Tech Week for Beauty and the Beast ~ Part One
"The word theatre comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation."
- Stella Adler -
Tech Week was amazing...
In this photo essay about a stage production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, I hope to begin to convey some of that excitement.
Let's go backstage and see what happens behind the scenes...
Note- To my very faithful followers of the "Beauty and the Beast" series:
Please pardon the rather long hiatus from telling this story. Your enthusiasm for my theater series has been very encouraging to me in past days. However, I became suddenly very busy (thank God, gainfully so) and it has been difficult getting back to finishing the series. Your patience with me is noted with great appreciation!
Tech Week Choreography ~ Original image by @creatr
In this series of photos,
you may click on each to reveal its full-resolution version. However, please don't be disappointed; all too often, the low light levels backstage and the hand-held photography have resulted in noticeable blurring.
Hallway behind the stage. ~ Original image by @creatr
Behind the stage,
there is a very long hallway that spans the entire stage width. There are entrance doors at both ends. There is also a huge entrance door opposite the scene shop for moving large set pieces in and out.
Stage right end of hallway. ~ Original image by @creatr
This is a closer view of the stage right end.
Actors and backstage support personnel tend to cluster here between appearances on stage.
Props filed in their places... ~ Original image by @creatr
Nestled between building structure uprights,
tables are set out for storing and organizing the myriad props for the show. The tables are subdivided with strips of tape on which the name of each prop is written. During performances, not knowing where to find any particular prop could spoil the show.
Maurice's windmill prop. ~ Original image by @creatr
You may recognize this.
It is of course Maurice's Windmill prop. You can read a detailed description of it's creation in a two-part article beginning here.
Maurice's tool crate. ~ Original image by @creatr
To the left of the windmill,
a wooden crate waits for Maurice to carry his project and tools in.
A real trouper. ~ Original image by @creatr
Why, you might ask,
is this actor sideways? Perhaps the image isn't properly oriented?
No, not at all. This photo was deliberately taken as you see it, and the actor portraying The Beast was kind enough to accommodate my request that he lie on his side for the photo shoot.
The Magic Mirror ~ Original image by @creatr
The normal video orientation for a Kindle Fire is horizontal.
I needed a quick way—without any special software—to re-orient the video vertically, so I had The Beast lie sideways on a couple of padded chairs while I shot a short video sequence of him looking ferocious.
The Magic Mirror between scenes. ~ Original image by @creatr
The Mirror, safely on the props table,
awaits its next appearance on stage.
The Rose, before mounting. ~ Original image by @creatr
Early in Tech Week,
The Rose prop had not yet been mounted on its pedestal. Seeing it here near the edge of the props table still makes me a little nervous.
An end run around stage left. ~ Original image by @creatr
Let's sneak past the edge of stage left.
Rounding the corner near the front of the stage, we can get a peek into a small, blue-lit control space, and we discover a short stairway and an entrance into the house.
In the house. ~ Original image by @creatr
A few actors are seated in the house.
They are between scenes. In the center of the house, a temporary desk has been set up for the director and her assistants to sit at and manage all activities.
The control booth, atypically illuminated from within. ~ Original image by @creatr
Turning to our left,
at the back of the house and above the balcony, the control booth is visible. We can see it in this photo because its interior lights are on at the moment. During performances, they are normally off.
Up in the control booth with The Rose. ~ Original image by @creatr
As its designer and creator,
one of the high points of Tech Week for me was taking The Rose up to the control booth to have it integrated with the theater DMX lighting control system.
Petals dropping, twinkle lights flashing... ~ Original image by @creatr
Watching the setup was fascinating.
Not only did the operator get every Rose feature working, he compensated for variable petal drop delays by adjusting the cue timing for each operation.
Footlights raised for dramatic effect. ~ Original image by @creatr
For dramatic effect,
the variable colored lights around the base of The Rose were raised, along with musical cues, to focus attention on the Rose petals dropping.
That's it for now...
Fear not, there's much more from Tech Week to come. The story of how The Rose was finally (successfully) finished, after much agonizing, is also waiting in the wings.
And I'll do my best to make it a much shorter span of time before the next story in this series... ;)
~FIN~
If you're just tuning in, here are previous entries in this series (including ruminations) about prop-making:
"The Ocean of Life" - A Haiku by Duncan Cary Palmer
"When Wandering Wizards Wonder..."
"Finally Out to Sea..." a Haiku by Duncan Cary Palmer
Beauty and the Beast Props - Enchanted Rose ~Teaser~
Beauty and the Beast Props - Magic Mirror ~Teaser~
Beauty and the Beast Props - Windmill ~Teaser~
Beauty and the Beast Props - The Director Is Happy!
Fine-Tuning The Rose for Beauty and the Beast
How I Designed And Built Maurice's Windmill for ~Beauty and the Beast~ Part 1
How I Designed And Built Maurice's Windmill for ~Beauty and the Beast~ Conclusion
How I Designed And Built The Magic Mirror for ~Beauty and the Beast~ Part 1
How I Designed And Built The Magic Mirror for ~Beauty and the Beast~ Part 2
How I Designed And Built The Magic Mirror for ~Beauty and the Beast~ Part 3
How I Designed And Built The Magic Mirror for ~Beauty and the Beast~ Conclusion
Tech Week for Beauty and the Beast ~ Part One
Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Image by Walt Disney Pictures, via Wikimedia Commons
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The most that I have loved are the special effects that you created and the magic mirror really takes it to another dimension. Receive a big hug @creatr
Thank you, Felix!
Es todo un reto la organización y escenografía de una obra teatral, me remontaste a mi infancia cuando participaba en obras teatrales y es una logística bien organizada que se requiere para que la actuación tenga exito. Saludos amigo @creatr.
Gracias, Yoselina, para visitando y para remontar a su infancia.
Yo también ha tenido partes in varios obras de teatro cuando era niño. Me gusta mucho al teatro! Creo que es mejor de las películas!
Saludos, amiga mía! :D
The props you made looked really awesome in their completed form! So cool. That rose and the magic mirror are really awesome. Too bad we can't watch the show. It looks like a lot of hard work was put into making it look great.
Hello, old friend!
Thanks so much for dropping by. Yes, the play was fantastic. Every production I have seen by this amazing director and middle school company has been over the top.
Great to "see" you, thanks for stopping in. :D
A lot of time and money goes into theater as does a lot of work for a post like this. Thanks my dear friend @creatr for such an outstanding post.
Thank you, Troy.
This is one of the most interesting posts I've seen on steemit. I've done amateur theater and never seen backstage at a "real" production. It's like everything I remember except a lot, lot cooler and much more nicely done. What theater is this?
Hi, my friend @vdux,
I'm glad you find this interesting. I am remiss in that I did not include some links to the earlier posts about this. I will edit the post and add them for your enjoyment; Please check back...
Update is done!
This was performed at the California Center for the Arts, in their smaller of two theaters.
I, too, love theater. So glad to hear you enjoyed this. :D
Much more to come, Stay tuned! ;)
I was just thinking that was the nicest school theater I'd ever seen! Any chance we might see some video of the props in action?
This post reminds me of my school days
When I was in school, I used to participate in drama And I also won a lot of awards
Cool!
Always interesting to get a peek behind the curtains and see the gear you made!
Thanks!