Technical Director Ross Rundell is back with another installment of his blog series, On the Road With Ross! Follow along for monthly updates of an insider’s look at the production rental world of Glimmerglass. To read his previous blog posts, click here.
Hi y’all, this month we sent our 2023 production of Rinaldo to Detroit Opera.
We loaded in February 11 and 12, and overall, it was a smooth process. One of the big challenges of the show is that it has a full ceiling that mimics a “drop ceiling” that you might see in a hospital. A “drop ceiling” is a secondary ceiling that hangs below the main structural ceiling, creating a space to hide utilities like wiring, plumbing, and HVAC systems while still allowing access for maintenance.
For our purposes, an actual drop ceiling would be too large and heavy to hang and fly during the show. So, we had to get creative in the construction. The ceiling of our Rinaldo is actually 7 pieces made of steel tubing that runs in a grid pattern continuously from the front to the back. The framing is wrapped with a special transparent fabric with a hidden safety feature: heat seams. If there ever were a fire onstage, these heat seams actually release entirely. This allows for water to pass through the fabric to the source of the fire, instead of pooling up on the fabric itself. Safety of our performers, crew, and patrons is a top priority, and so while we hope it never happens, we like to prepare for all situations.
Construction like this presents a very uniform visual effect for the audience, but it does mean that the transport and installation of the piece is more difficult. A lot of our scenery is constructed from steel and wood: materials that can be handled in and out of trucks and stand up to the wear and tear of constantly being assembled and disassembled. Fabric is far more fragile than that, and therefore, has to be protected. There is a specific set of steps to assemble the ceiling without damaging the fabric. In order to clearly layout the installation of any unit for any show, we archive installation drawings for future use.
These installation drawings are kept in the production book for each show (a large binder filled with all the information about the set). When it came time to assemble the ceiling, I gathered the crew at Detroit Opera and went over all the instructions, and the do’s and don’ts when working with this special and expensive fabric. The crew did great with the ceiling, and once we got it up and raised it out of the way, we were able to quickly assemble the rest of the scenery in short order. I’ll be headed back to Detroit this weekend to retrieve the set!
Until next month!