Side Tab Curtains

Ours are dead hung on track with a central pivot. They can be trimmed in to frame a box set, rotated to german mask, or positioned parallel to the borders for dance portals. We also have full stage travelers upstage and midstage that act as tabs when opened. We have no fly gallery and no main tab. Our apron is not usable as an independent acting area, so that's what works for us.
 
Last edited:
We have a dead-hung traveller track running US/DS on both sides with three sections of curtains that cover the whole length when fully extended. We also have a couple of black full-stage travellers that can be used as legs when open, but we have a full height grid so those can fly out when not in use. The legs by themselves don't fully mask the wings, so adding the tabs helps a lot with that. They can also just be used by themselves to make the stage a little bigger or just provide a different look. In that arrangement we leave a gap between the tabs and the proscenium for one entrance on each side.

If the design of the building allowed for the legs to do a better job of masking, then our tabs would be optional--but still appreciated for the extra versatility. I wouldn't mind being able to fly them out for storage, but just being on a traveller is good enough to get them mostly out of the way when not in use.
 
We nut ball them when not in use.
Nut ball? Nutball!*

IF it is, as I suspect, the below... where were you during that thread?

New, semi-related topic:
What's it called when one twists the bottom of a leg and then takes the bottom and stuffs it into the pocket created (in order to get it off the floor and out of the way when it wont fly out)? Is there a term for this? Does everyone know this trick?

*According the to 2001 (Has it really been twenty years!?) film Jacka$$, nutball is a sophomoronic game played by inebriated, under-clothed males in dorm rooms.
 
Last edited:
Mine are on dedicated line sets that can be flown all the way out. They run perpendicular to the rest of the stage rigging so they did some interesting things to get them in that position. They are on a track that allows them to be repositioned as needed. My only complaint is I wish the track was longer and I had a couple more curtains that were narrower. I often take hand spring clamps and clip a side tab to the off stage edge of a leg, this creates a "return" corner at each entrance for even better masking. I then painted red lines into the floor that show the line you can not cross or you will be seen. It helps a lot in keeping the kids off stage.
 
We have a dead-hung traveller track running US/DS on both sides with three sections of curtains that cover the whole length when fully extended. We also have a couple of black full-stage travellers that can be used as legs when open, but we have a full height grid so those can fly out when not in use. The legs by themselves don't fully mask the wings, so adding the tabs helps a lot with that. They can also just be used by themselves to make the stage a little bigger or just provide a different look. In that arrangement we leave a gap between the tabs and the proscenium for one entrance on each side.

If the design of the building allowed for the legs to do a better job of masking, then our tabs would be optional--but still appreciated for the extra versatility. I wouldn't mind being able to fly them out for storage, but just being on a traveller is good enough to get them mostly out of the way when not in use.
This is pretty much the set-up we have, with the tab tracks hung from the catwalks to either side of the stage. Wish we didn't need them, but the legs would have to be insanely close together to block sightlines to the wings without them.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back