Friday, February 12, 2010
How to Specify a Stage Curtain to Obtain a Cost Estimate (Part 1)
Rosebrand: "You don't have to know every detail of your Stage Curtain to get a reliable budget estimate. Part 1 of this series of articles, on specifying curtains for an estimate, covers the most important factors that affect the cost of the Main Stage Curtain: Fabric, Dimensions and Fullness."
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4 comments:
When thinking about budgeting for a theatre i think things like the actual curtain, borders, and legs are really quite easily forgotten. I think curtains are just often considered to already be there, why worry about the cost of them? They are just assumed pieces- there's a stage and the stage has curtains. However, they definitely should be remembered as they can be quite costly if a replacement is needed or if a curtain is possibly ripped or damaged during a show. It's nice to have this company point out the factors of a production we often can forget about and brush aside - especially something that could end up costing quite a bit of money.
Another article from rosebrand? Good!
I think these articles are very informative to theatre students (although they're probably intended to stir up sales). I was wondering why we've only recently been seeing these, and then I saw that rosebrand has just started publishing these articles on their site. I say keep up the good work. Perhaps a few more, and they can be incorporated into their catalogs as a sort of textbook for softgoods. Having the catalog pages alongside descriptions, common uses, and what the vendor expects from you when making a purchase is very helpful.
Considering how often I'm complaining in these comments about big companies doing icky things, it's really nice to see a company actually servicing its customers and its industry. Tutorials like this are invaluable (and surprisingly hard to come by) especially for folks in community or high school theatre, where nobody necessarily knows about these things. Even if they don't order from rosebrand, folks at such places can read an article like this, and talk competently with their supplier. In high school, I would often see teachers and schools getting conned by 'experts' who didn't know much more than anybody else, and efforts like this to explain basics go a long way toward making more information available to institutional consumers.
Rosebrand has always been very helpful in terms of providing the information I've needed to get a good estimate or product. I think that the most common mistake a first-timer might make here is selecting the material and forgetting about the fullness. In this type of investment you really have to think about the long run, what the possible or likely use of the products might be, and how the rest of your goods look. Matching the pile of goods is an important detail that a lot of people miss because they get lost in the features of materials they don't already own. Doing a lighting test is key here.
Also, know what your capacity for upkeep will change your selection dramatically if you can't afford to or don't have the time in your schedule to keep the flame certifications up to date.
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