This is a quick video showing the Up the Hill changeovers we've done this season. All credit to Phil Wooding, one of my bosses and the Sound Engineer here at APT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QioTFU8-hBM

See if you can spot me!

Striking and Closing Too Many Husbands

Too Many Husbands was the first of our shows to close this season. It was our third to open. This particular show required all of the P.A. staff backstage with the exception of me who ran the sound board. It was a heavy show for props, specifically furniture. As such it had a fairly significant amount of distress on the scenic units, especially the large cityscape flat which I know I've previously mentioned, which brought up the question of what scenery was going to be used.

Directly after the show I had to strike all my sound equipment like normal save for retrieving a wireless receiver and speaker hidden in the baby prop. That was strike for sound and then we did changeover into 2 gents for the next day. The real trick after that was to load all of the larger props, namely furniture, onto the truck and drive them to the prop shop. Now we had to pack a bedroom ( a queen size bed and bed frame, 3 chairs, a desk, small fire pit, a vanity, a pouf) a full kitchen (stove, table, 3 chairs, 2 stools, a large sideboard), a living room (a sofa, 3 chairs, coffee table, small table, and a stove). Oh, and it was raining so we had to cover everything in tarps. It was a gigantic game of helterskelter tetris but we fit it all in on one load.

The scenic strike was broken up a little bit differently because we weren't absolutely sure what was going to the burn pile (most scenery gets burned then whatever is left, mostly steel is salvaged). We organized it such that it was easily accessible for Bill and Nate (TD and ATD respectively) could decide at a later date. They ended up burning the main walls and windows and transporting the cityscape down to the shop for outside projects.

A PA's Best Friend

Friends let me introduce to you the indispensable tool of choice for a PA: 

The Dog Bone.

This precision instrument is a ergonomically curved ratcheting wrench capable of loosening bolts with a head the diameter of either 9/16" or 1/2". It is used on a daily basis. Specifically, the 9/16" is used on all the scenic units Up the Hill and the majority of them in the Touchstone. The primary reason this tool is so important to us is because almost every scenic unit is large enough to require some variety of bolts. It's curved shape helps fit into those tight corners where pesky bolts are hidden. Whether that is a modified stage screw or an assortment of regular bolts it is assured that a dog bone is behind tightening it. It is often used in conjuncture with box wrenches, of the 9/16" variety as well, drift pins, dead blows, screwguns, multitools, and a good amount of good old fashioned human leverage.  It's very durable which is a good thing as it's often used as a hammer as well. Platforms, walls, railings, stairs, are all bound together by the tightening prowess of the bone.

Jokes and specs aside this tool really is indispensable in my day to day duties. It makes bolts quickly without too much hassle and doing things quickly is an essential part of the P.A.'s job. The ratcheting function and the curved handle in conjunction with each other create a versatility that is indispensable on the fly.

Woof!

Time off and going back to school... What a week...

Had a huge weekend last week, as it was the last weekend we had all shows open. There were a few changeovers that had to be done quickly but we've gotten in such a rhythm we've been able to handle them efficiently.

The real trick has been weighing all my commitments with never being at school.  Financially things have been reigned in more than ever.

Getting away from all of that.

I was left a comment asking what could be improved here. So here is my answer to that:

I think the largest thing that is problematic for me is scheduling. Sometimes shows are set up then taken down immediately, only to be put back up again. It has to also be considered that during rehearsal and tech that we have a different set up (maybe putting up the chute or waters). The production assistants almost never know specifically when they will be needed until about 12 hours beforehand, if that.

I would say the fix for that is to have better communication between different department heads but that already happens. I think more than anything else it's just a reality that happens because of the nature of the job description. I don't really want to get into the hypotheticals of narrowing a job description and or hiring more staff because that's just going to create new problems. It's a necessary evil and it works but it is still a pain for everyone.

Another thing that needs mention is the specific packing of the clubhouse. It's packed incredibly tightly at the height of the season with all shows running and it creates issues when we start doing multiple show days. Sometimes we have to assemble specific pieces of a set before a tear down and set up on a two show day. For example when the Hamlet and R&G wall was new it took a long time to put together so we assembled pieces of it in the clubhouse. Not only is it a lengthy process that consumes a lot of space it also changes the dynamic of what is expected of the changeover. Another important piece of information I neglected to mention is we have extra hands helping on the large changeovers like that. We get acting apprentices that aren't busy with shows.

In short, this all leads to a myriad of problems that are fairly unpredictable. The added space, should it be added, would alleviate some of the need to assemble and disassemble the pack. It would also help with traffic flow onto the stage and allow larger scenic units to be stored easily.

I'm sure there are more things that I will think of in coming days but these have been in my mind for some time.

We start student matinees this week so the ever changing process continues.

Also worth mentioning is that PA requests have become more frequent as the season winds down. We've moved out apartments and also done a few maintenance requests. I painted a porch with two of my coworkers today.

I have a number of posts to put out soon as I'm trying to catch up on the old blogging (mostly just tidbits about my most used tools or running shows).