during
RepFest?
We are rotating staff to allow days off and in doing so hope
to keep everyone working 40-50 hours. Keeping crew from getting
too overtired is a big challenge, so a lot of planning will
be done to keep the work weeks sane.
Where are the sets and props stored for the shows
that are not onstage?
Everything for the RepFest will be stored backstage. Many
elements are flown up into the flyspace, or are on wagons
which can roll into different locations around backstage for
storage, depending on which show is onstage.
Does the two-city operation make the RepFest
‘puzzle’ more complicated?
Yes….
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