I have been kicking this problem around in my head for a few days and cant seem to make everyone involved pleased. This may get a little long so please bear with me.
The circumstances:
We are putting on Arsenic and Old Lace this fall but are having many conflicts with using the stage. the proscenium is 38' wide x 18' high. The stage is 25' deep, with a 6' deep structure DS of the back wall, reducing the effective depth to 19'. Wings are 15' wide x 25' deep (minus some obstructions such as duct work and stairwells). The set for the show (pdf attached) is 33'wide x 15' deep. The set is being constructed from stock 4'x8' panels we have from the last show so that major investment is taken care of. I can suspend things from the grid and do short lifts but there is no flyspace.
The Problem:
The stage is rented to an Irish dance troop which is very large, every monday night through june, and the schools open house is 2 days before tech week starts. The various bands and other arts events need the stage space for open house. The set is an issue in both cases because it disrupts so much space.
As usual budget is really tight. just to give you the idea of how tight; i need 150$ for some 2x4's, 1x3's and a sheet of ply, ive been asking for it for weeks, and they wont give it to me. I've told the AHJ that i can assemble the set into large pieces with lots of temp. bracing, and assemble it last minute but it would require more bracing, which means more money. Also the director wants to be able to put the students on set for blocking as fast as i can build it.
I just need to know if anyone has any ideas on how to make the set "collapsible" and be able to quickly dress the seems after it is re-assembled. Once open house is over the set can be fixed in place. i was thinking of lift jacks after seeing the recent post about them but that's just as expensive as tons of bracing and dragging the pieces around.
Thanks for your help.
The circumstances:
We are putting on Arsenic and Old Lace this fall but are having many conflicts with using the stage. the proscenium is 38' wide x 18' high. The stage is 25' deep, with a 6' deep structure DS of the back wall, reducing the effective depth to 19'. Wings are 15' wide x 25' deep (minus some obstructions such as duct work and stairwells). The set for the show (pdf attached) is 33'wide x 15' deep. The set is being constructed from stock 4'x8' panels we have from the last show so that major investment is taken care of. I can suspend things from the grid and do short lifts but there is no flyspace.
The Problem:
The stage is rented to an Irish dance troop which is very large, every monday night through june, and the schools open house is 2 days before tech week starts. The various bands and other arts events need the stage space for open house. The set is an issue in both cases because it disrupts so much space.
As usual budget is really tight. just to give you the idea of how tight; i need 150$ for some 2x4's, 1x3's and a sheet of ply, ive been asking for it for weeks, and they wont give it to me. I've told the AHJ that i can assemble the set into large pieces with lots of temp. bracing, and assemble it last minute but it would require more bracing, which means more money. Also the director wants to be able to put the students on set for blocking as fast as i can build it.
I just need to know if anyone has any ideas on how to make the set "collapsible" and be able to quickly dress the seems after it is re-assembled. Once open house is over the set can be fixed in place. i was thinking of lift jacks after seeing the recent post about them but that's just as expensive as tons of bracing and dragging the pieces around.
Thanks for your help.