Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Setting the Stage

The set continues to come together for the Sugar Creek Players' production of To Kill a Mockingbird. The concept for the set — using platforms and flats that can serve as the Finch house and the courtroom — came from Bill Amidon of Anchorage, Alaska, who sketched out the basic idea that we've put into place. He's never seen the Vanity Theater, but came up with some  interchangeable parts that will help us transition from the Finch neighborhood to the courtroom and back again.

Given the theater's size, we've had to scale back some of the ideas, but we believe we have the right elements in place to help our audience imagine Maycomb, Alabama circa 1935. Photos forthcoming — nothing fun to photograph at this point, other than platform and flat frames.

A big shout-out to Wabash College for loaning us a truck and to Home Depot for custom cutting a lot of our lumber (a credit for the program; not here). An hour at Home Depot saved us about six hours in the upstairs wood room of the Vanity Theater. Imagine hauling 4x8 sheets of plywood up and down lots of stairs. Well, we didn't have to do that. Thanks to producer Jerry Bowie for his efforts with the truck and the wood.

Our other talented producer, Nancy Rodenbeck, gets a special kudos — along with Neal Tire — for securing Scout's tire swing. Now we just have to figure out how to hang it in a 100-year-old theater...

Tomorrow, we finish the flats and platforms, and ready the courthouse for Sunday's rehearsal!

We'll soon be looking for talented and creative set painters, who can bring our plywood and luan lumber to life!

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