stagehands/electricians/props and flymen as they load-in the 1960 production of My Fair Lady, starring Diane Todd and Michael Evans, at the National Theatre Washington, D.C.
Monday, September 02, 2019
Backstage Video: 1960s Stagehands Load-in at National Theater in D.C.
stagehands/electricians/props and flymen as they load-in the 1960 production of My Fair Lady, starring Diane Todd and Michael Evans, at the National Theatre Washington, D.C.
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I am from DC so I have been to the National Theater and I was unaware that they still had their (partially) original hemp line and sandbag fly system up until 2 years ago
They talked about how the stagehands need to be like sailors. They have to be able to tie many different types of knots and need to know what knots to use for different reasons. They used A LOT of rope for their productions.
It’s crazy to see the similarities and differences in theater from almost 60 years ago. I also notice that the stagehands are all white males, so that’s one of the most dramatic differences I’ve taken away from that video. Also, a lot of them were smoking right next to curtains and very flammable things so that made me nervous.
“A lighting designer is the master of theaters illusions. He can make the mode gay or somber”, this is what I’m going to tell the CS students when they ask me what I do. I learned that the first electrical lighting was used in 1946 in the Paris Opera House Theater.
That is a really great video and I don't know when, but I think I've seen it before. The things that struck me most were the similarities and differences between now and then within a theater. The first was how they talked about drops being crucial to the set and how many backgrounds were various drops. In my experience, drops aren't used as the majority of the backgrounds. The classic example of a show with a drop is the Sound of Music, but people seem to favor now flats with walls and rotating or moving scenery to change the stage. I found it fascinating that in those old videos, the lighting fixtures were very similar to the halogen fixtures we use today and that they used stage pin. Twist-lock never caught on and we still use stage-pin. Both of those things are changing however, with the advent of LED lighting. The last thing of note was that awesome lighting board. I find it so cool that they have to individually control the lights and I really liked how there were so many levers to individually control channels. I'd love to play around with one of those someday.
That is a really great video and I don't know when, but I think I've seen it before. The things that struck me most were the similarities and differences between now and then within a theater. The first was how they talked about drops being crucial to the set and how many backgrounds were various drops. In my experience, drops aren't used as the majority of the backgrounds. The classic example of a show with a drop is the Sound of Music, but people seem to favor now flats with walls and rotating or moving scenery to change the stage. I found it fascinating that in those old videos, the lighting fixtures were very similar to the halogen fixtures we use today and that they used stage pin. Twist-lock never caught on and we still use stage-pin. Both of those things are changing however, with the advent of LED lighting. The last thing of note was that awesome lighting board. I find it so cool that they have to individually control the lights and I really liked how there were so many levers to individually control channels. I'd love to play around with one of those someday.
I love reading about and watching videos of historical behind the scenes theatre technology. It not only puts in perspective how far the technology has come, but also illuminates the little things that are still done the same way and all of the similar names. I thought is was particularly cool to be able to see all the work the stagehands did with the hemp fly system – it brings learning about the hemp system in Scenic Fabrication and Installation last semester pretty full circle. I thought it was really interesting how this video not only showed the work that the stagehands do, but also gave the viewer a small history lesson about the systems, like with its connected vocabulary to the navy. I think that doing a video like this now – with the same level of informative detail – would be beneficial for generating more awareness about the job of a stagehand. It would also showcase how the technology has evolved and how stagehands are not just white men.
It is pretty fascinating to see how little has changed over the past 60 years. Certainly, the technology has been updated, but the process of loading in a show has not changed dramatically--at least, not in a fly house. The day begins with most hands unloading the trucks while the rest get the rigging situated. Next, they start to split into departments for the specifics of the show. Finally, most of the hands clear out while the rest stay to set cues and do testing and repairs on equipment. I suppose that there probably is not a better way to do it, but I can’t help thinking that if the technology has grown so much, why has the management not changed? Is it due to departmental union houses, or is it harder to develop management strategies, or did they already have the best methods figured out? I do think that over the years, stage technology has developed such that there is less skill required of most stagehands, but I can’t identify any other major differences.
This video provided such an in depth look into the history of technical theatre. It was very interesting to be able to draw parallels between the 1960’s and now, seeing some surprising things that have stayed the same or changed. The lighting was particularly piqued my interest. In the days before DMX and digital lighting consoles, seeing the lighting technicians using the big manual board with the locking levers really put into perspective how much lighting has changed in that regard. However, the stage pin cabling that was shown was much the same as it is today, albeit just a bit larger. In addition, the fly system using the hemp rope particularly caught my attention, as I’ve just been learning all the knots in rigging. It really gives a sense of how versatile these basic knots are. Also, the sheer amount of hemp rope used in the show – over twelve miles – was also a shocking statistic.
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