It depends a lot on the building skills in your
theatre and how much time you are willing to put into the task.
During the show "Cats", we built a lift mechanism for the tire at the end of the performance. It needed to move it 2 and 1/2 times the starting height. After many design attempts, I realized that "Genie" lifts due this all the time, so I designed the mechanism to work pretty much the same as a "Genie". Because Aluminum
channel is so expensive and requires
TIG welding, we built it with steel
channel. We welded channels back to back and made internal rollers out of delron
stock. In the Genie lift a hydraulic piston, moves one section and that section moves the next by using bicycle type chains fixed at points on the various sets of tracks. In my case, hydraulic was not something that I was familiar enough to feel comfortable to use. I instead use cable rollers on fixed shafts from the first and second
unit. I used a Harbour Freight
hoist to pull the cable, which as it pulled the rollers closer together, it lifted the second section, which in turn using the chain would pull up the third
unit and then the fourth the same way. On the first test, all of the
roller shafts collapsed. I Fixed that with harder steel shafts and more mounting points. On the second attempt. The "
Idler shafts" That the Delron idlers rode on bent. Again closer mounting points and harder shafts solved the problem. Then we had to add some Delron guides to the bottom of all the tracks, for more stability when the lift was as full height.
I started on this device 7 weeks before
blocking rehearsals.
One might say that it was crude or too much effort, but we used it in 25 performances plus rehearsals. Then we sold it to another
theatre that did about the same number of performances and on and on. The last I heard of it, it had been used by five theatres and had done over 200 activations and never failed.
It is possible to make that small
stage rise, it just requires inginuity and building skills. You first need to assess if your show really will
gain from the
effect, then if you have the skills to
build it with a
level of
safety and reliability. In our case the audiences' reaction, made the effort of building the
effect, every
bit worth the time and labor.
Tom Johnson
Florida's Most Honored Community Theatre