Drypigment.net: There is a variety of historic scenery tucked away in the attic at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado. When the building was renovated, the stage was enlarged, and all of the original wings and shutters were carefully tucked away above the auditorium ceiling. This attic space was also once home to a few hotel rooms, divided by a central sky hall that allowed natural light for each room.
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Between this blog post, and the other one from Dry Pigment, the historical scenery kept in this opera house is phenomenal. We talk in class a lot about how keeping scenery is not something feasible we should be doing because that takes space, and we cannot afford to take up more space since we build so much one off scenery in a given season – plus, more space costs more money. It makes me wonder, though, how many beautiful pieces of scenery we threw out over the years without appropriately cataloging. I guess more recently there are show photos and the Tumblr, but I wonder about scenery pre-Purnell. Also, the rope systems that this volunteer crew has put together in order to transport scenery from the rafters down to a more suitable working level are pretty cool. There is something about old spaces, old but gorgeous painted scenery, and low tech theatrical systems that have me absolutely mesmerized.
I think it is magical the way people are able to find storage solutions when it comes to scenery. Smaller spaces are still able to put on these massive shows with amazing scenery pieces with little extra space to store these pieces which forces the designers and technicians to become extra creative and think about not only how pieces look but also how they can be stored. I absolutely loved the solution that this theatre company came up with as storage is super important to a theatre company's ability to also reuse pieces and be sustainable. While looking at the pictures in this article something really stuck out to me about this particular theatre company was their low tech and local company feel. It gave off the vibe as though this company's purpose is not only to tell story but also bring a community together for years and years. It also is a good reminder that you don't need high tech tools and instruments to put on a good show, all you need are artists who enjoy their craft.
This article was nerve-racking, especially when he showed pictures of the walkway and how they lowered the pieces. This made me wonder how much scenery is just sitting in the attics of theaters. I would love for the theaters to photograph and catalog these episodes that we can still admire them instead of letting them gather dust in an attic. I don’t know anything about how to store scenery after shows because my school had just opened so we didn’t have any old pieces stored somewhere . The school also didn’t build us storage so everything was broken down.
I’ve been thinking a lot about sustainability and I think it would be a good idea if theaters rented or traded scenery from each other for whatever play they are working on at the time. That’s why it would be beneficial to have an online catalog. Maybe I’ll try to create some sort of co op scenery sharing website when I’m older.
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