MRT prop team candid shots

I've been getting a few good shots of the team here.  Still need to get ones of Jim and Eric.

Margaret working on Model-T bench. Check out the amazing upholstery skills.

Anna and Sarah office time with lots of laughing

Katie making a coffin shine.

Katie being Katie

Anna in her casting zone making a fire ax in the kitchen. We spent a lot of time with those blue balls....

Week in review. Sept 9-12

Ragtime has started tech.  Mr. Guy has lots of juggling to do.  Props are being checked in and brought to stage to be set, and if it needs tweaking or finishing, back to the prop shop.  The show previews next week.  It was a very tight build for this show and priorities are on a constant update. 

Projects worked on this week.

Immigrant baggage
These characters are arriving in America off the boats.  We needed 13-15 pieces.  Sarah and I worked on this project.  There were plenty of research pictures to be inspired by. Some luggage was pulled and she reenforced the insides with foam and changed the outside leather and details on others.  We made blanket rolls and bags.  We borrowed some pieces of clothing from costumes to stick out of a few pieces, and also borrowed old belts to tie off some of the bundles.  

Sewing towel inside blanket to make thicker as a bed roll.

Assorted finished immigrant baggage

This was initially too heavy when stuffed. So I unpacked it and used foam covered in scrap fabric to provide most of the fill.

Basket items and foam with scrap fabric.

Finished re-stuffed basket. This ultimately was cut .

Tablecloth/ Blanket
This piece of fabric needed to be cut down to size and fringed.  This was done by cutting off one side to what the finished dimension needed to be INCLUDING the fringe length.  Then I zigzag stitched where we wanted fringe to go to. From there it was a process of removing threads one row at a time to create fringe.   I had started by trying to pull chunks out all at the same time, but then I was shown that it was a smoother and quicker process to remove one at ta time the whole length. 

This week I also helped paint the Piano.

OOh, and I got a key!! :-)

Week in review. Aug. 28- Sept.5 "Ragtime"

I have a new favorite tool! Robo Grip.  How I have not run across this yet is surprising.  Love it.

The last week of August I helped move 400+ chairs to storage offsite.  5 moving van loads later and what used to be chair alley is empty and ready to have building jacks installed.  In my previous post I stated that I thought the prop shop was going to start a digital catalog.  I was mistaken.  We were just taking pictures of items off site to use to search through.

 

   After this I jumped right into work with the team.  Mondays and Wednesdays I arrive at 1 pm and usually pick up on the project I was working on, or if it's done, help with other projects and keep working.  Everyone in the shop has been great on showing me what they are doing.  If they are doing a process or using tools, they ask if I know it or are familiar with it's use.  If not they show me. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays I'm there 9-5 and am involved the whole day with the team.

   Each day starts off with morning meeting to go over notes from the previous evening, changes, cuts, drops etc.  Checking up on status of projects on everyone's lists.  Re-prioritizing, bringing up questions for stage management, which are met with next in the morning.  Projects are divvied between the team members by their area.  Though everyone helps each other out.

Current show being built: Ragtime

Projects worked on this week:

Silhouette flip book. (kineograph)

We needed to make a flip book of a figure skater doing a figure 8.  One of the directing interns is a figure skater.  Jim Guy organized with the costume dept, an ice rink, and a cameraman to shoot footage.  Then Katie, (props graphic artist) fed it into the computer isolating single shots.  She printed them off and we traced the shots onto note cards. These then were scanned into the computer to be put together to print on chosen cardstock.  Easily reproducible to make multiples.  

Looks like this may get cut now.

 

 Tools used: Fine tip black pen, Sharpie, pencil, light box, paper, note cards

Tightening beach chairs

These 2 chairs had new seats sewn into them by Mary and need to be moved around without unfolding.  They were brought up from the basement and I tightened. The jury is still out on what technique will be used to secure the back legs. 

This is when I was introduced to my new favorite tool the Robogrip :-)

Tools used: Robogrip, thread lock, flathead screwdriver

Silhouettes for sale

These are being sold by a character during the show.  They are of famous people in the story.  we are matting these onto thick card stock and cutting out matting.  There will be multiple sizes.  End amount of these needed to dress the set is still up in the air with the director.

Tools used: Rubber cement, box cutter, exacto knife, double stick tape, ruler, pencil, assorted paper.