New Challenges...
I guess I should be careful what I ask for sometimes. Like, I've spent a lot of time in the past year or so telling people how much I enjoy my job, because it always presents new challenges. Well, I've got a doozie right now...
For those who may be vaguely familiar with Lagoon, the Entertainment Department uses the old Opera House as a rehearsal space. It's also the location for what we have in the way of a costume shop (prior to moving in there, I had what amounts to a glorified laundry closet in the Carousel Theater...we still use that space, but now it's primary use is just that--laundry. We do some emergency repairs there, as well...but if it's a big, 'Gotta take it apart to fix that problem' issue, we take it to the Opera House, where we can spread it out.) The Opera House isn't open for public use...not up to fire code for such things (If they'd kept it in use, they might have been able to 'grandfather clause' it around those specs...but since they didn't, it's no longer an option, really). As you can surmise from the fact that they let it close down in the first place, the Opera House isn't exactly a priority building on the park.
Well, we discovered a serious problem with the building a few days ago. The beam that holds up all the pulleys directly above the fly rail has torqued loose, and one end has smashed into (and through, in a couple of places) some of the roof trusses. Today, I got to clamber back up in there, making sure to NOT break loose any of the panels of fiber-board that serve as a sound-baffle above the stage this time, and take pictures of the damage.
We are, hopefully, going to get someone to fix it...or at least get the beam out of there. I say hopefully, because, given the attitude on the park about spending money anywhere but rides (the CEO worked in rides as he was growing up...so they are 'his baby' and pretty much the only place the park will splurge without some major arm-twisting), there's a decent chance that we'll show the problem to our head of maintenance, they'll close down the building, and we'll be stuck trying to find other places to rehearse this year...and once we're out of the Opera House again, for a safety reason, odds are pretty darn good no one's ever making it back in.
There are a lot of arguments for fixing it, even if we don't use it as a performance space. We use the fly loft to store a lot of odds and ends items that just don't store well anywhere else--odd-shaped flats, long draperies, curtains, etc. Just about every department on the park uses the space to do their specific department orientations. We stage Frightmares out of the Opera House...use the dressing rooms, turn part of the wardrobe area into a makeup studio, and make the magic happen. There are major power connections wired in or under the Opera House, as well.
I'd be happy if they even just dead-hung the worklights and took the beam out. Most of the stuff hanging on the lines right now is junk, really...stuff we could probably throw out and never miss it. I'm pretty sure they've got the equipment to fix it, though...I'm not a carpenter, and not a structural engineer, by any stretch of the imagination; but I can visualize some methods of fixing it that wouldn't require ridiculous quantities of man-hours and equipment.
Tomorrow, we meet with the Director of Maintenance, to show him the problem. That was why I took the pictures...so we could say, specifically, "At this point, directly overhead, the beam is broken through one truss, and is bending another...but, over here (striding rapidly downstage), it's only just starting to torque loose from its mounting brackets."
I really hope they fix it. I'm still bummed that they're probably never going to fix up the rest of the Opera House...it's a beautiful space and I would love to be performing in it (it's about 2/3 the size of the Lyric house, before they did the renovations...so it's got that kind of intimate feel to it). Granted, I don't think they'd ever do shows in there that I'd prefer...it's an amusement park, they want things to be light and fluffy. But part of me just aches a little bit every time I walk across that stage, and look out into that perpetually empty house.
So, I'm tackling this new challenge. I'm going to do some serious arm-twisting to try and get them to fix it...or at least get it to a point where it's still usable. I might have to spend most of my energy trying to convince our Operations Manager that it's actually worth fighting for. But we'll see what kind of response we get to the initial pitch tomorrow. I hope it'll be good.
If it's not, I've wasted a lot of work this winter trying to fix up a costume shop that's never going to be used again. I kind of feel like that building is my space...and I'll be torqued if someone else tells me it's not worth fixing.
Because it is.
I guess I should be careful what I ask for sometimes. Like, I've spent a lot of time in the past year or so telling people how much I enjoy my job, because it always presents new challenges. Well, I've got a doozie right now...
For those who may be vaguely familiar with Lagoon, the Entertainment Department uses the old Opera House as a rehearsal space. It's also the location for what we have in the way of a costume shop (prior to moving in there, I had what amounts to a glorified laundry closet in the Carousel Theater...we still use that space, but now it's primary use is just that--laundry. We do some emergency repairs there, as well...but if it's a big, 'Gotta take it apart to fix that problem' issue, we take it to the Opera House, where we can spread it out.) The Opera House isn't open for public use...not up to fire code for such things (If they'd kept it in use, they might have been able to 'grandfather clause' it around those specs...but since they didn't, it's no longer an option, really). As you can surmise from the fact that they let it close down in the first place, the Opera House isn't exactly a priority building on the park.
Well, we discovered a serious problem with the building a few days ago. The beam that holds up all the pulleys directly above the fly rail has torqued loose, and one end has smashed into (and through, in a couple of places) some of the roof trusses. Today, I got to clamber back up in there, making sure to NOT break loose any of the panels of fiber-board that serve as a sound-baffle above the stage this time, and take pictures of the damage.
We are, hopefully, going to get someone to fix it...or at least get the beam out of there. I say hopefully, because, given the attitude on the park about spending money anywhere but rides (the CEO worked in rides as he was growing up...so they are 'his baby' and pretty much the only place the park will splurge without some major arm-twisting), there's a decent chance that we'll show the problem to our head of maintenance, they'll close down the building, and we'll be stuck trying to find other places to rehearse this year...and once we're out of the Opera House again, for a safety reason, odds are pretty darn good no one's ever making it back in.
There are a lot of arguments for fixing it, even if we don't use it as a performance space. We use the fly loft to store a lot of odds and ends items that just don't store well anywhere else--odd-shaped flats, long draperies, curtains, etc. Just about every department on the park uses the space to do their specific department orientations. We stage Frightmares out of the Opera House...use the dressing rooms, turn part of the wardrobe area into a makeup studio, and make the magic happen. There are major power connections wired in or under the Opera House, as well.
I'd be happy if they even just dead-hung the worklights and took the beam out. Most of the stuff hanging on the lines right now is junk, really...stuff we could probably throw out and never miss it. I'm pretty sure they've got the equipment to fix it, though...I'm not a carpenter, and not a structural engineer, by any stretch of the imagination; but I can visualize some methods of fixing it that wouldn't require ridiculous quantities of man-hours and equipment.
Tomorrow, we meet with the Director of Maintenance, to show him the problem. That was why I took the pictures...so we could say, specifically, "At this point, directly overhead, the beam is broken through one truss, and is bending another...but, over here (striding rapidly downstage), it's only just starting to torque loose from its mounting brackets."
I really hope they fix it. I'm still bummed that they're probably never going to fix up the rest of the Opera House...it's a beautiful space and I would love to be performing in it (it's about 2/3 the size of the Lyric house, before they did the renovations...so it's got that kind of intimate feel to it). Granted, I don't think they'd ever do shows in there that I'd prefer...it's an amusement park, they want things to be light and fluffy. But part of me just aches a little bit every time I walk across that stage, and look out into that perpetually empty house.
So, I'm tackling this new challenge. I'm going to do some serious arm-twisting to try and get them to fix it...or at least get it to a point where it's still usable. I might have to spend most of my energy trying to convince our Operations Manager that it's actually worth fighting for. But we'll see what kind of response we get to the initial pitch tomorrow. I hope it'll be good.
If it's not, I've wasted a lot of work this winter trying to fix up a costume shop that's never going to be used again. I kind of feel like that building is my space...and I'll be torqued if someone else tells me it's not worth fixing.
Because it is.
posted by Curtis at 7:34 PM
1 Comments:
break a leg friend, it sounds as if it's a derserving space.
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