FINGER LAKES MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL

2019 Summer Season

Summer 2019, Carpentry Intern

My first experience with summerstock theatre was at the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival, in Auburn New York. The tight schedule and high production value made for a hectic and exciting summer that served as a great break from school, as well as an amazing learning experience. I worked on four of their productions that year. Part of my duties as a carpentry intern included serving on run crew as necessary.

Shortly after the end of the 2019 season, the company rebranded to be The REV Theatre Company

GREASE

Directed by Igor Goldin

Scenic Design:

Nate Bertone

Lighting Design:

Jose Santiago

Sound Design:

Kevin Heard

Costume Design:

Tiffany Howard

Wig Design:

Alfonso Annotto

The highlight of Grease for me was the false proscenium piece that I helped put together. The header was broken into five parts and was dead-hung from part of the grid in front of the proscenium. They were built by cutting plywood shapes that defined the shape of the header; then lauan, MDF, and foam were attached to the plywood to imitate moulding. After a heavy coat of drywall mud we attached wooded rosettes, and delivered them to paints.

Below is a selection of publicity photos.

(For full photo credits, see the end of the page.)

GRAND HOTEL

Directed by Brett Smock

Scenic Design:

Michael Schweikardt

Lighting Design:

Adam Honoré

Sound Design:

Ed Chapman

Costume Design:

Tiffany Howard

Wig Design:

Alfonso Annotto

I was on run crew for Grease during this build and as such was not in the shop as much. Most of my work went into the many gold columns across the set. The columns were many layers of MDF, plywood, and lauan. I got very familiar with the routing table during this process, as most of the design included custom moulding.

Below is a selection of publicity photos.

(For full photo credits, see the end of the page.)

SOUTH PACIFIC

Directed by Scott Weinstein

Scenic Design:

Jeffery Kmiec

Lighting Design:

Dan Ozminkowski

Sound Design:

Ed Chapman

Costume Design:

Tiffany Howard

Wig Design:

Alfonso Annotto

I was also on crew for Grand Hotel, therefore again, was not around much for build of South Pacific. I was most proud of my work during load in. The majority of my efforts went toward the pool that lined the sand pit that served as the main playing area. The pool had an outside wall made of stud walls that we then lined with plastic sheets and once again with a large rubber liner. I spent many nights folding and taping the liner down, emptying and refilling the pool, and generally wading through water. A huge takeaway from this process was the effect of AEA guidelines on scenery construction and maintenance. There were a lot of Equity standards that came into play when asking the actors to walk in the pool and sand pit. Our job during load in was ensuring we met those standards, while also establishing an easy way of maintaining it during the run.

Below is a selection of publicity photos.

(For full photo credits, see the end of the page.)

WORKING: A MUSICAL

Directed by Brett Smock

Scenic Design:

Jen Price

Lighting Design:

Jose Santiago

Sound Design:

Eric Backus

Costume Design:

Tiffany Howard

Wig Design:

Alfonso Annotto

For Working, I was happiest with the sets of stairs I made. Built using 2x8, the treads had to inset into the stringers to accomplish a stripped back skeletal look. This meant individually plotting the location and shape of each of the treads onto the stringers, routing out the majority of the wood, and finishing off the shapes with a chisel. This was a very time-consuming process. There were many hours spent carving away small wood shavings and test-fitting pieces. After all was said and done however, I was really pleased with the aesthetic look of the stairs, and their seamless appearance.

Below is a selection of publicity photos.

(For full photo credits, see the end of the page.)