Technical Director and Instructor
During my time at The Mount Vernon School I worked on all theatre performances and various other events including chapel and holiday extravaganza. Below will be a selection from the theatrical productions.
The Tempest
During the school year with COVID-19 shutting down most live performance we made the decision to hold our fall play out doors with pre-recorded lines and full facial Greek theatre style masks. without the infrastructure for out door theatre i mentored students into problem solving and designing for an atypical space. We also pulled inspiration from other cultures performances to enhance our own vision using Brazilian parade style puppets for a little extra theatre magic.
Ariel’s mask. I developed the mask on a Cardboard rough shape of the actors face.
Based on Brazilian Parade puppets we created our own ten foot tall goddesses
The puppet Frame was 2” PVC bolted to marching band Drum harnesses and secured with Belts and PVC articulators.
Heads were Paper maché and Holiday Eggs to ensure it was a light as possible for the middle school students who would be operating the puppets.
Return to the Forbidden Planet
Producing a live musical during the year of COVID-19 was no easy task, however a show setting in space helped. We were able to use helmet style face shields to protect our cast and crew. Using the Gym we created the inner bridge of our spaceship complete with Air lock and interactive band members. This show was a reflective nightmare for lighting but upon our live show most of the shine only served to enhance our rock show vibe.
Robo-Ariel a Student led effort to decorate and design.
I mentored the student sound designer in helping balance the sound coming from behind a hard plastic shell to add a bit of a Robotic tone. With the full suit we had to ensure perfect placement of mic-pack so that in the Gymnatorium the signal would not get mettled in a space with 23 wireless signals controlled by a Dante Sound card and a Allen and Heath GLD112
Full cast and set complete with light up shoes!
Air lock Doors pully operated by one student and simultaneous open.
Using the Duct tubing we were able to pump a large amount of fog for atmospherics. a “cheezy” sci-fi theme made the choice for visible practical lighting important to sell our spaceship vibe.