Hydraulics for Les Mis barricade

[kweary]

hello friends!

My school wants to do Les Mis next year and we are trying to figure out the barricade. We have less then 15 feet of wing space on each side, so we have to build up and then gave it come down. My question is, I know I need something like a hydraulic to have it come down safely. Any suggestions?

 

[DRU]

Are you trying to recreate the look from the Broadway/London/Touring production with the turntable? The hydraulics for the barricade in that version was done by a hydraulic accumulator, which is basically a hydraulic battery. The accumulator was charged on one side with a compressible fluid (such as air) and with a incompressible fluid (such as hydraulic oil) on the other. When the barricade need to rotate up to fit together, a valve was opened on the oil side, and the air forced the oil out and into cylinders to move it. To go down, the oil was probably released into a reservoir. Unless you have the money and someone who knows hydraulics, this may be out of your reach.

How big is your stage and how is the scenery set up? I did a production of Les Mis in a very small space. During the first act, there was very little space backstage with all the scenery (two staircases and a raised platform) and all the props. For the second act, with the barricade scene at the beginning, we took all the stuff used in the first act and created the barricade (thus emptying backstage). Once the barricade scenes were done, everything went backstage again.

I believe the second tour had wagons that attached to the portals to create the barricade. The possibilities are endless in terms of how to make a barricade appear.

 

[kweary]

no turn table. what we want to do, is have the barricade be tall (probably 15' high x 4' wide stored in the wings) so when it comes down, it would be 15' long x 4' high - does that make sense? then we figure we can make it higher by adding a unit behind it...I've attached a very bad drawing...

 

[JJBerman]

On a side note when is your school planning on doing this production? The reason I ask is because my college was going to perform this show in February 2016 but the rights were pulled due to a national tour going out after July 1 2015.

 

[DRU]

What were you planning to build this out of? Wood? Steel? Both? Does this need to happen backstage or in front of the audience? Is it used for anything else besides the barricade? Making something that tall, that beefy to support actors, and stored in that way makes me nervous. I fear not only when it needs to tip over to become the barricade, but when it decides to tip by itself when someone knocks into it backstage in the dark.

My thought was to build a 4'x4'x4' platform cube with one side open, then nest a smaller cube inside that with an open end, then nest a smaller cube in that, etc, sort of like Russian nesting dolls. You save the space, you don't have a super tall piece of scenery that might tip over, and you can use the pieces for other scenes.

 

[StradivariusBone]

no turn table. what we want to do, is have the barricade be tall (probably 15' high x 4' wide stored in the wings) so when it comes down, it would be 15' long x 4' high - does that make sense? then we figure we can make it higher by adding a unit behind it...I've attached a very bad drawing...

This raises a question of why when it would probably be just as feasible to build it as two wagons that are 4x15' that can be rolled into place. Tipping up a set piece that is that large creates a lot of concerns about safety and logistics. The first thought that comes to mind is that weight has to be at a premium and the piece has to be built as such to have the majority of the weight supported on one corner while it's raised and lowered. If it were a flat I'd see no problem, but I'm guessing you're wanting people to climb on this thing and hop around which means it has to be structurally sound, which means it's going to be heavy.

How are you thinking hydraulics will help here? On the onstage side? I've never built this set, so I don't know the specifics, but it has been discussed on here frequently.

 

[Footer]

That design can be done but it won't be cheap. The forces involved to drop and lift that are rather substantial.... and they will be constantly changing as it moves. Not saying you can't do this, but it will involve a good amount of structural design to do it. Just building the hinge and anchor will be rather involved. Then you have to figure out how to attach a ram to it that can both push the thing down and pull it back up. As the thing goes through its motion the center of gravity will be constantly changing and the forces on the rigging/automation/structure will constantly changing. At one point you will have a 15' cantilever... that is a HUGE load on the center of the moment. Keeping that thing from breaking apart will be a rather large challenge. You will have to have enough power to lift the whole thing then have enough power to keep the thing from slamming into the desk.

So....
-What is your budget?
-How experienced are you in metal work?
-Do you have someone who has done a lot of automation?
-Can you do structural design to ensure you know how much thing thing weights in each position as it moves
-Do you know the load your stage can take?

 

[robartsd]

Personally, I prefer a barracade as @DRU describes - built out of the set pieces needed for other scenes. It looks mroe like a makeshift barricade that would actually built by the characters in the story (though probably quite a bit on the light side) and conserves backstage space.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Rather than hinge to floor, put a pivot in a little ways from end and a lot of counterweight on the short end that rotates off stage and up. Possible to balance it so one person can easily raise or lower it. Think about 1/4 ply on both sides of 1 1/2" Styrofoam (don't get me into fire code issues), pivot centered in 4' width and in as far as possible - but even if just 2' from end, and maybe the down/off stage end is a half round, just more wait but should be easy with foam and ply. Maybe thicker so it can be climbed on. Or if you want it higher - put pivot higher and (which gives more back end for counterweight) and fill in below. Maybe a flipper panel off main piece or maybe even a cloth drop. You need a good pivot but not friction less by any means. I'd think about pipe and speed rail. A couple of sheets of 3/4 ply on end that sandwich the barricade, well anchored, might be fixed base of pivot. And no heavy framing in onstage end - maybe the 1/4 ply and just a one by perimeter framing - carefully made and glued. Think about cement blocks (the solid kind - not cores) or clean pea gravel for counterweight. (Or for a twist on hydraulics - water tanks that you empty and fill to control it! - forget that, we;ll have a pit drowning next.) Better too much weight because easy to add on long end. If you wanted to jazz it up, use a linear actuator to drive it - much cheaper and easier than hydraulics. This will take some calculation but that's the fun part. Make sure the weight is well contained and anchored.

You know - if 6' or so high is what you want - just make the part more than 6' above the floor that wide - because floor space shouldn't matter above head height so much.

Balance is supreme in all things rigging and scenery. Much better than out of balance and brute force.

You might want these to lock or mesh at center, and you might want a jack on back if actors are rough.


Need more compact? do same but shorter pieces and telescope from tilting piece when it's down - so gate closes and an actor grabs a handle on back and pulls it onstage till they meet. Like a plywood box that sleeves over the pivoting part.

 

[woolycd]

We just did Les Mis and we built or barricade on 3 rolling 4x8 platforms.
Then added steps and boxes from previous shows.

We then added some old furniture and other "stuff". Some pieces overhang over the adjacent platform. We stored one piece stage left and two pieces stage right. They were too tall to get out of the auditorium for the first act.

Add some paint and more stuff.
And Act.