Stage Managers Are Super Heroes by Glenn Davis

Stage Managers Are Super Heroes   

If you were to ask people attending a weekend service or event, “When or how did a live scene change on stage in the dark?” Most people would not have a clue. Unnoticed and in charge of more things than anyone else in a live production, is one of the most valuable production individuals on the team, the Stage Manager. They are the Black Ops commander of the stage. They are so top secret; most individuals that attend a church service see them rarely. Very few know that a SM has super night vision capability, able to see in pitch blackness in order to move scenery to a destination. They are able to leap from behind a curtain in a split second, like a stealth bomber, dropping an arsenal of fresh batteries in a wireless microphone and disappear. They refer to pieces of equipment like they were people with feelings. Who are these unsung individuals that protect our domestic and foreign stage soils?

 

We all genuinely love seeing all of the different pieces of a weekend service or event come together. But without the help and support of a skilled SM the chances of success is highly unlikely. Most Production and Programming teams have the opportunity to see close hand the hard work that these gifted, dedicated individuals do toward crafting a seamless service but yet go unnoticed.  Their weekly actions, approach and “can do” attitude inspires us all. Amid the mayhem of live situations, they are still able to provide practical and organizational support toward the pastors, worship team and performing arts team.

 

It’s a pretty intimidating job when you think about it. They coordinate communication between all parties. Help individuals to be ready to move on or off stage in a timely manner. Move scenery and props in a live situation. Supervise safety, lock, unlock doors and manage break times. Sweep, mop and manage a crew of volunteers. Gaff label everything with amusing labels and strike a whole truck load of things after service. I once heard that a stage manager died, went to St Peter’s gates to talk to Peter when a blackout occurred for about 15 seconds.  When the lights came back on, the gates were struck, and Peter was gone. They do an incredible job toward detail, staying calm and focused.

 

One thing I’ve learned over the years, you listen to the stage manager and you do what they say. They have very little sympathy toward any lame excuses. They were there way early in the morning before anyone was there and they will be late leaving, hours after everyone leaves.  Beware! Any excuse or messing with an SM will cause them to devise a secret plan for your physical harm. Remember, they are superheroes with cunningness and brute strength, able to lift tall buildings and walks under them. Let’s show our respect, appreciation and attention to these unsung heroes. Take time today to tell them how much you appreciate them.

 

Things you won’t hear a stage manager say.

1.       I think Godly thoughts when someone screams in my wireless in-ear Comm.

2.       Can you construct the props beefy and heavier?

3.       Casters, who needs casters! 

4.       I love scene changes, let’s add one more.

5.       You can use my gaff tape any time you want.

6.       I love wearing black clothing so much, that’s all I shop for.

7.       Spiking the stage, are you kidding me? That’s a waste of tape.

8.       Scenic is more important, go ahead and block stage entrances we’ll work around them.

9.       You have 1 minute before you go on stage, go ahead and take that potty break. 

Safety Toward Rigging by Glenn Davis

I read an article recently that said, “Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly all accidents involving fallen objects.” Even though, that is a pretty humorous statement, the fact is it takes a lot of overwhelming work to overcome gravity. When it comes to rigging “probably” or “maybe” safe, is not the most reassuring words either. Things fall down unless we take preventive steps to prevent them from doing so. Rigging suspended scenery, truss, lighting, curtains and screens depend on top quality hardware, materials and the know-how.  Knowing the basic structural properties of any materials used for rigging is critical to understand. Safety, reliable training, inspection, personal responsibility and efficiency are high values we must hold to.

The biggest challenge and what will actually be the back bone of rigging is being aware of trustworthy hardware and the working load limits. Buy rigging hardware from companies that specialize in rigging is essential. Most of their web sites have a detailed description of the hardware and its load rating. Stay away from buying rigging hardware look-a-likes at a local lumber company. They are not safe for overhead use.

Knowing the breaking strength of materials, the weight of scenery flown and the correct construction techniques are just as valuable. If you’re not for sure of the breaking strength, do a controlled test.  Using quality wood that have few knots and the correct grain structure is a crucial something to be aware of as well. All wooden frame scenery that will be flown has to be constructed with rigging in mind in order to take the stress and load.  The use of wood glue, screws instead of nails and bolts with washers is a good safe practice.  It’s the responsibility of the scenic carpenter and scenic designer to use the right materials, fasteners and added attention to make sure it is constructed properly to eliminate any failure. Make it a point before any object is flown check all rigging points, hardware and the weight of scenery matched with the appropriate ratings. Routine inspections of hardware and materials should be done often. Include discussing safety plans with your stage team if something were to fail so your team will know how to respond.

For churches that have a line batten systems, having designated trained individuals that knows what to inspection and how to properly use, the line batten system is a must. Scenery changes during a live event can involve moving a ton of weight vertically, in a matter of a few seconds. Some common knowledge among your team should be, know the lifting capacity of your line battens. Never stand under counter weighting or under scenery when hoisting. Call out “clear the rail or area” before loading or hoisting and to wait for a response that it is “clear” from individuals close to those areas.

When using secondary rigging such as motorized chain hoists know how much each chain hoist can safely lift and equally important, how much the hoist attachment point can support. Have your hoist inspected and tested periodically.

No one should do stage rigging until they have been thoroughly trained. Never risk the life of someone based on probably or maybe safe. If you intend to hang heavy objects over people’s heads, please value doing it correctly. Visit Willowcreekproduction.org, scenicdesigner.blogspot.com or churchproduction.com for video tips on rigging and scenic construction in the weeks to come.

A Production Team's Adventure in a Third World Country

Dear friends,

Have you ever dreamed of adventure, doing something that counts with your life, helping people to learn new skills and develop strong friendships along the way while encountering your faith with God? On February 17-22 that dream became a reality for the four of us from the production department at Willow Creek, South Barrington. We had an amazing opportunity to partner with two churches, “ICAS and ICC,” in the Dominican Republic. Not only did we have the opportunity to work along side their team installing new equipment for lighting but we were also able to give extensive leadership training and open dialogue with their staff and volunteers. At the end of the day many commented to us and each other that they were so glad that we had come and that the training was outstanding and edifying; learning things that they had never been taught before. I must say it was a celebration for us all to see and experience how God is working through them.

So many incredible things happened on the mission trip that are so difficult to explain. For three of us, this was the first time we’ve visited the Dominican Republic. The city of Santo Domingo and the location of both churches is a complicated and vibrant place. Ironically, within a block or two of these churches there are portions of the city that are wealthy and clean; however, the unbelievably poor sections are side-by-side with the wealthy areas. The streets are lined with vehicles ranging from expensive automobiles carrying nicely dressed business men, to poor ragged street urchins pedaling rusty bicycles carrying case loads of fruit, looking ready to fall apart at any time. As we walked but only a few steps from the ICAS church we saw first hand the deplorable poverty. Many were in small one-room 6’ x 8’structures with dirt floors and cement walls. Most do not have any government assistance. No clean water, no sewerage system, no educational system and no food assistance. People stared at us with a combination of curiosity mixed with a bit of caution. Greeting us was the children who seemed to huddle closer to us, starring up at us with large brown eyes and ear-to-ear grins on their faces. I’m inspired and marvel at both ICC and ICAS energy, effort and focus toward caring for people that do not have much respect or hope. When the church service started we began to see a sea of people swarming the streets around the area of the church grounds, you begin to reflect upon the simple love of God and the poorest of the poor. Seeing ICC and ICAS engaged in all sorts of ministries that serve directly to the needs of the poor within their neighborhood and within the homeless population is awe-inspiring.

Can God use your gifts anywhere… you just have to say yes. Going on such short term mission trips like these does change you, the way you view life and even your likes and dislikes are likely to change. It’s funny how God will stretch you. Then about the time you’ve recovered, He does it again. It never gets easier, it just gets crazier. But yeah, that’s adventure. The surprising part is how you find yourself getting hooked on the uncomfortable. We arrived at 11pm in Chicago, very tired but elated, celebrating what we learned and the ways God used our team to make an eternal impact on the lives of so many. There were some tears and there was hope expressed that we would return again. The impact and friendship we made those six days will never be forgotten. It was one of the most fruitful mission trips I have ever experienced.

Short-term mission trips are a powerful way to have your eyes opened, and your faith strengthened, and you soul refreshed! What could be more invigorating and life-changing than stepping out of your culture; your safety-zone to do something for Christ? 

Christmas Stage Turntable Project

Each year at Christmas we create a memorable out reach that draws approximately 70,000 individuals from our surrounding communities. Needless to say, it’s an extremely large undertaking and responsibility on making decisions toward the scenic support. The month of September is noted for one thing with production and programming staff at Willow, final decisions need to be made toward the Christmas project, so all departments have enough time to develop the Christmas experience. Of course, even after the final decisions the revisions are ongoing. There are changes coming down the line as late as a few days before the event. This year, the go button, was pushed at the end of October, which made the scenic construction four weeks late. There was no room for mistakes; no time in the schedule to redo, all of us have to do our homework, to make the design and construction with precision.

An example of hours spent toward scenic elements can be as high as 2800 hours of construction This year 1000 hours were spent toward the 5 scenic elements needed; a 36’round stage with a 24’ motorized turntable incorporated, 1000 small lights placed randomly throughout the auditorium and stage, 5 band wagons, and two 48’ x 23’ video screens. Now taking on any large project like this can be overwhelming. You need the ability to evaluate, manage and master scheduling. Then there is the other stuff such as ordering materials, load-in of materials, construction, staying within budget, meetings, and volunteers, any of those can sway the success or failure of a project, the constraints of staying on time.

It was decided early on that our main focus was to be toward the subject of, “Fear Not” as mentioned in the bible from the angel Gabriel to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. A "modern" day story about the birth of Christ was written involving various actors depicting Mary, Joseph and the shepherds. It was a conscience from the beginning for this to happen the actors and audience needed to feel an intimate setting, a setting that the audience walks into a real environment and experiences it. To accomplish this two things were decided upon. First we would create a thrust stage with a surface that could be drenched with projected video juice and rotating gobos to creating movement in every scene as an individual painting. Second, we would create1000 lights fixtures that can twinkle creating a real field of stars that serve toward creating an intimate setting.

Plans began underway to create a large enough thrust stage with plenty of room for actors, several musicians and individual singers. The design of a 36’ round stage was an appropriate size and shape as it related to what was needed. Now building a 36’ round platform that is 3’ tall is not that complicated. But when you consider having to, include concave areas for audio speaker placement, incorporate a motorized 24' turntable within limited space, and oh did I forget to tell you it had to be in place and finished in a week, so it would not disrupt our weekend services, these details become a highly complex challenge.

To create the thrust stage over 600 hours was needed to complete it. I decided to make the platform as a portable unit so, we could actually build the stage in a room behind our existing stage over a 3 week period, instead of trying to cram everything into one week. The platform needed to be a standard wood construction that would be exceedingly strong to support a group of people, 5 band wagons and the worship team’s instruments. After calculating the weight of the construction materials, the sheer weight of this platform came in at over 18,000 lbs... The challenge was the weight of the platform needed to be under 9,000 lbs. for the casters not to be overloaded and most importantly to be able to lift the stage by motor hoists from our existing stage onto the audience level three feet down. So, I decided to create a multi-tiered level stage. We could finish the first two levels and keep it under 9,000 lbs. The third level could be finished once it was in place. The first level consisted of a 20.5” aluminum truss system to support the enormous weight with tri-casters installed to make it portable. The second level became a subfloor made up of 2x10 joists set up on 16” centers and ¾” plywood for the decking. This was used to support the 3000 lbs metal turntable. Under the belly of this structure, we would create two compartments to house the turntable motor units. Once the floor was finished, we would place 36 casters up at strategic locations to act as support and guides for the track of the turntable. The third level was also made up of 2x10 joists set up on 16” centers that would match the height of the turntable. Once all was in place, a ¾” plywood decking and ¾ homasote board was added to create the floor surface. The homasote board was used to deaden the sound of foot traffic and turntable noise.

I must say to create a workable stage turntable that turns at the right speed and is quite, became quickly problematic. A scene in the drama script included an actor representing Joseph running away from Mary. The turntable would allow him to run but stay in one place, while video projection makes him look as if he’s running outdoors. Upon preliminary testing, we realized two things, our motors were not fast enough, 1 mph instead of the needed 6 mph and the noise of the motors and casters were extremely loud. To correct those issues we used 5” soft rubber casters, instead of hard plastic ones, ordered the corrected gear boxes for our motors and added insulation in between the joist to deaden the noise.

November 29th was an extremely busy day for us all. Lighting was doing their load-in of rental gear onto the main stage while the construction workers, lifts, and tools were at work on lifting the stage in place and completing the construction. We were constantly battling for a clear space in order to get our job done on time. On December 3rd. we finished the stage by giving it a final coat of light gray paint for video projection.

The round thrust stage created a nice relationship between the actors and audience and changed the feel of the entire auditorium. Everyone was amazed at how realistic the texture of the video content was on the stage surface. With the use of Pandoras Pro Media Server, four Barco FLM 22k projectors, two for the large screens and two for the stage floor surface the brightness and clarity of the video effects was incredible. The video and lighting imagery powerfully enhanced the experience. The 1000 light star field was stunning. We were extremely pleased with the outcome.

So the question is always asked, “Is it too large of an undertaking?” How could you ever compare the valuable results of 70,000 individuals who were indefinitely affected by the testimony of a Christ experience to 1000 hours spent? We are truly humbled to be able to use our gifts toward such a prize as this.