Knock ups

[SeanT]

Some 12-inch-high electrified nuns ....

 

Please elaborate!

[gareth]

Some 12-inch-high electrified nuns ....

 

Please elaborate!

It was for a production of Le Comte Ory at Glyndebourne Opera House in 1997 ... some large windows in the upstage wall of one of the sets had an undulating track running left to right outside them, along which various small objects (cows, etc.) trundled occasionally, apparently in the distance. At one point, the track was traversed by a group of nuns supposedly walking along in a distant procession - the nuns each had to have a practical 'flaming torch" in their hands, which is where the electrics department came into the equation with pea lamps, batteries, etc.

 

That same production was also notable for the "bathing scene in the castle" - lot of lovely chorus ladies, clad only in a cotton sheet from the waist down, drawing hot water from a "well" in the middle of the stage. In the trap room were an ASM and me - he providing the water into the lowered buckets, me providing the smoke/steam rising from the well. We had possibly the best view in the house - partly due to our proximity to a huge number of topless lovelies, and partly due to the fact that the naughty little scamps used to tease us by purposely striding straight across the "well" opening every now and then ... ;)

[SeanT]

Lovely, I miss working in amdram as a lad (well, I say lad, now a grand 23) and of course being single, lots of naughty girlies in the world of the stage :)

[Boggy]

I built a well (the type you throw a bucket into to get water) with a lift mechanism. When the lead actor in the panto started to cough, a glass of water would rise to the top of the well. I heard a young boy from the audience after the show explain to his friends that the well was done with hydraulics (that was his guess). I wish he could have seen the piece of string that actually made it work!

 

I also built a ramp for some angels to walk down from heaven (final scene of the ballet - Little Match Girl). 10m long, 1.5m wide, 2.2m high at the top, breaks into 2m long sections to fit in the wings, can be bought on and positioned in near silence in less than 3 minutes, cost to company $300 AUS (mainly screws, bolts and wheels).

[w/robe]

I built a well (the type you throw a bucket into to get water) with a lift mechanism. When the lead actor in the panto started to cough, a glass of water would rise to the top of the well. I heard a young boy from the audience after the show explain to his friends that the well was done with hydraulics (that was his guess). I wish he could have seen the piece of string that actually made it work!

 

I worked on a show where the set (very nicely made, not a 'knock up' at all) was 6, 8' x 4' rostra about 2'6" high the tops of which rose and fell and opened to create roofs, slopes and pits. A couple of reviews commented on the beautiful hydraulically operated set which was 2 people on their backs pushing slowly with their feet and then dropping down legs to hold the decks up before they were walked on.

 

My own favourite costume knock-up was working on a show that required a specific uniform that we could neither find nor afford but the director was instant that it had to be 'the right thing', though nobody new what that was.

 

We cobbled together some bits we had in stock, pressed it beautifully, put it in an Angels bag and impressed on everyone that it had to be looked after as it had cost a fortune. Happy director and thanks all round.