Les Miserables Scenery

[DarkCorner]

Hey guys,
Our school, CRGS in Colchester, has just got the rights to perform the schools edition of Les Mis in December - and I have the joyous task of designing and building the scenery... For various reasons we are working on a highly limited budget, however everyone involved is looking at this as the big show. It should be the best we've done in the memory of current student and staff, as well as remaining so for a long time to come. It is also likely to be my last major show before I leave the school after many years, so I want to go out with a bang! The stage we have is pretty big, but doesn't have any form of official fly rail and the wings are ridiculously small... Having had preliminary discussions with the director, we have come up with some basic ideas - I know have to work out how to make them feasible...
He wants to have a raised area at the back of the stage to add more dimensions, and wants that to remain throughout the show, this should be fine as we already have steel deck. However, we have decided that we need to come up with some way of indicating two separate halves of the stage, as if separated by a gate for the 'heart full of love' scene. We also want to do the barricade properly and make a spectacle of Javert's suicide. As mentioned before, there really isn't any space in the wings for scenery, so anything big, like the barricade needs to transform from something else which has been on stage since the start of the show... In terms of the bridge scene, I was thinking of pulling a piece of the steel deck forward centre stage from the raised back section - but haven't worked out how to convert normal steel deck and scaffold poles into a wheeled truck... We are also extending the stage forward with more steel deck, so thought we could lower one of these pieces during the scene so the actor falls through the stage...
So, long winded explanation over, these are the questions:
1. How to build a barricade which can stay on stage for the whole show
2. How to create a sense of separation
3. How to make normal steel deck into a wheeled truck
4. How to drop down a piece of steel deck mid-show
Any help, alternative ideas or things i've missed please do say.

 

[TheaterEd]

1. A quick youtube search found me this link Les Miserables 2012 [FULL RECORDING] - YouTube
I believe they achieve a version of what you are looking to do with the barricade at around the 1:21:30 mark.

2. I'd see if you can get away with two pools of light on either side of the stage with darkness dividing them. The audience can fill in the blank.

3. Good luck with that
4. On a budget? I have no idea how you would do this safely. Whatever you end up doing though, make sure your actor is trained by a professional if it is an kind of substantial fall that he is to take.

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[kicknargel]

Agree with Ed. Seems many current regional versions of this show (including one we're building) involve rolling staircases of some sort that reconfigure for various settings.

For your wagon/truck: if you can post pictures of your "steel deck" we might have better suggestions on how to put it on wheels.

For #4: Sorry, no. Forget it. You'd need an experienced professional stage engineer, thousands (or tens) in materials, and an experienced, professional stunt coordinator. Look for a more theatrical technique. Remember, no one is going to think he actually dies, so turn it into art.

 

[AudJ]

4. We just flew a hand rail, which sat on the stage for the scene, and when he stepped off, good lighting, a (carefully spotted) fly out of the hand rail, and good acting made it look very impressive. No stunt training required. With no fly, maybe move the handrail different direction backward or up your raised set on rails as he falls? Just brainstorming...

 

[Les]

4. We just flew a hand rail, which sat on the stage for the scene, and when he stepped off, good lighting, a (carefully spotted) fly out of the hand rail, and good acting made it look very impressive. No stunt training required. With no fly, maybe move the handrail different direction backward or up your raised set on rails as he falls? Just brainstorming...

+1, that's what we did when I did the show. Coupled with a very hazy atmosphere, blue lighting and a water ripple effect light, we called it a day. As mentioned, if you don't have a fly, you can still do this within reason. Hire a rigger to install a couple of pick points and pulleys/blocks to be operated off stage. Could be done as long as it's done professionally. The railing doesn't need to be heavy or fancy. We used a painted section of vinyl fencing for ours.

 

[DarkCorner]

Agree with Ed. Seems many current regional versions of this show (including one we're building) involve rolling staircases of some sort that reconfigure for various settings.

When you say 'rolling staircase, what do you mean exactly? I'm not quite up to date with these technical terms I must admit.

We were fast coming to similar conclusions with the bridge, it would seem H&S weren't too happy with a student jumping off a raised platform... And we've flown things in before so we should be able to manage that one without too much difficulty. Does anyone know of sites selling relatively low cost fly cord that we could use for it though?

 

[Amiers]

We always grabbed a manikin from the wardrobe department when we had to do stunts that were from a decent distance. With the right lights and 'slight of hand' for a better term creates and actual drop. It also gets a great reaction from the audience when they think someone is actually falling.

 

[kicknargel]

By "rolling staircase" I mean a staircase on casters (wheels), that actors and/or stagehands can move to different locations on stage to suggest different settings. Maybe they have a landing in the middle, with and upper section of stairs at 90 degrees to the lower. Or whatever--possibilities are endless. Two of these working together can create quite a few configurations.

Of course you'll need some kind of good brakes / floor bolts, etc to make these stable when being climbed.

 

[lwinters630]

By "rolling staircase" I mean a staircase on casters (wheels), that actors and/or stagehands can move to different locations on stage to suggest different settings. Maybe they have a landing in the middle, with and upper section of stairs at 90 degrees to the lower. Or whatever--possibilities are endless. Two of these working together can create quite a few configurations.

Of course you'll need some kind of good brakes / floor bolts, etc to make these stable when being climbed.

This is probably too late for your show, but those looking in the future for similar solutions.
Take a look at these videos (pt 1,2,3) of our HS production of Les Miserables on YouTube.
The stairs were 3 sets of short flights and 3 sets of tall flights. They would configure in many ways to create the Docks, Tenardias, village, ABC and the barricades. 3/8 steel rod bent to a 3" wide square u-bolt type to drop into lock two section together.
For the suicide, we flue out a railing "bridge" as he stepped off at ground level with "water look" lights.