Starting the sets with the Jungle of Nool..
A five-week marathon of painting started the day after Christmas in 2014. This is when I endeavored to create the most magical sets yet for Park Avenue Theater’s production of Seussical Jr. It has been a challenge but it is now completed and ready to install on the stage. The Jungle of Nool, was the first of three levels of sets to be completed for this project. They included the Jungle of Nool, Horton’s Nest, and Whoville.
I have been doing the Park Avenue Theater sets since the inception of the youth theater. We have presented 7 outstanding musicals, and this I dare say has been the most challenging, simply because we have different levels of the stage from ground to 5 ft above the stage floor.
My perspective, a stage flat is nothing but a very large painting……. Using large brushes, rollers and indoor flat house paint, anyone with an imagination can create the perfect set, one that will be eye-popping and that provides the visual energy to enhance the musical.
My journey through stage design started 3 years ago, when the director of a fledgling upstart youth theater asked me if I would be willing to give it a try. “Ah, sure why not. It can’t be that hard……..” Oh my, the learning curve was a challenge for an artist who at the time didn’t create anything bigger than a 4′ x 5′ painting.
After the second year, I pretty much figured out the lay of the stage and my limitations for growth. I found I needed to go up rather than expanding across the stage. I just didn’t have the room. Thus started the 12′ tall by 24′ wide pallet with added sections for the side wings.
This year the director Joanne Robertson, and musical director Debby Place, wanted added levels to the production. Thus we created a 5′ tall nest for Horton The Who.
Stage sets go up this week, and the cast will be ready for opening nite on February 19 at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door. Trinity Church on the corner of Park Ave. and Copper Basin Prescott, AZ.
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