It has been 17 months since theaters went dark, and now as they’re reopening and the stage door is once more seeing crews return, there’s the feeling of excitement like returning home but with a bit of apprehension as one is not quite sure what to expect. Since some theater makers are already back at work Stage Directions asked them what has surprised them returning and any advice they would offer others heading back through the stage door.
Stage Directions: What have you encountered that’s surprised you about coming back?
Jimmy Fedigan
Production Electrician, various Broadway Shows and National Tours
We did expect to find mice had chewed through the cables, but no, there was no damage. So that was a good surprise. The theater owners put in a lot of traps, but with no casts, crews, and patrons in the theaters, there were no food sources, so they apparently went elsewhere.
Denise J. Grillo
Production Props Coordinator
When you’re part of a team that’s tasked with reopening five separate productions (Hamilton), the most important thing is making sure that the lines of communication are maintained and that you’re able to keep track of all the minutia. I think what might surprise most people just starting out in the business is that all the shows that are reopening are going back into rehearsal studios. As a result, I’ve again had to provide and ship rehearsal prop packages across the country.
Eric Hart
Prop Builder and Faculty Member at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts
There have been various materials shortages throughout the past few months, mostly caused by the pandemic. But also there were some major ice storms in Texas this past winter, which processes most of the polyurethane in this country. Polyurethane is used in most of the casting resins we use in props, so there were shortages and delays with those products.
Elsa Hiltner
Pay Equity Writer/Organizer/Consultant and Costume Designer
I have been inspired by the ways that theater workers are organizing and working together to gain better pay and working conditions as the industry moves to reopen. It feels like the pandemic helped people realize that it’s important to be safe and well rested, fairly paid, and to have a friend/family life outside of work; and that it’s important to take action to create those conditions within their workplace. It’s also notable how many company leaders are listening to these requests and making systemic changes within their companies to improve working conditions. It’s really inspiring to see how knowledge and action in these areas has grown.
Andrew Hungerford
Producing Artistic Director, Know Theatre, and Scenic & Lighting Designer
Even though we kept producing digitally through the pandemic, I’m returning to the theater in person for the first time at the end of the summer, and I’m actually surprisingly nervous about it. One piece of it is the weight of expectation, and another piece is the liminal pandemic space that we’re currently in; many people are trying to pretend things are back to normal, but they’re really not.
Sherrice Mojgani
Lighting Designer
I expected to be rusty or to have forgotten how to do things. I wasn’t. The way to do my job well all came flooding back the moment we got to work.
Terrence Williams
GM, The Works Entertainment
That some have been caught off guard with the idea that a 15-month hiatus can result in tremendous maintenance. Machines are meant to move—if that winch, or roller, or moving light has sat still for close to a year and a half, there’s undoubtedly a check-out and maintenance period needed. Has the pre-production budget for restoring operations considered this?
What advice would you offer a colleague as they head back to work in a theater?
Fedigan: Because the equipment has been sitting there for a long time, you need to take the time to do maintenance right and to clean everything. Initially, we don’t turn anything on for too long because of the fans in most equipment. We don’t want accumulated dust being sucked into electronics of equipment that pulls air in. We go through and blow everything out as best we can and then turn on by position. We’ll go to, say the front of house truss and open all the movers and blow them out. We clean and lubricate them, and put new filters in. Then we turn that position back on and check one by one and make sure they’re all good. Then we move to the next position. We try to protect the sensors from something grimy or dusty, so it doesn’t run through the sensors when they calibrate. We did have an issue with some moving lights that lost their information and settings. We thought that over the year and a half they had lost the battery back-ups, but working with the manufacturer we found that a firmware upgrade fixed all the issues with those movers. It’s important to check and update your equipment so it’s all current, talk to the shop and the manufacturer if there are problems.
Also I say, trust each other. Everybody wants to get back to work and everybody’s trying to be safe. There’s a lot of listening going on, more than ever before. We have Zoom calls that have nothing to do with the shows, it’s all personal and asking what can we do to be better? You need to find out what people are nervous about and just try and be as reactive as you can in that situation.
Grillo: When returning to a show be ready to walk through the entire process again, behaving essentially as if you’re loading the show in for the very first time. Everything must be thoroughly inspected and cleaned. Anticipate the need to send some items back to the shop for repair or refinishing, make sure you have that worked into you’re scheduling and that everyone else on the team is aware of your plans. As far as new shows go, I’d say to keep abreast of the everchanging set of COVID guidelines so that new requirements don’t catch you off guard. I took a COVID Compliance Officer training course so that I was acutely aware of standards and could more easily add that layer of planning into everything I oversee.
Hart: I heard of a theater where a leak had formed while no one was around and it filled their prop weapons cabinet up with water, so all their swords and guns were floating in water for a few months before anyone noticed. I think anyone coming back needs to devote time and money to checking through all their spaces and being ready to do some major cleaning, repairs, and just a general “airing out.” Also all the staff and crew will need time to get back up to speed as well. Some of my colleagues have returned to shops where no one has run a table saw in over a year, for instance. You can’t expect everyone to jump back in at full speed. The first couple of shows you do should be simple and less intense than what you normally did.
Hiltner: I hope that as people return to work, or welcome staff and artists back to work, that they realize the power they each have in the systems we work within. Every individual person has the choice to uphold the status quo and existing conditions, or to speak up and create new systems that build a more accessible and equitable theater industry.
Hungerford: We’re still in the middle of a global pandemic, and conditions are in continual flux. I think flexibility and contingency plans are going to continue to be the watchwords for the next 12-18 months.
Mojgani: I would recommend to everyone to hold on to the compassion, grace, and extra care we have been giving one another. Let’s stop assuming everyone is an insider and knows how things are supposed to work. Let’s keep the floor open to any question about personal safety.
Williams: Check and inspect all systems! If you have goods in storage pull them out and take a look—a lot can happen in 15-months. Do you have rust? Do you have mildew? These are going to increase your production budgets, so the sooner you make that discovery, the better for everyone. In our international operations, there are containers which have remained sealed after transiting back to us from places like Singapore where it’s quite humid. How will that gear fare the next time we open those containers? Only one way to find out!
