Bodybuilder Event wants to Spray Tan?

[malex]

So I have a Bodybuilding Competition booked in our (very old) theatre and they seem to want to block off 2 hours for spray tanning their competitors. Has anyone dealt with this? Is this do-able in a dressing room? I would rather them be outside, but as they won't be wearing much (or anything at all?), I'm guessing that they're gonna want to do it inside. Am I going to have tan dressing rooms afterward?

 

[TheaterEd]

I've never dealt with this one before, but if you have carpet in your dressing rooms I would say no. Are you near an athletic facility with a group shower area? I know my college theater was near the dance rehearsal halls which had large showers.

Otherwise, have them rent a tent and do it outside.

Just my $2/100
Good luck.

 

[Calc]

I deal with this every year. We have a group that's been coming here for at least 10 years. Here's what we do:

• The spray tan is usually done inside some sort of tanning booth. Like a canvas tent of sorts. This keeps the spray from getting all over wherever they do it. The major precaution to look out for here is that they'll be walking around in their bare feet.
• Our group also asks for an area backstage to oil up immediately before judging, where they (I kid you not) spray each other down with Pam (yes, the nonstick cooking spray). It makes them look sweaty, and the shine gives better muscle definition. Anyway, Home Depot sells some painting dropcloth that is plastic on one side and canvas on the other. Comes in a couple sizes (4x6, 3x12, I think there's a 2x20 roll). Buy lots of this, and make them an area at least 10x10 or so. The spray will still get around a little, but this will catch the worst of it while still providing a nonslip surface for them to do it on.
• Buy some of the longer strips of the above mentioned cloth to make paths across any carpeted areas. Most of the competitors will wear sandals to avoid leaving footprints and to protect their feet, but better safe than sorry.
• Make sure you set a cost for any cleanup/damage. One of the first few years, a guy left a big orange hand print in the bathroom right over one of the urinals. That stuff won't come off, and we had to paint to get rid of it.
• When the event is over, EVERYTHING will be oily. It's gross. Plan some time to wipe everything down with soap and water the next day, and to air the place out to get rid the smell of bronzer.

It's really not as bad as it sounds. Just make sure you're prepared for it.

 

[What Rigger?]

 

[len]

So I have a Bodybuilding Competition booked in our (very old) theatre and they seem to want to block off 2 hours for spray tanning their competitors. Has anyone dealt with this? Is this do-able in a dressing room? I would rather them be outside, but as they won't be wearing much (or anything at all?), I'm guessing that they're gonna want to do it inside. Am I going to have tan dressing rooms afterward?

Make a clean room. If you're not sure how, watch re-runs of Dexter. Seriously, just get some plastic sheeting, tape off the room, and get a couple extra fans and maybe a small portable air conditioner to keep the temperature down. Still going to be some spray, but I don't think it's toxic or going to last forever. Maybe charge them a higher security and cleaning deposit.

 

[malex]

Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to ask them what THEY will be doing to protect OUR venue. The spray Pam is an unexpected twist. I'm sure they wouldn't tell me about it and I would be freaking out the next day. Unfortunately, this is a University event and the Student Bodybuilding Organization is not required to pay for the use of the venue, so no deposits or penalties. I can set whatever restrictions I feel are necessary, though. Good news is I have more student labor budget than I can ever use, so we'll have a nice big work call the next day to give the place a once over.

Reminds me of a Cheerleading event I handled when I was right out of college. Never saw so much glitter in my life. I'm sure its still embedded in every crevice of that poor venue.

 

[kiwitechgirl]

I used to work in a venue which had bodybuilding competitions through. The one which caught us out was that they had used our flyfloor ladder to do standing press-ups on before going on stage and so it was slick with oil. Luckily we realised before anyone came to grief, but like others said, be prepared for EVERYTHING to be oily.

 

[blackisthenewblack]

Make sure to prop all of your doors open with doorstops and cover anything touchable and expensive with drop cloths. Encourage them to not touch anything.
On another note, make sure some of your backstage staff are big and burly. We have had some of these events try to threaten our smaller ushers and crew people to "expand the seating capacity in various and novel ways". Needless to say, that particular group is not welcome anywhere in the city after numerous incidents.

 

[markviml]

We have one of these in our venue each fall. We require them to cover all walls backstage with painting drop cloths, just the light weight throw away ones. This group is very respectful of the facility and has a large crew to do the setup. But we do always find stray handprints on doors, the floor, and a couple places they miss. The toilet seats are particularly amusing afterwards, but clean quite easily. If any go into the audience have your crew check the seats and use spot cleaner if needed. We walked through right after and never found anything that didn't come out.

 

[carllib]

I've worked on a couple of these events. They had pop-up tanning booths set up in one room and then ran butcher block paper from there, down the hallway and then into the wing.

 

[JJBerman]

Cover everything in tarps/cloths including the floor and low ceilings. I've worked with a group that sprays everywhere getting that off brick walls and tile flooring takes a few weeks. We have had some luck with rolls of paper.