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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
18
|
February 22 - March 19, 2016
when they’re requested by a director or designer. In performances
we might have between 16 and 22 carpenters, depending on
whether they’re moving large units of scenery.
Bel Canto
had big
units that broke apart in the final scene to create the bare stage.
There were motors to do the pulling, but they were guided by
guys on the crew. Scene changes for this season’s
Figaro
were
even more demanding than for
Bel Canto
– big pieces had to be
moved as quickly as possible. The changes for
Wozzeck
combined
the props and carpenter crews, with small pieces moving, but very
precisely timed.
Our carpenters’ cue sheets come from stage management
and reflect what the technical department has already discussed
with the director and designer. We try to make each performance
perfect, but because we’re doing shows in repertory and because
this is live theater, unexpected things do happen. For example,
one night a curtain didn’t work properly for
Lohengrin
and the
carpenters held it open for 45 minutes!
The minimum number on any production’s sound crew is
three, but it gets up to six for the musicals. The musicals present
the biggest challenge for sound, since there are between 35 and
50 microphones. One element of this is the organization and the
equipment backstage: several sound guys need to test the mics and
assign the right mic to the right performer (for example, it might
have to match the wig or be hidden in the costume). The other
element is the actual
mixing
of the mics so that the audience hears
the performer clearly and naturally.
Mics, of course, aren’t used for opera (unless there’s spoken
dialogue, as in
The Merry Widow
). In opera we use mics when
something’s happening offstage, whether stageband or someone
singing. In those instances, the levels are set by the sound
crew working with the conductor and stage manager. Onstage
monitors that help the artists hear the orchestra better, headsets
for stage management, the front-of-house screen, the screens in
the lighting booth and the assistant-director booth – keeping
all of this working properly also figures in the sound crew’s
responsibilities.
Electrics
CHRIS MARAVICH,
Lighting Director
In performances individual members of the electrics crew
execute all the light cues
via
a computerized console, control the
surtitles
via
a computerized program, and run anywhere from one
to five followspots. Other electricians create effects such as smoke
or fog, and they help onstage with moves of scenery.
Stage management puts out a “deck and rail sheet” and a
“master cue sheet.” Between the two the stagehands know what
to do and when, getting their cues from the stage manager during
the performance.
Every performance includes 13 electricians on the crew. This
season they’ve had very complicated projection cues in
Bel Canto
,
but their biggest challenge has been
The Merry Widow
. That’s
because of the transition going into the last scene, which was very
difficult and required onstage booms to be moved as the Maxim’s
unit got pushed into place. That show also had a lot of followspots
and special effects, including a five-minute smoking cue in Act
Two, on the little terrace upstage.
Carpenters working on scene changes for
Rusalka
(l. and r.).