Author Topic: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue  (Read 4859 times)

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Beatr79

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Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« on: Jan 18, 2014, 10:38 am »
Link to story about opening night of Machinal at Roundabout this Sunday.  The show must go on...with a crew plucked from the audience.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/186637-PLAYBILL-ON-OPENING-NIGHT-MachinalA-Showstopper-The-Set?tsrc=hph

PSMKay

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Re: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« Reply #1 on: Jan 18, 2014, 04:36 pm »
I wonder if there has been a motorized turntable that has not broken at a crucial moment in a production somewhere.

lsears

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Re: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« Reply #2 on: Jan 18, 2014, 05:58 pm »
I'm pleased to say that the last two shows I did on turntables only had issues during tech - none during performances!  But we never said that aloud or commented on our luck until closing.

iamchristuffin

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Re: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« Reply #3 on: Jan 18, 2014, 06:37 pm »
That became a thing on the last show I did with Automation - if you didn't mention how long it was since it last broke, it would be fine....

GalFriday

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Re: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« Reply #4 on: Jan 19, 2014, 07:32 pm »
My IATSE local posted this story. It is nice to see a positive story about Stagehands.

As an Automation person I can say Equipment that is correctly specified, programmed, inspected and maintained can be very reliable...however this is rarely the case and MANY theaters bite off more than they can chew. Including many smaller spaces and a few in NYC. Automation can be incredible but few people take the time to fully understand the implication of automating the entire playing space. Just my two cents.

I am currently running a show with an 18,000 pound set piece that moves throughout the show and is a show canceller if it does not. I programmed it carefully and set up a very specific inspection and maintenance plan....and most of the tech team think I am a pain in the ass regarding that. We just celebrated our 1,000th show without ONE lost to automation.

As a side note we have lost about 50 shows to casting because we do not have swings...hmm.
"Now the best way to learn the theater, always, is to be a stage manager" - Stephen Sondheim

kiwitechgirl

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Re: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« Reply #5 on: Jan 20, 2014, 10:29 pm »
I wonder if there has been a motorized turntable that has not broken at a crucial moment in a production somewhere.

How appropriate that I read this topic after we had to stop a Magic Flute matinee today because the revolve didn't want to revolve...we did get going again fairly quickly though!

MatthewShiner

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Re: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« Reply #6 on: Jan 21, 2014, 12:24 am »
I did a show with three concentric turn tables.

75% of the time we had some turntable error - made by a major scenery house, major theater company.

automation is fun sometimes.
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

kiwitechgirl

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Re: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« Reply #7 on: Jan 25, 2014, 03:42 am »
Now this is scary.  Show delayed by half an hour due to the revolve not revolving (different show and revolve from the one earlier this week!) and it looks like we'll be doing a concert version because it does not want to turn.

PSMKay

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Re: Broadway Opening with Major scenic issue
« Reply #8 on: Jan 25, 2014, 06:46 am »
I think a lot of small houses don't realize that turntables count as automation. They look at a "lazy susan" turntable in a kitchen cabinet and don't think about how the physics scale upwards once you stick tons of stuff on it. Not to mention every kid who did "Noises Off" in drama club can say they've got experience working with revolves, but there's a huge difference between a crew of 10 kids pushing and a system with finicky servos.

It's tough to kill someone with a revolve. It's tough to injure more than your pride if a revolve breaks. It doesn't get the attention of other flashier elements of a set.

So you get build shops that don't take them seriously staffed by folks working way over their heads assembling a device on which the entire set relies while focusing primarily on other things.

 

riotous