Rhino Staging
I just got hired on with Rhino Staging to do crew work on shows all around the local area (Portland, OR and Washington venues) Unfortunately they don’t do productions but they do supply crew and operators for a lot of big acts, so I’m looking forward to getting to know some more locals in the industry in the this area.
An Evening with Groucho
I had the good fortune to be tapped by CTPA to light Frank Ferrante’s “An Evening with Groucho.” (Thanks, Kelly!) It was a relatively simple plot to come up with based on his needs and the cues he provided us with. Rick from CTPA did me a huge favor and hung the plot, and I came in the next day to focus it… only to found out on day of show that Frank wanted to be 4 feet further downstage. So, quick LD thinking, I lost the 3rd Electric and refocused the remaining instruments for the looks he wanted. All in all, it worked out pretty good, I got the show programmed quickly and then ran through a couple of very fast tech rehearsals with Frank making changes along the way. What a great show, he and his music director are both incredibly talented. Frank was very friendly and generous with praise for all our hard work. Hope to put some pics up soon!
No Opera wraps up!
We just wrapped up a very successful run of No Opera at the Op’ry House Tonight! at Love’s Street Playhouse. We all had a lot of fun, very few technical difficulties and the cast and crew managed to keep things going strong even when the majority of us got sick in the last week of the show. We’re now gearing up for a summer show / theater camp for the kids and following that “Leaving Iowa.”
Cabaret!
Spent the day loading in and focusing Cabaret at CTPA and had a really good time. Once that was done the patch was set up and the show was ready to go. There was some last minute panic because of a weird problem with the fire alarms in the air handlers triggering the house lights (as if in an emergenc) but thankfully our TD Kelly took the bull by the horns, so to speak, and sorted it out in time for the show. The show was incredible, it was better than the troupe I saw perform it on Broadway many years ago. This production was done by Windwood Theatricals.
It’s a lighting weekend
Spent a good chunk of Saturday prepping fixtures at CTPA for Cabaret which loads in Thursday morning. We have a bunch of new ETC Source4′s and they all needed bench-focusing. We also pulled all the existing fixtures down and benched them as well, including a ton of older 6×9 and 6×16 Altman’s. Today we’ll begin actually hanging the plot. Also, in between all of that I’m trying to get the lighting in order for No Opera which is due to start tech rehearsals next week, but that’s a bit less complicated and it’s right next door, so I can go do it in my pajamas if need be!
Magic that Rocks – CTPA
I’m very excited to have worked my first show at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts – Curtis Adams / Magic that Rocks We did load-in beginning at 8:00 – a single semi with all the lighting and set gear. We had everything hung and ready for focus by about 1:00 PM. The rig consisted primarily of High-End Systems x.Spots, a few Cyberlights and some conventionals (PAR-64, ETC Source4, 8-way audience blinders) Everything was controlled with a Wholehog IPC. We also had a couple of video projects / screens (although there was a minor projection problem with one) It was an incredible show and Curtis Adams and his road crew were very friend, professional and fun to work with. Also, I’d like to thank Kelly Ragsdale for having me. I enjoyed working at CTPA with all their great local stagehands. Looking forward to Cabaret on April 15th! (forgive the crappy pic, I took it with my cellphone!)
Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts – Grand Reopening
Jeff and Melinda Leuthold of Love Street Playhouse invited me to join them and their daughter Ellen for a trip up to Longview, Washington to check out the grand re-opening of the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts. I immediately fell in love with the space. It was built in 1925, almost demolished in the 80′s and saved at the last minute by the eruption of Mount Saint Helen’s (talk about luck!) They recently completed a multimillion dollar renovation, and the place is amazing. It reminds me a lot of the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City. The stage was amazing, with a completely new grid / fly system, electrics, dimming and ETC Ion control over ETCNet3. After seeing the theater, I knew I’d love to work here and it was close to home, so I applied to be on the lighting crew. I met with their technical director Kelly Ragsdale and was brought on-board! My first show with CTPA is March 25th – Curtis Adams – Magic that Rocks!
A Christmas Pudding
We were able to convince Melinda over at Love Street that she needed a show for Christmas this year (It’s A Wonderful Life was wonderful last year) so in short order she was able to put together A Christmas Pudding, which was a show with actors reading different Christmas themed monologues, along with choir pieces and musical interludes. Everyone did a great job, as always, and it really brought the warmth of the season to our little playhouse! Merry Christmas!
Steel Magnolias – Track lighting, anyone?!
Just wrapped up a wonderful production of Steel Magnolias at Love Street. We had a blast and the ladies did a great job. The show turned out to be very popular and we had a lot of full houses. During the show strike we all took turns putting on wigs and getting our photos taken (No! I will not post them)
Congratulations Beth and Eric
I had the privilege of taking out the 5D Mark II for it’s first full project, the marriage of my friend Beth to her sweetheart Eric. The footage looks incredible and I am now in the process of getting the edit going for their wedding DVD. I’ll post some clips up soon.
In order to make sure I was as prepared as possible, I bought an extra LP-E6 battery, an AC power adapter for the 5D, a 501HDV fluid head for my tripod and an extra 32GB CF card which gave me the ability to shoot nearly 3 hours without missing a thing. Luckily I also had my laptop with me which permitted me to dump the CF card that was full while shooting on the other one. Next up on the list of kit to buy are a couple of good prime lenses, 50/85mm and a good 200-300mm telephoto. I also really need to get a 15mm rail / follow-focus and matte box system. I’m thinking Redrock Micro, when I can afford it. Can’t wait for the next project to use the 5D.
