Author Topic: Renting a Nutcracker set  (Read 5849 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

EzBrEzPSM

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 12
    • View Profile
  • Experience: Professional
Renting a Nutcracker set
« on: Feb 21, 2014, 12:59 pm »
My company got a new AD who hates our current Nutcracker set. The company (whom I have been with for just over a year now) has been renting this set for as long as anyone can remember, and it has basically be grandfathered-in tha we rent and use it every year. Well that's about to change because the AD hates it, not to mention the years of abuse it has taken along with being a rental set for longer than anyone can remember has taken its toll on the condition of the pieces.

The board declined the request to have a new one designed and built, so we're sticking to the same budget but looking for a different rental set that the AD likes that we can rent in place of the one he doesn't like.

I've been to kenmark, grosh, backdrops beautiful and every other drop rental site I could find, but in general, while the AD likes many of the Act I drops, but he does not like any of the Act II drops.

I've been calling around to ballet companies in the region and just outside of it, that do not have Nutcracker run dates that coincide with ours, to see what renting their sets will cost, if they're available and if they will rent them. So far, I'm S.O.L. The companies are either expanding their runs and the dates conflict, don't rent their sets, don't own their sets either, or their sets are primarily hard sets and would eat my budget in shipping alone.

Does anyone have any leads on companies I could call (Ballet or Set Rental) to try to find a Nutcracker set to rent for this Dec. 2014 (specific dates are Dec. 6th to deliver and Dec. 15th to ship back). Or any advice on how to refine my searches to make my pursuit more productive?

Thanks in advance!


dance stage manager

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 28
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: Canadian Actors' Equity Association
  • Current Gig: National Ballet of Canada
  • Experience: Professional
Re: Renting a Nutcracker set
« Reply #1 on: Feb 21, 2014, 03:51 pm »
What geographical area are you in?  Are you interested in just a single backdrop?  What kind of image are you looking for? So many Nutcrackers have varried design concepts ... what are the qualities/images that would work with the ACT I drop you might be able to use?  Overall dimensions?

EzBrEzPSM

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 12
    • View Profile
  • Experience: Professional
Re: Renting a Nutcracker set
« Reply #2 on: Feb 21, 2014, 05:35 pm »
I'm in Arkansas.

We're looking for a complete set to keep things simple.

However, our budget can let us construct hard pieces if we just rent all the drops we need, the issue is finding a "Land of the Sweets" drop that doesn't look like it has been copied from the board game candy land.

I've attached some images of the direction I would rather head in the style of the Act II drop. These examples are more detailed than the drops that I've been seeing available for rent at the drop company websites and they also have more specific themes than just candy and ice cream but they still give the sense of scale you look for in the fantasy world of Act II.

Here's what we would need for the entire set with Drops no less that 20' tall X 36' wide.

Act I Drops: winter house exterior(scrim preferably), interior parlor/ballroom drop(possibly with legs/borders), growing x-mas tree, & snow scene/kingdom drop(possibly with legs/borders).
Act I Hard Pieces: Couch or Chaise, Magic toy box and Sleigh

Act II Drops: Land of the Sweets drop (possibly with legs/borders)
Act II Hard Pieces: Clara's Throne

Thanks!

dance stage manager

  • New to Town
  • **
  • Posts: 28
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Affiliations: Canadian Actors' Equity Association
  • Current Gig: National Ballet of Canada
  • Experience: Professional
Re: Renting a Nutcracker set
« Reply #3 on: Feb 22, 2014, 11:50 am »
I'm in Toronto, Ontario - sorry to say I am not particularly familiar with the commercial rental options you will find in your area.  I wonder if you might try searching for ballet companies who have recently refreshed/rebuilt their productions of Nutcracker, and who may still have an older version available for rental.  Some companies I would suggest would be Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and Alberta Ballet (based in Calgary, Alberta).  There is a professional school in Vancouver called the Goh Ballet that has a production, and their performance dates tend to be a bit later in December, not sure if the turnaround time is too tight. Another possibility is Ballet Jorgen in Toronto.  At least you're looking now, not in October ...