What to do with show scenery

[jcfalc01]

I have been associated with our high school theatre for about 6 years. I am the TD and my problem is that we build very extensive sets but have no storage space. Does anyone have any ideas of how we might be able to get more use out of the pieces?

I've always wondered if a couple of schools could tandem up on the shows; especially if school #2, 3, etc. don't have an extensive shop facility. I would love to see my sets get more use than just our run. For example, we just concluded "Gypsy" this past fall and I have individual cut out letters for GYPSY that have about 150 light sockets wired and ready to go. We also made marquee lights for our proscenium that are on a 4 bulb chase. Lots of drilling and wiring, etc. but I will need to discard them as of August or September due to space constraints.

Any suggestions?

 

[lieperjp]

We have the same problem here too. Our solution is to save what we can by taking it apart and hopefully reusing it again. If no one remembers what show it is from (the program is student run, so a limit of 5-6 years old), then we toss it.

If there's a chance you're going to use them again, look for a storage facility that is perhaps outside of your school. Problem is, this will cost $$$ and lots of time to move everything out.

You could also look into some "Pods" or steel shipping containers to put scenery in.

Also, another time consuming task is to take everything apart and store the pieces if you can. Or just the pieces you want.

Or post the set on ebay

 

[Van]

This is a conundrum not limited to High Schools alone. I struggle with this issue every season. I have the reputation of being quite a pack-rat, but with my budgets, re-using everything I possibly can is imperative. Storage is always the issue, well, that and the efficacy of saving everything from a show. I've developed a bit of a knack over the years for being a good judge of what is re-usable and what is trash. I try to keep anything even remotely "stock", I store some reusable stuff until I can get an ad on Craigslist. I like your idea co-oping with another school. If at all possible you might look into purchasing one of those semi boxes, the kind designed to go from truck to train to truck, I know that around here you can pick them up fairly cheaply and they provide excellt storage space. I even know a couple of folks who've turned them into workable shop space.
My former Master Carpenter did his dissertation on "Green Theatre" and I'm happy to find out there are a lot more schools out there offering degres / specialities with this concept in mind. With the focus on all things Environmental I think we're going to be seeing this question a lot more and I can't wait to see some of the solutions that come about because of it.

 

[derekleffew]

...We also made marquee lights for our proscenium that are on a 4 bulb chase. Lots of drilling and wiring, etc. but I will need to discard them as of August or September due to space constraints.

Any suggestions?

See this thread: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/13935-question-about-proscenium-lighting.html. Perhaps we could get you together with stayfree12? A portal from Gypsy gets new life for Hello Dolly, and goes on to Cabaret, Producers, or Chicago?

Designing your shows with an eye towards reusable stock units may seem limiting, but you'll save time and money, allowing for creativity in other areas.http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/members/stayfree12.html Keep platforms only in 4x8, 4x6, 4x4; and flats 12' high in 1,2,3,4,5 foot widths, things like that.

 

[arik52]

What exactly do you mean by "no storage space"? At my high school, we have no storage space, but we store all stock flats/platforms/wood in our shop and the SR wing of our stage. Presumably, you'll use a good amount of flats/platforms for every show, opening up the space you used to store them so that you can consolidate and open your stage and wing back up for the show.

As for stuff like the Gypsy letters, we have almost the exact same thing with a Cabaret sign for Cabaret. We unwired it, and have used the lights since (and it's only been one year) for other productions, so you never know when you'll need them again, and with minimal budget, recycling is ideal. Our Cabaret sign, along with most of our other show-specific set pieces is hung up on the wall of our shop as decoration. Generally these type of pieces get hung up for decoration, reused if possible, given to the students who work on it, or just plain thrown out.

 

[Les]

What exactly do you mean by "no storage space"? At my high school, we have no storage space, but we store all stock flats/platforms/wood in our shop and the SR wing of our stage. Presumably, you'll use a good amount of flats/platforms for every show, opening up the space you used to store them so that you can consolidate and open your stage and wing back up for the show.

Every space is different, and I'm betting that many of us here are dealing with small shops and/or wing space. Using wing space as storage might even be against the rules in some places. I think many people here are talking about storing one-off set pieces like archways, decorative gates, Music Man train cars, etc as opposed to revolving set pieces such as platforms and flats. We had a problem with storing step units (among MANY other things) in the community theatre where I used to work. There were so many of them in all these different widths and heights. One upside down on top of another and we still didn't have the room. And then there were all these couches, tables and chairs... It never ended.

 

[waynehoskins]

Yep, save what you think you can realistically get more use from (the school I've been designing for did Grease this past year, and they worked really hard on the car and saved it to rent or loan out to other groups doing the show locally).

Save what you can reuse, send the rest to the giant toothpick factory in the sky. Unfortunately, no matter how much storage space you have, there's never enough. You know, if your set designers and master carpenters for a season can pull it off, you might be able to repurpose some parts of the set from Show 1 for Show 2 and others for Show 3. That takes a lot of planning and cooperation and pretty much designing the whole season before the build for the first show starts.

 

[arik52]

Have you discussed this issue with the administration? I've found my high school's administration to be very receptive with such matters. Talk to other departments that share space with you and see what open space you can find - music departments or whoever else uses your theatre space. Previously, we've found storage locations in our auditorium's balcony (where we call the show from), under the lip of the stage hidden by some duvateen, in closets that the art department isn't using anymore. Obviously you have to clear all of it with the administration and with overlapping departments, but more than likely you can dig up some free space to store set pieces and props, as long as they're not too too big.

 

[rochem]

Generally, we end up leaving all our old stuff from past shows just lying on the stage somewhere. We always completely clean the stage after shows, but stuff seems to find its way back in there no matter what we do. A number of years ago, our theatre department got ahold of an old 53' trailer from somewhere, which now sits near a practice field at the back of the school. We obviously can't fit large set pieces in here, but anything that can be reused gets put in here. This could be another alternative to the "steel shipping container" someone else suggested. You might even be able to get one donated if a local trucking company had some old trailers that were too beat up for them to use.

 

[Dionysus]

If the sets are half decent you can try what we do around here. There are 4 highschools in the area who sometimes sell or lend set to eachother. In particular the one highschool has a very good trading relationship with the community theatre here.
The theatre has about the same storage space, but way more stuff, so often we let the highschool have any of our stuff we don't need for the price of storing it for us. We also borrow stuff from them when we need something they have.
Saves them and us money in set. And saves some nice pieces from hitting the dumpster as most theatres do regardless.

 

[scenerymaker]

You have to be REAL careful about those 53' trailers. They're habit forming! We now have four of them and a set from our last Easter play sitting on the floor in the way, so we're wishing for a 5th one.

 

[Footer]

Do what we do here... RENT IT....

The theatre I am currently at has one of the largest stocks of rental scenery/costumes in the country. Right now we have two warehouses full of stuff. We build nothing stock, if its built or bought its sent with the show. We build our scenery to pack in one or two trucks. It all fits on rolling racks that we custom build for each piece so a truck can be loaded/dumped in about a half hour. Everything is built to last 10-15 load ins. We spend a lot of time and a lot of money making sure everything fits together correctly and cleanly...

So... that being said...

I doubt that what you are building will hold up all that well to being taken apart, trucked, and put together somewhere else. I know you have great looking pieces, but unless you are building something to be trucked and used again you probably shouldn't. Nothing keeping you from taking it apart and re-using it though.

We also have 2 warehouses that are filled to top with stuff. We have 24 full shows (costumes/props/scenery/sfx). We spend probably 30%-40% more on the shows that will go into rental vs the shows we deem as "throw aways". Now, these rentals allow us to have a higher production value for our shows. It also allows us to trade scenery with other theatres. Right now, we just got Miss Saigon in from another theatre and just sent them Beauty and the Beast. We are both saving money.

 

[NevilleLighting]

I happen to work with Mr. Footer and I can go on for hours about the problems of keeping all these sets. We do indeed have two warehouses full of sets. We normally spend $3-5K per set just on packing issues. I think your best bet is to find other schools in your area that might want to partner with you. Use google and encourage your teachers to network with others and Thespian conferences. The biggest issue comes down to getting it into a truck so make sure that you build pieces that can get into a truck that is rentable in your area. Pieces may have to be built from smaller pieces. Flats may have to hinge. You probably want to aim to get it into a 24' Ryder.

-David