A Few Short Questions... Elongated...

I've received a few comments that merit response as it may help some additional facets of my job.

In no particular order.

Who introduced me to the dogbone?

My Deck Chief did at my job training on the first day I arrived at the theatre. I had one (not the one pictured) with a straight handle that I started with for lack of equipment dispersal. This quickly became remedied by request of the Deck Chief, thus the one pictured currently came to be in my use. The origins of where exactly the idea for the PA's to have the dogbones is somewhat unclear it is safe to venture that since Bill has been choosing the attachment hardware for scenic units that he may be the one who originally started wide circulation of them. They can also be used in the lighting world, though there are specific lighting wrenches that do the job even better. Definitely worth looking into purchasing at UWM.

Prop Storage? Where the heck is it?

Prop storage is in Bravo. Bravo (down the hill near the staff parking lot) is where the prop shop is housed as well as our administrative and stage management offices. When we strike a show's props we load them on the back of our truck (Fancy, yes it's the truck's name) and take them down to the shop, or Harlan's shop (he's our finish carpenter who also builds a good deal of difficult props). From what I've seen of prop storage it is fairly extensive, there are entire sections of storage that I've never seen. One of the more prevalent things that I do see on a regular basis however is a casting of a "dead" Brian Mani... Really very charming late at night...

A rough transition into our next question is what are our rain procedures?

We specifically have weather tracking equipment on site that stage management is constantly looking at to plan our days accordingly. Most of the time we do play in the rain as long as there is not a threat to our actors or crew (namely lighting or extreme weather conditions). Sometimes there may be rain delays to the house (it never happened this season, we changeover in the rain frequently) or hold the actual production. Props, this is specifically for you Sandy, are covered with tarps or brought inside when conditions take a turn. If they are damaged, or mold or mildew we attempt to inform the shops through stage management or address the situation as best possible. Most of the equipment like lights and speakers are weatherproofed to some degree so we leave those out.

The "sail" thing?

That is what we like to refer to as the chute. It is a third of a jeep parachute that is hoisted up at six points on our lighting towers and one point on our permanent structure. After the initial point on the permanent structure the ropes from the lighting towers are tied on and hoisted up, lashed off, and excess rope dressed (this was a huge bane of my existence).  It is a necessity for our actors during warm conditions and shades the stage (it helps parts of the audience sometimes too but it's less for them). We set it up for all shows up the hill during the day (it doesn't effect lighting that way) when it is deemed necessary (wind is not too high, it's not raining, it's too cold, etc.)

Hope this clarifies a little more of the posts that I've already posted.