Working in the Theater

For the last school year I’ve worked in a few different places, such as the school cafeteria and the atrium in an old Amsterdam monument. However I’ve never done any work inside an actual theater, until last Wednesday. As I might have mentioned before, the media department at my school often helps out the fashion department when it comes to organizing fashion shows and stuff like that. We often build the stage and take care of the audio and lighting.

This year was no different. As usual the students from the fashion department had to organize a complete fashion show for their practical exam assignment, taking care of clothes, make up, music, choreography, you name it. The exam location for fashion changes each year as far as I know and this year the location was the old Gooiland Theater, right here in Hilversum. Great of course, because that makes it really close to home.

The Stage

Since we had exams earlier that morning, me and the classmates who were also coming to help out arrived at the theater around noon. A lot of the work had already been done; moving heads were already in position above the stage, audio equipment was already up and working and they were just about to begin building the primary stage construction. The idea was to create a sort of banana out of cloth on which we could project colors and shapes using a set of 3000 Watt moving heads and another set of 2500 Watt. Needless to say these things emitted a huge amount of light but the effect in combination with the ‘banana’ was very cool to see. My compliments to the stage designers (probably my teachers… cheers!).

The Spotlights

When the stage was done, all lights had been programmed, every cable taped down and everything was working it was time for the waiting game. Most of us hung around aimlessly while the light guys were doing their best to program the light table in time for the big show.

After about an hour the dress rehearsal started and me and a classmate were sent up to the balcony to operate the two spotlights. I’ll tell you right now that being a spotlight operator is not as easy as it looks since you have to try to predict every single move a person is going to make. Especially the first act was hard to follow since it was a sort of African dance, this guy was jumping all over the place. I’m actually glad I got to see it during the dress rehearsal a couple of times otherwise I would have majorly screwed up during the real performance.

In the end we did good though. We got a lot of compliments from people sitting at the Front of House about how good we spotted for a first time which did make me feel good. It’s always nice to be appreciated.

You Break It, You’re Broke

When the show was over and the audience had left the theater the entire crew started to break the stage (which luckily always goes a lot faster then building it). The ‘banana’ was being torn down again, audio equipment packed up and cables rolled up and tossed in crates.

However in our hurry to be done as soon as possible me and one of my teachers kind of forgot that especially the 3000 Watt moving heads might take a while to cool down again. As we lifted one up and tried to tilt it over, the head had a sort of ‘FUCK YOU’ moment and started twisting and turning in all directions, making us lose our balance and almost dropping the damn thing lens down onto the stage. And just to paint a picture, regular 250 Watt moving heads already cost about € 3000,- a piece. These 3000 Watt moving heads cost about € 15.000,- a piece and we almost demolished one. Quick as I am I managed to save it by quickly grabbing the head and holding it up, but that also came at a price. Since the lamp was still hot I received a small yet very painful burn on my hand which proceeded to bleed for the remainder of the evening. But hey, at least I won’t have to cough up my share of 15 grand.

Holland’s Got Talent

A fun fact about this particular theater is that Holland’s Got Talent was done in this very theater, on the very stage we were working on. I generally don’t like those kind of shows though I must admit the *’s Got Talent shows were a lot more amusing than their Idols and Popstars counterparts, mostly because of the live audience present at the auditions.

It was very fun to see and reconize parts of the theater, such as the place where the jury sat and some spots backstage. Check out the video’s and photo’s below and see for yourself.

Final Thoughts

I have to say it was a very fun project to work on. For the first time I’ve actually worked in a theater and also had a chat with people who work there on a daily basis. Speaking to one of the employees really informed me about how things work in an actual theater.

After the stage was clean and everything was loaded up the entire crew had a few drinks in the theater’s bar. It’s fun to be socializing with your teachers after an event like that, especially because you start to know them from a completely different angle. I hope to participate in a few more projects like this next year. For now all I have to look forward to is building and breaking the school dance, but you will read about that next week.

Robin

Photos and Videos

Viva Las Vegas!

There are a couple of places in the world I want to have visited when I’m old and hitting on nurses in the old people home. One of those places used to be New York City because I wanted to see the Twin Towers. That dream kind of collapsed in 2001 so now I’m focusing on other places, one of those being Las Vegas.

And who wouldn’t want to visit Sin City, the world’s playground, good old Vegas? In my opinion everyone should have been there at least once in their life. In Las Vegas there is something for everyone. You name it, they have it and that’s the great thing about Vegas.

Besides the obvious stuff (gambling, hot chicks, strippers, sex, shows) I also like Las Vegas because of it’s architecture. Ever since I was a little boy I’ve always been busy building stuff. First with Duplo (the toddler, big brick version of Lego), then with Lego and when I got my first computer one of the first modern games I got for it was The Sims. In fact, sometimes I ask myself why I never considered studying to be an architect. But I think that a desk job like that and having to deal with tons of math never really made architecture an attractive study for me.

I enjoy looking at other people’s work though, which is why I love Vegas. Las Vegas is one of the fastest changing cities in the world with new hotels being built and opened every couple of years. Not a day goes by in Vegas where you can’t see at least one crane hovering over a building site. And with the opening of The Mirrage, built by Steven Wynn, in 1989, a new trend was set to design and built the biggest and most luxurious hotel on the Las Vegas strip. This trend has since then spawned some of the most incredible and original buildings such as The Luxor, a hotel built in the shape of a pyramid and has a completely Egyptian theme. For New York New York they recreated a part of the New York skyline. For hotel Paris they recreated the Eiffel Tower and inside The Venetian, you guessed it, they remade the actual Venetian canals.

Because of the constant change a lot of old hotels who can no longer keep up with the ‘bigger is better’ trend are subject for removal. They are often bought by a big developer who has plans for a new building on the site of the old one. The hotel is imploded and construction on the new mega resort begins as soon as possible. Of course an old building making way for a new building isn’t that weird. But only in Las Vegas the implosion is an actual attraction and an actual party. Because if the old hotel has to go, it will go out in style.

In my search for Las Vegas info I came across the blog of someone who has a similar love for Las Vegas architecture. Mark Adams owns the website/blog Vegas Today and Tommorow on which he constantly provides his audience with updates about current construction projects in Vegas. I especially find the construction of the Echelon very interesting to follow.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas

Now for the really awesome part. Upcoming October me and my girlfriend will be visiting Las Vegas for the first (and hopefully not last) time! I’m already very excited about it all, even though the journey there will involve me sitting on an airplane for 11 hours straight, being in my dream town Las Vegas makes up for just about anything.

We will be staying at the previously mentioned Luxor. Although not the most classy place you can find yourself, it is one of the cheaper hotels directly on the strip (and the airport, I forgot about that when I booked it, haha).

Of course I will be making lots and lots of pictures there and hopefully walk away with some decent winnings from the casinos. One can always dream! Expect to see a lot of my adventures on this blog when I get back.

Finally I have a question for any Vegas natives or regulars who happen to read this. What are, in your opinion, places me and the girlfriend MUST under any circumstances visit? The Secret Garden, Bellagio fountains and Grand Canyon are already on my list but I’m sure there’s lots and lots and lots more to be seen in Vegas.

Robin

Exams – Part 3

The practical exam is done! Yay!

And it wasn’t even that hard. All we had to do was build a small piece of stage, install four lights and install some audio. The catch was that we had to follow the rules of the Labor Inspection. Things such as lifting with your legs, not with your back. Or carrying certain things with two persons instead of one. They are simple rules but also very simple to forget when you’re on the job.

In total we had four hours to load up the equipment in our studio on the ground floor, transport it all to the first floor, build the stage, break it down and then transport it back to the studio. The timer would be stopped when all of the equipment was back downstairs and everything accounted for. Me and my teammate managed to do the entire assignment in a little under three hours, clocking in at 2 hours and 57 minutes. And that included two small breaks.

Of course this exam was not a race for the best time. We were being graded by our teachers on following Labor Inspection rules, the way we work, neatness, logic and safety. And judging by how little they had to say during and after the exam, I’m assuming for now that we didn’t make any huge mistakes. In fact, we even caught a few mistakes they put in the exam on purpose. More points for us!

The results of the exams so far will be announced next wednesday.

Robin

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