Chicago Scenic Studios, Inc.: In mid-August, summer was still in full swing in Chicago, but a walk through Chicago Scenic's shop looked more like a scene from Santa's Workshop. Nearly every Chicago Scenic department was working in full Christmas mode in order to complete the scenery updates and changes that Radio City's Designer Pat Fahey and Technical Director Larry Morley had in mind for this year's Christmas Spectacular Show, recalls Ken Zommer, the senior project manager for the Radio City project.
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Radio City Christmas
Chicago Scenic Studios, Inc.: In mid-August, summer was still in full swing in Chicago, but a walk through Chicago Scenic's shop looked more like a scene from Santa's Workshop. Nearly every Chicago Scenic department was working in full Christmas mode in order to complete the scenery updates and changes that Radio City's Designer Pat Fahey and Technical Director Larry Morley had in mind for this year's Christmas Spectacular Show, recalls Ken Zommer, the senior project manager for the Radio City project.
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2 comments:
Two things about this article especially interested me. The first was my surprise in learning that Radio City's Christmas Spectacular is built by Chicago Scenic, and not someone closer to NYC such as Hudson. Certainly, Chicago Scenic's reputation more than qualifies them for the project, but I would love to know how much the distance affects the process. For instance, with such a long way to move the scenery, how many things need to be built in shippable/driveable pieces, and how early in the process is the moving of the set considered?
The second thing that impressed me was how early work began on this project. I learned from a friend who worked at All Access this summer that they had been building Madonna's SuperBowl stage in July. Projects this large-scale are so much more spanned out than shows here, for instance, and I am impressed that they are able to build so far in advance. It must mean work from the designers is due more than a year before the project goes up, which astounds me, since it must be difficult to finalize ideas so far out, without the influence of rehearsals or the opportunity to evolve ideas over the process.
I don't think I ever thought about when one must begin work on the production of a show in order for it to come out by a certain date. The fact that construction was begun in August speaks to the complexity of the set. I also wonder why they chose to have the set for the Radio City Music Hall built in Chicago. Chicago Scenic is more than capable, I just wonder why they chose to hire them, instead of a company from someplace closer. I image that the need to transport the scenery from Chicago to New York was a contributing factor in their choice to begin construction early, as transportation time must also be factored in.
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