Paul Kaiser's Blog

Recent stage work reminded me I never posted anything about the Drop Dead work from last year. Here it is.

(Click on the small pictures to see larger images / slideshow, fool!)

Photos and commentary on the work I did in July 2009 building the set for “Drop Dead” for Director and friend Aaron Polk at the Rantoul Theater Group in Rantoul, IL.

It all starts with espresso

In the Summer of 2009, the set designer for the show “Drop Dead” in Rantoul suddenly had health problems, which meant the show had a short time to find a new set designer / builder. I think Facebook alerted me to this, so I hooked up with Aaron.

Thanks a lot, Air Force

The Rantoul Theater Group lives in a large part of Grissom Hall — an old building left vacant in 1993 when the Chanute Air Force Base was closed. The other parts of Grissom Hall house the Chanute Air Museum, the Korean War Memorial, and part of the Lincoln’s Challenge Academy.

Grissom Hall in Rantoul, IL

Grissom Hall artwork

I’ve been to the Air museum before, and it’s kind of neat. Really, though, it’s depressing when you think of the devastating effects on a community when a military base closes. I’m sure that for decades, people went about their business, certain the base would always be a part of their lives and community.

A silver lining

One great thing about old abandoned military buildings is their size. Huge. The first few things I saw at RTG were the prop room, the workshop, the costume closet, and the other prop room.

RTG Workshop east side

RTG Workshop west side

RTG Prop Shop west side

Prop Shop - Is that Marioland?

Having a lot of reusable flats, muslin, furniture and such is awesome! And having a workshop with lots of tools, wood, safety goggles, and room to use it all in just can’t be beat. I really appreciated the opportunity to work in that environment.

By the way, there’s a painting there in one of the prop shop pictures. I’m told it was from “Land of Oz” or something, but we all know that’s really a picture of Marioland.

Seats! A stage! A light booth!

RTG Theatre seating and light booth

At RTG, the theater itself has real seats, an actual stage, and a light booth in just the right location! Lo! What kind of community theater has all this cool stuff!?

Work cut out for me

The “Drop Dead” script already had a stage layout in it, and we agreed to follow this as closely as possible. I worked up layouts using Google Sketchup, and eventually found that all the flats I would need already existed. I just needed to drag them out.

Stand up and stay there

The biggest problem at first was how to get the flats to stand up. Actors needed to smack in to these 8 foot tall flats, lean against them, crash through a fake wall in them, and possibly kick a door open. Beyond that, they needed to nearly run behind them in a space about four feet from the back stage wall, which left little room for braces.

Building stage braces

Some finished stage braces

I know they’re just braces, but I’m proud of these things. I’m used to stuff “kind of” being supported on stage and “sort of” hanging from wires. I’ve seen people use all sorts of poorly-placed brackets to hold sets together about like the crooked man’s crooked house. I figured a strong set of braces would serve this play well, and could be re-used for many sets to come.

Alone in the dark

I’d love to build sets full-time. I love theater work, from acting, to running lights, to building sets, to mopping floors. I also hate theater work, because it’s hard to fit in to a life with a loving family, a full-time job, and other responsibilities. The pressures and stresses caused by trying to shoehorn in theater responsibilities usually has me cursing a production at various points.

Flats on a cart

Paul pulling flats

Working before a show usually means late nights after work during the week, as well as weekends away from the family. For “Drop Dead,” I did most of the grunt work by myself on a Sunday afternoon. Since I had to move 8ft by 4ft flats, covered with plywood, from across the building, I found a wheeled cart and just played ox for a half hour.

8 steps of progress

Check out the 8 photos below, in order, showing the progress I made that Sunday. This included dragging the flats up there, positioning my skillfully-made braces, securing them to the flats, and securing them to the floor.

Empty stage

Progress 01

Progress 02

Progress 03

Progress 04

Progress 05

Progress 06

Progress 07

That poor building

I tend to personify just about any object around me. The poor, neglected building housing RTG was no exception. I took numerous pictures of its dilapidated state, but I only felt like posting one.

Building neglect

It’s such a shame that this theater group has this wonderful resource: The space, the tools, the light booth, did I mention the space? Yet, due to money, they can’t really maintain it and plan for it to grow and thrive.

Real live people: They were painters

Painted portrait and white breakaway wall

After a few initial rehearsals, I never had time to really get to know any of the “Drop Dead” cast. That really stinks, because the whole social thing is one of the reasons I want to do this. I did spend a little time with a couple who painted some scenery onto the flats, though. They did a nice job, particularly on this portrait over the fireplace.

In this photo of their portrait, you can also see the white paper hanging, which is a breakaway wall for an actress to fall through. Once the set is finished, you can’t tell it’s a fake wall until she actually smacks in to it.

Tumbling down with the walls

One challenge for this set was to make a breakaway wall that was safe for the actress, could be reset for 9 performances plus some rehearsals, and didn’t look like a breakaway wall until it — well — until it broke. We came up with all sorts of crazy ideas, which is what I’m good for (crazy.) After experimenting, we settled on using paper off of a roll, and actually painting it with the same blue latex paint used to paint the wall flats. I built a frame that could be removed from the walls for installation of new painted papers each night, usually at intermission.

Painting paper for breakaway walls

Painting paper is a challenge. The paper gets too wet before you’ve covered all the white spots, and then it tears when you try to roll over it the second or third time. What finally worked for me was to cover a flat with muslin, then secure the white paper over that. I used a paint roller to apply the paint while that whole deal lay flat on the floor. Any extra moisture went through the paper and was absorbed by the muslin, which kept the paper from getting saturated and losing strength before drying. I tried fans in the room for the first night, but the papers experienced uneven drying, so I nixed the fans.

Ripped painted papers ruined

After the first week, some of the papers that were still drying on the floor got some mysterious holes in them like bullet holes. Some people suspected foul play, but I think something probably just fell from the crumbling ceiling and hit the papers. We had to redo them, which meant buying more paper and more paint, well after I thought we were done with that business.

The final product

Finished stage - where's the fake wall?

Paul on the last day

Near the end, I managed to drag out some curtains, buy some tiebacks, and a few other last-minute touches. I also hung a sandbag and a stage light, rigging them to crash dramatically to the stage on cue with the simple pulling of a screwdriver by select cast members. Pretty cool!

Trouble on the set

Broken window lites

Ripped door frame

After the first week, the set had some breakdowns. The lites in the window were too flimsy and ended up broken. A piece of door trim got ripped off by an actor’s leg running through. Also, a doorknob I’d rigged to come out of the door Scooby-Doo style was coming out far too easily. I returned to fix those things, and they were good-go-go, pretty much.

What a bummer

Cast photoboard in hallway

I overcame a lot of personal fear and doubt to get this set put together. I learned new things about carpentry and some other good stuff. What I really learned, though, is that I cannot really get what I want out of community theater right now. I think it’s just where I’m at in life.

Audience warning - seriously

To cut to the chase: I missed the set strike. I hadn’t seen any of the actual performances outside of rehearsal, and was really looking forward to the strike, to hang out with the cast one last time, drink some lousy beer, and properly take down the set.

Backstage 1

I was out of town that day, and by the time I got in the door, every single flat was down and done. I felt like total crap. Everyone said it was “okay,” but I really felt like I let those people down — people that didn’t really even know much about me, and now missing the strike was part of the impression I left on them.

Backstage 2

I was so bummed after that, I didn’t figure I’d do anything else with theater at all. One of the main reasons I even do it is to try and be social, and I often end up working alone, in a hurry, at 2 in the morning. It’s just because of other responsibilities that need my time and energy.

I’m excited to be working now on a set for “A Body of Water” at my favorite theater, The Station. However, I’m in the same boat so far. All the work I’ve done has been after work in my own garage. I’ve taken a few days off work next week to get in to the space, so hopefully starting with the strike of “Rhino” things will be different. We won’t be rushed. We will be together. And we will end up with an awesome set.

Okay, I’m tired. At least I finally got these “Drop Dead” pictures up somewhere.