3 minute read
Drilling 'Rumors' for the big day
The stage is starting to fall into place
Kat Mabry/ Roundup
Foundation, lights, staircases and wall-s make up the set of the Neil Simon comedic play “Rumors”. The design comes to life in the Pierce College Theatre Arts Building at Pierce College on schedule for, Oct. 22 at the Mainstage.
Michael Gend, adjunct instructor of theater, designed the stage and created floor plans that his students have used to construct the vision for “Rumors” since the first week of fall semester.
Gend’s stage-managing class meets Tuesday and Thursday afternoons where his students are given the opportunity to sign up for different jobs for each production.
“It’s always fun to create a home on stage,” said Gend.
Without the stage, there would be no platform for the actors to make the audience laugh while performing this 1988 comedy.
“The 342 students work very hard,” said John Jones, Rumors technician. “The students this semester are always eager to help as much as they can.”
According to Gend, the stage is a box set that takes place in New York in a Victorian style home, which has the modern sensibility of the 1980s. There is a humorous kind of contrast that was suggested by Neil Simon in the script when he first wrote it.
“The half art deco, half Victorian, and third half trendy [stage] is bouncing off Neil Simon’s idea,” Gend said.
The Mainstage at Pierce includes a unique wrap-around audience, which can be challenging in providing a consistent view of the scenery design to every seat.
The acoustics of the stage are designed for a concert hall, thus the arc of the audience needs to be taken into consideration.
“This [show] is actually more relaxing because we get to create one very, very fun place to spend an hour and a half with an audience,” Gend said.
The sound design is led by Ed Salas, Pierce theatre arts department technician, who brings 20 years of experience to the team.
“I create environments; as you’re looking on the stage maybe you’re hearing a blanket of crickets and birds in the morning, and so that will go on through the whole scene,” Salas said.
The technical rehearsals will begin in one week when the lighting cues and sound cues will be assigned.
Alexandria (Allie) Burns, 18, a freshman at Pierce, is the assistant manager for Rumors. Burns comes from Gend’s Tuesday and Thursday stage-managing class and has previous experience in theatre.
Burns is no stranger to being in front of an audience though her role is currently “ behind the scenes.”
Burns brings with her eight years of acting, 15 years of modeling, which include contributing to the Gerber baby campaign before she was one-year-old.
“At this point I like them both [onstage and back stage] equally,” Burns said.
According to Jones, two months (roughly 100 hours) worth of work have gone into the classic two-story stage to date. The students in Gend’s class will continue working up until their deadline: opening night.
“In the end when you see the whole play come together, it’s worth it,” Burns said.
