Beauty and the Beast

This is what has been keeping me in the workshop, but also killing me in the workshop at the same time. It is our school’s production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The castle is 28feet long, 16feet tall, and 4 ft deep, plus a 8ft run on the grand stairs,making a total of 12ft deep. That was always on stage, but behind the middle black curtain during the town scenes.

The tavern is a rolling 6pc set with a theatrical fireplace that uses lights, fans, and a cloth to simulate a flame. The main tavern is 20ft long, and is 11ft tall at the peak. The Bar is 2 pcs that are 8ft long and then there is Gastan’s chair/throne. I didn’t build the chair, it was borrowed from another school. All of that was set up in approximately 30 seconds twice per show for 4 shows.

Chips cart is a 3/4 plywood frame, pocket screwed together with a painted luan side on casters. The bottom is open so the actor can “Flinstone it” as the director called it. The “headdress is borrowed” and my son was trying on the costume.

We had an audience of 1350, not too bad. Considering our attendance in the fall for Diary of Anne Franke was about 500.

The non-structural wall parts of the set are 1×3 wall “flats” with a sheet of luan. The structural walls are 2×4 studs 24” on center with luan sheeting. We build in 4×8 sections to keep it modular and reusable.

It took 2 months to build with about 12-15 hours after school each week with about 6-10 people working (adds up to about 100 hours per week) We call it a 3D puzzle since we do not actually get to set it up until the week before performances. It took about 12-16 hours on stage to assemble with approximately 20-30 actors, crew, and parent volunteers. The sad thing, it was all taken down 8 days later in 2 1/2 hours and is now back in storage awaiting a new paint job for next fall.