stage flooring

[misterbird]

our local musical society of which I am a member,is doing `singing in the rain`;we have a fairly large team

of backstagers/technical people,hence lots of ideas!, so, we plan to cover complete stage with polythene

sheeting, then lay hardboard sheets on top,taped and sealed, then painted,however, some of our team are a bit skeptical

over the use of hardboard,but one of our team. an ex-stage technician says the hardboard wiil be ok, hence the dilemma.

show goes on early apri;, and we intend to do the sage in mid-march,any ideas gratefully accepted.

mister bird,newbridge musical society,kildare,republic of ireland.

[GridGirl]

I take it you're not using a rain truck, it's raining over the whole stage then? I'd be very careful of hardboard, moisture will make it swell, so it would need to be painted extremely thoroughly. If it were me, I'd look into the idea of a rain truck so you can isolate where the water goes.....

[Ynot]

our local musical society of which I am a member,is doing `singing in the rain`; we plan to cover complete stage with polythene sheeting, then lay hardboard sheets on top,taped and sealed, then painted,however, some of our team are a bit skeptical over the use of hardboard,but one of our team. an ex-stage technician says the hardboard wiil be ok, hence the dilemma

Right.

Never done SITR myself, but seen a few versions.

As I see this, the key to the gag of using real water on a stage is NOT to have rain over the whole stage, but to use a limited sprinkler system which (for example) extends the width of the stage and drops straight into a concealed trough. This then gives the audience the perspective (with added FX lighting) that rain is falling all over.

The Gene Kelly dance in the puddles bit should then be achieved using a custom built truck to contain the additional water etc, and this should really be something you can pull off stage after the number's done, leaving the main stage itself clean and dry. I saw this done in one venue with a truck which had the water contained by 'pavement' either side of the road, creating a natural trough. Granted, to achieve this, you're going to need a stage with pretty sizeable wings to cater for this....

 

As for the question of painted hardboard - if the show is only a week's run, then I see no real problem with what you've originally posted - ie hardboard atop polythene, taped and painted. You may want to seal the hardboard first but to be honest, if you use a decent quality paint (2 or 3 coats) that will likely be OK.

Tip - make sure when taping that the boards are clean and grease-free, because that's the weak link - if the tape lifts, the water will get to the edges of the board and you'll start to get problems.

[LampTramp]

A Truck is the only way safely that this can be done me thinks!

I worked on the Pladdium production all those years ago...the street was stored on the back wall (pavement bit) as the rain sequence was the second number in the second half.

The street was lowered onto the stage and shop fronts etc added then flodded by hand for the puddle FX.

We had 3 rain bars overhead. each turned on as the truck moved down stage. There was a large trough on the leading edge with a drian away and drain aways on the sides.

As soon as the number finished the street was winched back onto the back wall! Water rann throu' drain away pipes and crew moped as fast as they could!! Happy Days!! QUOTE(misterbird @ 16 Feb 2007, 11:17 AM) *

 

our local musical society of which I am a member,is doing `singing in the rain`; we plan to cover complete stage with polythene sheeting, then lay hardboard sheets on top,taped and sealed, then painted,however, some of our team are a bit skeptical over the use of hardboard,but one of our team. an ex-stage technician says the hardboard wiil be ok, hence the dilemma

 

our local musical society of which I am a member,is doing `singing in the rain`;we have a fairly large team

of backstagers/technical people,hence lots of ideas!, so, we plan to cover complete stage with polythene

sheeting, then lay hardboard sheets on top,taped and sealed, then painted,however, some of our team are a bit skeptical

over the use of hardboard,but one of our team. an ex-stage technician says the hardboard wiil be ok, hence the dilemma.

show goes on early apri;, and we intend to do the sage in mid-march,any ideas gratefully accepted.

mister bird,newbridge musical society,kildare,republic of ireland.

Just an idea, if costsetc are an issue...why not make a smaller truck and fill it with water for splashin about and the drain pipe gag at the end of the routine and project rain from FOH...nice and simple....all ways works best.

 

Maybe thats why your team member is an ex technician??!