vinntec Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I am LD for a youth production of West Side Story in August. We are having trouble finding a set which is mainly static and which will fit the venue (Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking). This has a fairly wide but shallow stage with no flying. Cyc to proscenium is about 5.7m (with curved apron DS of which parts are removed to make the orchestra pit so is not practically available except maybe for set dressing) and pros width 11.4m. The set from our usual supplier, Scenic Projects, is just too large and complex for what we are looking for. The one from Proscaenium is much too deep, and our current nearest fit is from A1Stage which we are looking closely at - but the quality of information is not good. I have scoured the internet but cannot find anyone else offering a set which looks close to fitting into this theatre (which does not rely on flying). Does anyone know of other suppliers who might be able to supply a West Side Story set which will fit our requirements and which we should be looking at? Non-flying, shallow, mainly static. Thanks in advance - Peter Vincent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 West Side Story is a dead easy one to do an OK job of staging. Yes, the professional sets are always going to be good but getting something that works is perfectly do-able without hiring too much. You need plenty of space for the rumble/dance at the gym and ideally a raised area as Maria's bedroom/balcony. Other than that, lots of ladders for interesting entrances and lots of fencing. In our instance, we had grey flats with black tennis court style fencing up the front of them. A decent amount of scaff allowed us to make areas of fencing that came across the stage (not full width) so that you could still see through the fencing, but it broke the stage up nicely. Make them low enough and your cast might even be able to jump/climb over them during the rumble. Finally, buy some spray paint and go mad with graffiti. Like I say, to get a workable set really isn't too difficult and needn't be expensive. Buy some fencing and hire some scaff and you should pretty much be there! As an aside, try and get non-metallic fancing, especially if it's crossing the stage. Your sound engineer will hate you for it if you're using radio mics (although we got away with it, but it was a point of concern). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Work off some of the ideas from both those companies. I was looking at using some Harris Fencing and corrugated metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Chris/Thomas - thanks for your thoughts. The production company are hiring the theatre for the week of the show and have no facilities or people to prepare or store a set beforehand, or time to do so during the get-in. So it has to be a hire of a complete set or nothing. They are not trying to avoid the cost of renting a set - just trying to find one that fits this venue. So what I need are some pointers to set hire companies other people have used successfully for West Side Story in smaller venues which are worth having a look at - I apologise if that was not clear on my original post. Peter Vincent (Lighting Designer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 However masking, and some bits of deck and a bit of harris would do. Yes its not a "propper" set but it would work just as well. The rooms could be some prebuilt flatage, Which are always useful to have on hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 A west side I worked on a few years back just had a bunch of scaffolding at the back of the stage, which provided the window for the money shot, plus a tier for raised dancing. Plus somewhere to hang parcans! There we a couple of trucks with a bedroom on and something else, and the dance hall was just streamers to floor level through which the dancers could be seen. You dont need to do much for a good west side, as long as yyou have great orcherstra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 You dont need to do much for a good west side, as long as yyou have great orcherstra. perferably with keith emerson on keyboards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45pIvr4gJD4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Now I know half the people on here are talking drivel. Harris? WTF is Harris? HERAS is what you might be thinking of, now stay out of my field, I have a keyboard player and a Scots piper going mad with a set of knives around here somewhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 You dont need to do much for a good west side, as long as yyou have great orcherstra. perferably with keith emerson on keyboardsI'd forgotten that ELP did America. On the other hand, that's one track performed as a number. I'm pretty convinced if you wandered up to MTI's offices and said "Hello, I'd like the grand rights to do West Side please, and Keith Emmerson and his band will be replacing all the traditional arrangements", MTI's response would be short and succinct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Now I know half the people on here are talking drivel. Harris? WTF is Harris? HERAS is what you might be thinking of, now stay out of my field, I have a keyboard player and a Scots piper going mad with a set of knives around here somewhere! That's what I thought, but "Harris" fencing, so clearly Kid's not alone in his misapprehension ..... (PS I am not looking to endorse this particular company or advertise their services in any way) I've always known it as Block and Mesh fencing, so I had to google "heras" when I first came across the term in a post on the blueroom ... I guess it would do service as a cheap form of decoration for WSS, although for me it says "sarf london building site" more than West side of NYC in the fifties .... the big thing for me is that it's "virtually unclimbable" (as it claims on the website above) which makes it less exciting than a scaff structure in terms of the needs of the show ... so I'd be heading more in the direction of David's suggestion personally ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 For what it's worth - WSS is one show I shall never, ever agree to play for again. I'm a lazy git, and my sight reading is ok for most stuff - but WSS is seriously tough stuff and when you're lazy like me, I tend to read a few bars ahead and then have a look around, then look back to the pad. Really bad of course, but a habit I got into. Look away from the WSS pad and you're stuffed - you'll never find your way back in again - so many bars look very similar and what you play fits, but then suddenly it doesn't. So from the first dress you have to stare at the dots and never let your concentration drop, ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Just being a grumpy old man, Andy S.Heras, like Hoover, is a tradename that has become generic as in "I am going to do the hoovering, now." There are still some "ordinary" panels in use though due to the huge amounts used in outdoor events it has been mostly replaced with "anti-climb" which used to be a pain to source at one time. Heras themselves now only make anti-climb, I believe, but some copiers do have the wider mesh which is a useful substitute for a ladder!http://www.herasreadyfence.co.uk/steadfast.html#a1 Like everything there is a right way to erect the stuff and I have a quiet chuckle at the amount I see put up "backwards". WSS "could" be set almost entirely in a New York basketball court with broken down chain-link or Heras however the OP is after a hired set and does not really want to construct his own. I have no idea where he can get one and was simply having flashbacks to howling Hammonds full of knives and the joys of not having to do RA's in 1969. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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