Chris Rigby
Member
I am involved with a production of "The King and I" that just recently closed. A major part of the set for this production involved two rows of pillars/arches, as well as a large roof, all of which are hung from batons that are part of our single-purchase counterweight system. In total, 3 batons are in use for the purpose of rigging the set, 2 for column/arch pieces, and 1 for the roof piece. While initially rigging this system proved difficult, it was manageable. However, the removal of these pieces from their batons is proving to be an issue. In the process of initially rigging the set, each baton was properly weighted in order to keep everything balanced. The issue is that once a set piece is removed from a baton, we now have an extremely arbor heavy system due to each set piece being two to three hundred pounds.
We experienced this unbalance first hand at the removal of the first set piece (a pillar/arch set.) We flew in the baton while volunteers lowered the set piece to the floor. The fly-in was difficult, but nothing not that we couldn't handle. The problem occurred once the set piece was removed. At that point, the arbor was 2-3 feet below the loading deck in the sky, and the crew on the fly stem was struggling to keep it there. Due to this, it was determined that it would be a much safer choice to lower the arbor and reweight the arbor from the fly rail. Unfortunately, the crew on the fly rail could not contain the descent of the arbor, and the call was made to scatter as the arbor came crashing down, shattering the bottom guide, coming loose from the guide rail, and engaging the safety stop.
At the conclusion of this event, as well as an inventory of the health of the crew and the integrity of the fly system, our technical director called it and night and made the decision to reconvene at a later time to attempt the removal of the remaining set pieces from the last two batons.
However, we are still at a loss as to the best way to remove such a heavy load from a baton, without the capability to remove the needed amount of weight from the arbor, immediately following loss of weight on the baton. I was wondering if anybody has suggestions regarding this problem, and hopefully a much easier, safer solution than some of the ideas we have had.
We experienced this unbalance first hand at the removal of the first set piece (a pillar/arch set.) We flew in the baton while volunteers lowered the set piece to the floor. The fly-in was difficult, but nothing not that we couldn't handle. The problem occurred once the set piece was removed. At that point, the arbor was 2-3 feet below the loading deck in the sky, and the crew on the fly stem was struggling to keep it there. Due to this, it was determined that it would be a much safer choice to lower the arbor and reweight the arbor from the fly rail. Unfortunately, the crew on the fly rail could not contain the descent of the arbor, and the call was made to scatter as the arbor came crashing down, shattering the bottom guide, coming loose from the guide rail, and engaging the safety stop.
At the conclusion of this event, as well as an inventory of the health of the crew and the integrity of the fly system, our technical director called it and night and made the decision to reconvene at a later time to attempt the removal of the remaining set pieces from the last two batons.
However, we are still at a loss as to the best way to remove such a heavy load from a baton, without the capability to remove the needed amount of weight from the arbor, immediately following loss of weight on the baton. I was wondering if anybody has suggestions regarding this problem, and hopefully a much easier, safer solution than some of the ideas we have had.