My Theater Dance Card

Dance cards were a thing a lady used to have at a ball - a charming little booklet with an attached dainty gilded pencil to mark down promised dances and her gentlemanly partners.

 Dance card image courtesy of Wikimedia

I've always kept a scribbly, scabby version of a dance card myself, to remember what shows I've promised to design, for which theater group.

Well, I did until covid.

Today (while updating my theater how-to book Alice Through the Proscenium, watch for this new expanded! edition's publication date) I happened to need to refer back in time, to see what shows I was juggling in 2019-2020.  After I remembered that I had a little black book, found it, and blew off the dust, I saw... well, the perfect illustration of just exactly what covid did to the schedules of every theater artist.

Here's my dance card for 2018 and 2019:

Thirteen shows I designed in 2019, for eight different theaters.  In 2020 it was eleven shows, seven theaters, and an Off-Broadway showcase.

Here it is for 2020 and 2021:

Two real shows I designed that actually appeared on stage, one speculative hypnotism show that did not, a cancelation and... blankitude...

That's what covid was like for me and for most of us for those two years.

 Happy New Year!

New year, new projects.  

Today I'm happily sitting down to try to figure out the shape of this set design mentorship I'm starting at Stage West.  (First meeting date has just been set, an hour ago, for January 20th.  It's real!  To quote Almost Famous "It's happening!")  

At the moment this all-important program outline is just a bare list of important dates and critical things-to-achieve...  The students - my students! - will observe two other shows in the making and be really involved with the play I'm designing, Into the Breeches!  The concrete result of this program (besides invaluable scenic knowledge, of course) should be developing their set design portfolios.

I guess we'll be meeting, in person or virtually, once a week or so, to do....

...something-that-I'll-figure-out-here-any-minute...

Though I do have ideas.  A few ideas.  Well, very MANY ideas.  So excited!

Here's a First

 A second post on the same day?  From Ms-Too-Depressed-To-Blog?  But then I found this quote from playwright Tracy Letts (in the NY Times):

"I can’t do the computer theater, it’s too depressing for me, and I’ve turned down a couple of on-camera jobs because I am just as scared of this virus as I was a year ago. Creatively, I’m lost." ...  "I’m guessing there are some other artists who identify."

THIS.

I identify.

A Year Besieged

 Today marks a year of Covid-19 in the U.S.

For me that means a year and 2 days ago I returned from a trip to California, getting my elderly mother back home just before the country closed down.  She had been visiting Texas, had accidentally broken an arm just before flying home, and went through the whole painful process of recovering - well, the first stage of hospitals and rehab - all juuuuust before covid.  Thank god.  We didn't know it, but it would be months before she could have repair surgery and recovered from that.  A painful year - with isolation and worry as frosting.

For me it means a year and 5 days since I was in a theater.  Watching an excellent production of Proof at Murphys Creek Theater in Murphys, California.  (I once designed that show and really liked this production's set!)  A year and eighteen days since I watched the last show I designed: Alabaster at Kitchen Dog Theater, Dallas.  I missed its strike while in California, but that show, my last show, closed a year and two days ago.

Haven't stepped on stage since.

Proof - at Plano Repertory Theatre - sketch & design by Clare Floyd DeVries

So what's different in daily life since a year ago?

While drinking coffee in my car (because coffee shops are not a thing for me nowadays) I jotted down the top few examples:

1)  Masks.  After more than half a million dead in this country, our governor has canceled the state's mask requirement.  (Texas ranks 5th most in the country in new infections.)  Yet today I wore a mask in the coffee hut's drive-though line - as did the coffee hut staff - and then drank it in my car.  I was drinking coffee because someone in my family forgot to take masks this morning for work so I met them part way with masks.  Coffee as good-deed-award!  Then, driving home, I saw two friends walking together in a park, both wearing masks.  Take that, Governor Abbott!  Or, as my favorite comment from the mayor of Austin put it: 

 “From the people who brought you no water and no electricity: no masks.”

Among sensible Texans masks are still a thing.

2)  Distancing.  My household is still cautious, Mr. Governor, sir.  Even though, due to our zip code, we have recently had the first of two vaccine shots.  But we are going out more than a year ago.  This week we ate out twice: once at an early, uncrowded hour on the patio of a favorite restaurant and again one evening at a picnic table outside a fish place.  The pizza was great and the sun that day lovely; the oyster po'boy was also good, but darkness fell and a cool breeze sprang up so that meal was hastier.  Still nice to eat food I didn't personally cook. I'm so tired of my own cooking.  Hot French fries!  Ambrosia!

Since my first vaccine shot I made a couple not-absolutely-necessary excursions.  Well, one.  A bookstore.  It wasn't crowded and I wore a mask and didn't touch much, but I didn't feel I had to grab-n'-go either which was wonderful.  Other than that it's just the grocery store once a week.  Two weeks after I get my second shot I'm planning to first, get a haircut! (it's been since, um, September?) and, second, try on blue jeans.  (I've been living in one pair for a year, wearing PJs or my formal black jeans while THE jeans go round and round in the washing machine and dryer.)  

Sadly, I figured out early on that the most patriotic, helpful thing I personally could do for my fellow citizens in this pandemic was to just stay out of the forking way.  I keep virus from spreading and keep stores uncrowded by staying home.  Sigh.  

3)  Stores.  Stores have changed from a year ago.  Our grocery shelves are mostly full again... kinda.  There's toilet paper!  But fewer brands.  That's true of every shelf - fewer brands and some empty spots where a particular item has run out and not yet been restocked.  Or won't be.  Plenty of hand sanitizer and TP... but no rubbing alcohol.  Lots of soup this week (that aisle was stripped bare during Texas' Deep Freeze!), but fewer brands.  Odds of finding your favorite flavor are iffy.  My store has stopped stocking my favorite tea (Twining's Jasmine Green Tea if you're wondering).  Since it's obvious they don't plan on stocking it again, I'm now ordering it online in big boxes.  I think most folks have an item or twenty they just get online now.  I've noticed grocery can aisles are shorter than in the Before Time, whereas prepared or partially prepared (chopped veg or kits and such) have much more supermarket real estate.  (This struck me as funny during our Deep Freeze weeks.  A friend stocked up for upcoming arctic weather... with freezer/refrigerator food.  The power outage surprised her.  Me, with my weather-proof, unpowered cans, was sympathetic.)

4)  Family and Friends.  A year of Zoom and Skype calls, or regular ol' phone calls, of emails, texts, and, oddly paper letters! later, many casual friendships have disappeared, but other relationships persist.  Now and then I'll synchronize making a cup of coffee with a friend and we'll chat and sip, connected by voices over the aether. It kinda works.  An unexpected problem though: when no one goes anywhere or sees anyone... there's less to talk about.  I've heard about one friend's exciting recent activity four times now - and I react like it's new! every time! because it's just so nice to hear their voice.  On the plus side, I've discovered that it really is possible to make new friends online.  (Carefully, obviously, but it's possible and welcome!)

The hard part is when there is a health issue - as with older relatives there necessarily will be.  Travel by air or car between states is difficult and discouraged; some states have quarantines that add expense and delay; and then hospitals mostly do not allow family to visit.  I'm not arguing with these safety rules!  I only point out that they are hurdles.  I know of folks dealing with illnesses, deaths, funerals, and settling estates during this pandemic... the process is even more painful than before.  And, honestly, this is in a family that's been blessedly, lightly touched by covid, losing one person to date, not more.  And also, for the most part, blessedly untouched by the economic fallout too. 

5) Economy and Society.  The economic fallout from covid is very real.  I see it most, personally, in the state of theater, which is Closed. (I'm out of work, yes, but I'm still housed and fed so I'm grateful.  Others?  Not so lucky.)  Theater will come back - with or without me.  Part-reason for my confidence about that is that more covid-relief seems to be finally on its way from Washington.  That will help.  Vaccinations, proceeding faster now, will help too.  Theater can't reopen until the pandemic is controlled.  The greater political situation... well, who knows?  No one, that's who.  But it looks more hopeful than it did a year ago.

So.  A strange year passing.  And, approaching, comes a strange new "normal."

I look forward to it hopefully.

Catch-Up Post

 What, you ask, have I been up to in that long blank period when I wasn't posting here?

Sadly, it wasn't theater.  Theater is shut.  

But it did include a lot of Minecraft building - a sanity-saving outlet for design energy this past year.  And here's a You Tube vid to prove it:

The server is hosted by Astrophagy who recruited four others (so far) to help him build a city he first imagined in a D&D game.  I love turning story into settings so, you know, perfect!  And I've been building a lot on another friend's server too - I'll post a few pictures later.

Other adventures include a strange and wonderfully Outside-of-My-House! driving trip to the west coast back in October/November.  Travel now... well, I wouldn't travel now... but those few months ago the virus was in a bit of a lull and we were very very careful.  Fantastic!  We safely saw family and got some work done on a remodel and just generally enjoyed the out-of-houseness of it all - before returning to lock the house door behind us again, basically.  The trip feels like year ago already.  Quiet holidays.  

Back to quarantine.  It's getting very bad in Dallas.

I do have a few small projects to finish and a big writing project - the second edition of Alice Through the Proscenium to get back to.  

Waiting for spring...  Can you believe my confused tomato plant has three tiny tomatoes on it?

Siege - Day 128

Oh, this is lovely... Judi Dench laying down the law on acting:

Siege - Day 106

Theater news?  Broadway won't open this year.

Locally, various theaters are trying video and tiny audience and outdoor shows... we'll see if any of these attempts work.  Since Actors' Equity isn't allowing members to sign contracts right now, it's all experimental.  And at least one theater person I know is at their wits end on how to make a living right now.

Especially in Texas, where the coronavirus is spreading wildly.

My studio here is more full this week - my on-again-off-again home office mate is back (thank goodness!) because now three people in his office have sick family, so have been exposed and could potentially expose everyone in the office.  Home behind the blue door again!  Let's hope it's safer at home.

But I was out briefly this morning to early-vote in the primary.  I wondered how safe that would feel, but actually it was fine: lots of room, lots of precautions.  November may be different.

Siege - Days 26 and 27 Eastertide

Happy Easter!

It's a perfect Easter morning here: overnight showers have stopped and blue sky peeks through fluffy white clouds, sunbeams make the new leaves glow impossibly green and sparkling wet.  The strange little flowers that have been returning from bulbs planted thirty years ago are blooming - they look a little alien - but the red-orange begonia looks homely and familiar.  The tomato plants are getting scary-tall!

It's Spring.  It's Easter.

Enjoyed a Quarantine-Easter brunch with dyed eggs (we were out of red food coloring so used beet juice for a pretty pink) plus just a few chocolate eggs.

What else has been happening?

Well, Kitchen Dog Theater put out a call for home videos for a project... letting our fans and theater family know what we've been doing in our unexpected off time.  Here at the DeVries Architecture, Theater, Design, and Video Studio we - eventually - pulled off our 30 seconds of cinematography.  (It would have been easier to have sketched my video by hand... as a series of storyboards maybe?  Seriously!)  But it's in the can.  A virtual can.

I don't think I want to become a vlogger.  But maybe Kitchen Dog's video will be as much fun as Tom Hanks' SNL quarantine video collage...

More satisfying than video...  Books!

Just read a very good, useful, even wise book on creative work: Keep Going by Austin Kleon.  I'd read a good review so ordered it (through Half Price Books, based here in Dallas), but I'll admit to feeling a little dubious when the mini-sized book dropped out of its mailing envelope.  Sorry, but its size and zippy graphics just screamed those gimmicky gift books you find by the checkout stand...  Fooled me!  Because this is full of good stuff: advice, observations, quotes, and (while recommending old books) this book is very of this moment .  Honestly, exactly the book I needed to find at this time.

I won't try to boil-down this already slim book for you - just read it - but tidbits?  One favorite quote:

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."

Annie Dillard

And the unexpected image of Salvador Dali taking naps... but with a teaspoon in his hand so that the spoon's clattering fall would wake him in the midst of a dream-like state, the better to paint his dream-like surrealist paintings.

Siege - Day # 18 Friday!

Why is Friday still a thrill when there's no practical difference between week and weekend any more?  

Curious.

Since Dallas has just been put into lockdown until May 20th... I'll have lots of Fridays to consider this question.

Yeesh.

Today my officemate had to go into his, like, actual not home office for a few hours.  Before I let him back in I almost made him sand himself down in the Virus Mitigation Chamber that was once our front hall.  Much decontaminating ensued.

(Now we'll wait two weeks to see if it worked 😁)

Also on the coronavirus front, I finished my first two cloth face masks.  By hand, because my sewing machine is broken.  We've only recently started wearing masks when going out, but the couple of paper masks I had left over from hospital visits months ago aren't supposed to be reusable - and aren't cleanable.  

There IS a theater connection to all this... I'm will be making masks from scraps of fabrics used on sets.  Ha!  (Especially looking forward to the future pineapple print mask.)  But the first two masks recycle an old shirt whose embroidery I like - mine's the fancy embroidered mask (why not?) the other wearer's is just plain.  The elastic cord comes from lanyards that once held credentials for an architectural convention. 

I'm using (more or less) a Japanese pattern from off the internet HERE.  There's also a no-sew, pleated version HERE.

Siege - Day 14 (Another Monday)

Watching my new office mate leaping into Monday morning at (shudder) normal business hours reminds me of just how different theater schedules are.  Here are a few rules of thumb:


1)  Never call any theater person except a carpenter before noon.

Now, designers and tech folks generally get up and start work way earlier, but never assume that a director is ready to answer your questions before then.  On the other hand, it is not impossible that a director might call you - or have the stage manager text you anyway - after, say, 10:00 at night.  Or send a long, complex email at midnight.  Because they just finished rehearsal and their wide-awake brain is seething with ideas and questions for you.

2)  Know that you will work some evenings.

That's just when theater happens.  And even though the carpenters and painters tend to work daylight hours (when the stage isn't, you know, cluttered with actors), still there will be rehearsals you, as designer, must attend.  Certainly midnight emails you must attend to.

This can get a little sleep-deprivy when, as for an outdoor production, you must consult with carpenters in the cool of the morning, but also watch the rehearsal after dark (so lighting designers can work!) and take notes at the following production meeting.  Back home by 1:00 a.m. gets tiring!

In addition to the skew of your work hours to fit the hours of carpenters and actors, remember that many designers (maybe you too) have day jobs and just aren't able to do theater except during chinks in normal business hours.  (So if you nap to make up for the weird hours of that outdoor production, know that your nap will be interrupted at noon.)

3)  And weekends.

Set Load-In or Strike and certainly Tech all require so much time and so many different people that they must usually be scheduled on weekends.  Expect that.

4)  You're never truly off-duty.

If there's a problem, there's a call. (Or more likely a text.)  You will hear about it immediately and be expected to think on your feet in that awkward moment too.  Knowing that you could be interrupted can make it awkward to do other things... something to keep in mind as your show enters into its most fraught stages, heading toward Opening...

To non-theater people (especially morning people!) our weird hours and conditions of employment may seem horrible.  

But, eavesdropping on my work mate's Monday morning three-conference-calls-before-10:00am life...  Gee, I'm glad I don't have to think quite so hard, quite so early!

Siege - Days 10 & 11

Losing track of time already...

Right now my drafting board is piled high with backup material for doing taxes - but I wish it looked like this:

What I need is a show to design!

This is an old photo taken during the design and model making for Kitchen Dog's A Wolf at the Door.  Below are a few construction photos:

The photo just above is from early in the build of the "rocky" landscape... involving A LOT of chicken wire and then more-or-less fabric mache'.  For the landscape of the more recent Alabaster, the main criteria - according the the Kitchen Dogs building it - was that there be NO chicken wire!  Hence the weathered plank retaining wall of the goat hill.  Ha!

While we're talking landscape... I'll add in a sampling of other "environmental" sets.

I think the first secret to good "natural" landscapes is to avoid any straight edges and tablecloth-slopes that reveal its carpentry bones.  Chicken wire or carved foam or any other method of creating softly broken and rounded edges are key.

The second secret is to observe nature and then do the best job you can to mimic the growth of plants, to randomize the placement of rocks (which should look half buried), and to include weeds, dead leaves, and all the little accidents of weathering or moss or litter that add reality.

For Ironbound at Kitchen Dog Theater success depended on recreating the genuine scruffy kicked-up gravel and dirt and weedy neglect of a bus stop:

For Enchanted April at WaterTower Theater, it was a matter of aging the architecture and then getting the wisteria and roses to twine naturally:

Sadly, in Spitfire Grill (it and all following shows were at WaterTower Theater) there is some definite "table-clothing"... but, being a more stylized show, the unashamed fakery, the blatant erosion cloth, and the real leaves managed to suggest Wisconsin woods anyway:

For The Sugarbean Sisters we needed jungley swamp.  Giant reeds were mugged from a neglected property and supplemented with every church-social-hall-potted-fake-palm we could borrow:

Versus a tidier and more countryfied front yard for The Traveling Lady.  (Just out of sight, I planted dozens of naturalized silk daffodils.)  Notice how the nature gets more stylized as it goes upstage?  Those trees are just painted cut outs.  Frankly, they looked terrible until I placed a bird house on a pole right in front of them... turning the silhouettes into background.  (The human eye and brain are weird.):

Here, for All My Sons, the sky gets stylized.  But the lawn is as real as we could make it.  (Okay... it got realer just after this photo was shot.  Photographers always arrive a day too soon.):

For Native Gardens we used real gravel and live plants.  (Though the argued over flowers had to become silk - because live ones died on us!)

Last example - Humble Boy, where the carpenter's really excellent stonework and the little level changes sold the whole illusion.   That and those little errant spots of grass between the stones.  (Copied from my sister's dollhouse.  Really.  Little teeny tiny fuzz between the flagstones.)

All photos courtesy of their respective theaters... except the bad ones, which are mine.

Siege of Dallas - Day #1

Well, if you've heard me sometimes complain about being too busy and not home enough... the pandemic has fixed that!  Dallas County has closed all bars and restaurants (except for take out) and, naturally, all large gatherings... which means theaters are shut.

Very tough.

So here I am with an empty drawing board.

Sorta.

Besides doing taxes and all the many, many chores that I have been putting off forever, and really getting into the major rewrite and expansion of my set design book Alice Through the Proscenium (there will be Case Studies, very cool!) I've been doing a bit of stocking-up-the-pantry shopping, and a few sketches for a friend's D&D campaign: The Silver Chain.  

See the pretty map of the castle?

D&D Castle Wyvern - copyright reserved to the artist and Dungeon Master.

I wish I had wise words to share about the crazy, scary state of the world right now.  But all I have is a determination to stay as calm and as usefully busy as possible, to get in touch with friends and family, to enjoy things - spring! imaginary maps! books! jokes with loved ones!   Anyway.  And to help where I can, though I am in lock-down, even if it's only with bad jokes or maps or donations to food banks.

And to wash my hands.

A lot.

Did Someone Mention Life/Work Balance?

Ha!

As if.

It's been a crazy,  crazy few months.  Five months.

Several shows, several holidays, and one family health crisis later (pro tip: don't let 89-year-olds fall over, just don't.) I'm finally able to dump some pictures here!  (I'll try to talk more about each next time, when I have more time.)

Harvey at WaterTower Theater:

Harvey, WaterTower Theater - photos by Jason Anderson

Alabaster at Kitchen Dog Theater:    On stage through March 8th!

Alabaster at Kitchen Dog Theater.  The house's bedroom with all our "folk art"

Close-up of art...

An in-progress photo of "weeding" the goat hill side of the set. 

This show is kinda a big deal - this year's Hot Play and our entry into its rolling world premier.  A Theater Jones review is HERE , a Column review HERE, and really nice article in the Dallas News with good pictures HERE.  I really enjoyed being part of this effort, working with this talented team,  and getting to meet the playwright!

The Royal Dilemma by Think India and Mainstage Irving-Los Colinas:  I'm attaching a blurry picture of the cave scene from The Royal Dilemma from last fall (the blurry may hide the not-quiiiiite-done aspects.  This was an insanely ambitious show and a ton of fun!  I never got good pictures.)

Think India Foundation's The Royal Dilemma

I will attempt to be more regular in my posts from here on out.

If no one else breaks an arm...?

It Always Comes To This...

Life / Work balance?

Good one!

No matter how carefully you try to schedule (and, really, how hard do we try?), there will always be weeks where The Show takes over your life.

Not only do the dishes not get done, but the Bard set dressing from the last show doesn't even make it all the way from your car to the garage prop storage.

Last week was the week of the Indian Show - a heads-down attempt to finish before opening.  Or at least 98.5% finished!  (The Cave scene turned out pretty cool.)

Go see The Royal Dilemma at ThinkIndia / MainStage Irving Las Colinas.

The Blogging Habit - a Huuuuge Catch-Up Post

"Where have you been?" my faithful readers (all both of them) might ask.

Sorry, it's been a wild few months and I haven't posted a thing.  First there were a bunch of shows and family health issues and holidays, then family weddings and more shows, and now home repair and yet more shows...  Blogging - like exercising - turns out to be hard to do regularly, but much much harder to do if you get out of the habit!

I'm trying to regain the blogging habit.

So, what did I miss blogging about?

RECENT SHOWS:

The shows at the end of last year included Once, my first show ever at Theatre Three.  I never got to see the final show.  We had tickets and friends lined up to see Opening, but spent the evening at the hospital instead (all's well now, so no worries); rehearsals however were wonderful!  Here's a sketch, inspired by Dublin's architecture and street art scene.

Once at Theatre Three - sketch by Clare Floyd DeVries

Almost simultaneous was Men on Boats at Circle Theatre (my last there as Resident Set Designer - they're getting rid of residents, new management, new philosophy).  Suggesting the Grand Canyon on Circle's low-ceilinged stage was a bit of a trick!  Here's the model... which was finished and painted in a hospital room.  (A great conversation starter with nurses.)

Men on Boats at Circle Theatre - model and design by Clare Floyd DeVries

The actual set was built from ordinary flats and platforms with an added layer of carved foam and then paint.  Big thanks to the great carpenters and painters who pulled this off with while I was preoccupied with other things.  Thank you.

At Kitchen Dog Theater, Radiant Vermin was a completely different kind of design - a minimalist sort of Monopoly house all-white stage with spiffy model house footlights.

Radiant Vermin at Kitchen Dog Theater - sorry, I don't know who the photographer is (tell me and I'll eagerly credit them).  

The floor and wall - to ensure perfect, seamless whiteness - were built very smooth and flat, then covered with stretched muslin painted, and frequently re-painted, white, white, white.

Radiant Vermin at Kitchen Dog Theater - sketch by Clare Floyd DeVries

And, lastly, Kiss Me Kate at MainStage Irving Las Colinas.

Kiss Me Kate at MainStage Irving Las Colinas - a construction drawings, just for variety

It was a little hectic just last Fall!  

Since then You Got Older at Kitchen Dog has opened and closed...  

I don't have any good images for that one yet, but I'll add them asap.  Basically, it was one of those scripts with many varied settings that are difficult to do on a small stage - reality, fantasy, garden (with growing/dying bean plants), bedroom, kitchen, dive-bar, hospital room, woods during a violent snow storm, imaginary cabin snowed-in during that blizzard...  

Our solution was to build a seemingly simple wall of "weathered" wood slats that opened up or pulled out and thus transformed to suggest the different locations.  I compared it to a Swiss watch... but maybe more a Swiss cuckoo clock?

You Got Older at Kitchen Dog Theater - sketch plan by Clare Floyd DeVries

UP-COMING SHOWS:

Several exciting things are coming up, including Office Hour at Circle Theatre (my first as a visiting designer), Wolf at the Door at Kitchen Dog, and - the BIG excitement! - my first Off-Broadway show, an Equity Showcase of Self-Injurious Behavior at Urban Stages in NYC.  Can't show sketches of this yet - the director needs to see them first - but I thought I'd blog the whole process here as it goes along.  

So, new section...

Self-Injurious Behavior - the Off-Broadway Adventure:

To date, this show - written by Dallas actress/playwright Jessica Cavanagh -  has had a first, very successful, run at Theatre Three's downstairs space Theatre Too.

This run was so successful that it was decided to pick the whole thing up and move it to New York: props, costumes, director, whole company, and designers...  except for the original set designer - who had conflicts - and the original set - which wouldn't fit this completely different stage.

Hence me!  A lucky fluke... which is often how Big Breaks work I notice.

More on this show as it develops...

A Week in the Life of a Set Designer

Admittedly a busy week...

Last THURSDAY:

An enjoyable meeting with the set dresser for Kiss Me Kate at Mainstage Irving Las Colinas.  (For which I wasn't 100% mentally ready as a. I hadn't finished the construction drawings yet and b. I was totally consumed with other shows and other deadlines.  In my defense be it known that Kate doesn't actually open until November.)  

Anyway, we talked about basic design direction - simplified, stylized, black & white & gray plus punch-of-color, with those colors largely chosen from borrowed drops in order to tie this thing together!  Already a handsome three part dressing screen is found!

Here are rough photos of the very rough white model for Kate:

This is the ground state of the musical, the Backstage look.

This is the look for Downtown Padua in the play within the play.

And here's a look at Petruchio's House interior.  

In order to simplify all the (many many) setting changes, I have one large fixed unit that gets redressed now and then and four small-as-possible wagons that spin round to use their reverse sides as different set pieces.  That fireplace unit above will be particularly cunning since its reverse is the theater's stage door.

Also Thursday was a production meeting for Once  at Theatre Three.  After an afternoon of helping paint etc. in the theater and a short coffee break/chat at the nearby Thai street food place.  (I'm getting addicted to their iced Thai coffee!)

Here's the color sketch of the large scenic unit AKA "The Main".  Remember this, we'll get back to it anon.

FRIDAY: 

First meeting with a new-to-me director for the next show at Circle Theater, Men on Boats.  This is going to be exciting and challenging...  How do you scenically convey the Grand Canyon?  (And on a stage with 9' high ceilings?)

SATURDAY:

All day (Day 1) Tech for Once.  I got home at 11:30.  (It was a good thing I'd gone fabric shopping for "wallpaper" that morning because the AC was freezing!  I wore my "wallpaper" wrapped round me like a shawl, even over my head, as I watched the Q2Q.)  The music is amazing!  Going to be a good show.

SUNDAY:

I was excused from more than a pop-in today at Once as Q2Q continued.  (The pop-in...  Me: "Any notes?"  Them: "Not yet."  Perfect!)

MONDAY:

Print out set dressing photos for Once at home, frame them with frames from my garage storage mess, um, Tupperware TM  system, then return to paint some more.  9:30 pm production meeting on the next show for Kitchen Dog Theater (with the bestest title!) Radiant Vermin.  Here's an idea sketch of the sorta footlights, for which the prop designer brought in a fantastic 3D vacuform test model:

TUESDAY:

More painting on Once.

WEDNESDAY:

More painting on Once.  Here we are, three hours until Picture Call:

Phew!

Once previews tonight and officially opens Monday - buy tickets soon because they're gonna be hot!  And keep an eye open for Radiant Vermin, Men on Boats, and Kiss Me Kate because, each in their very different way, they look good...