The Set!!!

kemeisleahcim · The Set!!!

What kind of set did you guys have/see for Bye Bye Birdie because I'm the set/prop/poster designer and I'm in the dang thing, only Harvey Johnson so it's not a huge deal, but this is a massive show to design for and any tips would be awesome! Thanks!

musikal_geek

Ours was really cool (by "ours" I mean the show that my friends did, and now I'm in the same theatre group). It wasn't really any distinguishable object, but there were lots of different levels that could represent different locations. Also, there were MacAfee (sp?) and Maude's trucks that came in front of the main set, since the look is important.

*looks for a picture because description sucks*

*can't find one*

Oh well. It was cool.

Snow_White

We had basically a two-storey house that we used as the MacAfee home/Ed Sullivan studio/Other various locations...it had Kim's Bedroom on the top left and another room off to the right with a staircase leading backstage in the back...it was awesome...and perfect for the Telephone Hour because it could have been anyones house...

Ill see if I can find a picture for you

ajkowalkowski

LEVELS. LEVELS. LEVELS!

i just designed a set for this show. After looking at about 100 different ideas, I decided that the best way to do it was to build a wooden platform on the stage with many different levels on it, so if you were downstage walking back, you would walk a few feet, step up to a level, walk a few more feet, then on stage right there were a few steps up to a platform and another, higher one on stage left.

that was too expensive/time consuming, so we ended up just building a four-foot high platform upstage left with steps up the side.

the levels thing works really well, because there are several times when multiple scenes are going on at a time.

For example for scene I-3, we set a bed and a vanity DR for Kim's room, a followspot on Ursela DL, and a couch, chair, end table, and fireplace on a four-foot platform UL.

For the bar scene, we put the bar on stage left, the MacAfee house UL on the platform (for Albert to sing "Talk to Me") and the Shriner's room DL.

It works so well!

If you have any questions, just ask!

kemeisleahcim

YEAH! I wanted to do a sort of set where locations can be placed anywhere and you imply places via furniture and lighting...but my director didn't want that (since she's turning it into a big a dance musical) so I've had to design individual set pieces.

Let me know what you think of this: for the Telephone Hour I've designed four set pieces that resemble playground equipment. We have a set of steps with a ramp that we call the slide. A big monkey bar looking piece, a piece that looks like three rectangles of decreasing size next to each other and finally another stair unit. Since she's decided to make that song a dance number these add to the dance.

Sound cool? What has been done for the ice house...that's the only piece that's giving me trouble.

Music08Man

We had a minimal set for this show except for the house, which took forever to setup because everything had to be carried on individually and the kitchen was in like 10 pieces and there was a ktchen table and a huge couch...

Anyway...for the icehouse, we just had Kim and Conrad sitting on some wooden crates. It wasn't fancy by any means.

HugoPeabody930

Hey guys!! I'm new to the forum, and this is my first post!!! WOOHOO!!! lol
anywho.... below is our set, we had the band on upstage right, and center stage we had our main playing area whic was a record at a rake and came out and covered the pit. stage left we had a turn table separated into three different sections, where props and other set pieces were brought on and off (it was REALLLLLLY cool). THENN on bothh stage left and stage right we had door frames, during ed sullivan we wheeled televisions out of both sides, and we had a videocamera in the booth that transmitted to both televisions, which was an EXTREMELY awesome effect.

and the best part about the whole set was that it literally took NO time for set changes.

ajkowalkowski

our set was also pretty minimal. we didn't have a "kitchen" because it would just take too much time and space. it really isn't necessary. the one line where Mae is supposed to put her head in the oven works just as well if she's just sitting at a couch absent-minded knitting. we did have a small card table for Conrad to eat on, but that's it.

kemeisleahcim	The Set!!! What kind of set did you guys have/see for Bye Bye Birdie because I'm the set/prop/poster designer and I'm in the dang thing, only Harvey Johnson so it's not a huge deal, but this is a massive show to design for and any tips would be awesome! Thanks!
musikal_geek	Ours was really cool (by "ours" I mean the show that my friends did, and now I'm in the same theatre group). It wasn't really any distinguishable object, but there were lots of different levels that could represent different locations. Also, there were MacAfee (sp?) and Maude's trucks that came in front of the main set, since the look is important. looks for a picture because description sucks can't find one Oh well. It was cool.
Snow_White	We had basically a two-storey house that we used as the MacAfee home/Ed Sullivan studio/Other various locations...it had Kim's Bedroom on the top left and another room off to the right with a staircase leading backstage in the back...it was awesome...and perfect for the Telephone Hour because it could have been anyones house... Ill see if I can find a picture for you
ajkowalkowski	LEVELS. LEVELS. LEVELS! i just designed a set for this show. After looking at about 100 different ideas, I decided that the best way to do it was to build a wooden platform on the stage with many different levels on it, so if you were downstage walking back, you would walk a few feet, step up to a level, walk a few more feet, then on stage right there were a few steps up to a platform and another, higher one on stage left. that was too expensive/time consuming, so we ended up just building a four-foot high platform upstage left with steps up the side. the levels thing works really well, because there are several times when multiple scenes are going on at a time. For example for scene I-3, we set a bed and a vanity DR for Kim's room, a followspot on Ursela DL, and a couch, chair, end table, and fireplace on a four-foot platform UL. For the bar scene, we put the bar on stage left, the MacAfee house UL on the platform (for Albert to sing "Talk to Me") and the Shriner's room DL. It works so well! If you have any questions, just ask!
kemeisleahcim	YEAH! I wanted to do a sort of set where locations can be placed anywhere and you imply places via furniture and lighting...but my director didn't want that (since she's turning it into a big a dance musical) so I've had to design individual set pieces. Let me know what you think of this: for the Telephone Hour I've designed four set pieces that resemble playground equipment. We have a set of steps with a ramp that we call the slide. A big monkey bar looking piece, a piece that looks like three rectangles of decreasing size next to each other and finally another stair unit. Since she's decided to make that song a dance number these add to the dance. Sound cool? What has been done for the ice house...that's the only piece that's giving me trouble.
Music08Man	We had a minimal set for this show except for the house, which took forever to setup because everything had to be carried on individually and the kitchen was in like 10 pieces and there was a ktchen table and a huge couch... Anyway...for the icehouse, we just had Kim and Conrad sitting on some wooden crates. It wasn't fancy by any means.
HugoPeabody930	Hey guys!! I'm new to the forum, and this is my first post!!! WOOHOO!!! lol anywho.... below is our set, we had the band on upstage right, and center stage we had our main playing area whic was a record at a rake and came out and covered the pit. stage left we had a turn table separated into three different sections, where props and other set pieces were brought on and off (it was REALLLLLLY cool). THENN on bothh stage left and stage right we had door frames, during ed sullivan we wheeled televisions out of both sides, and we had a videocamera in the booth that transmitted to both televisions, which was an EXTREMELY awesome effect. and the best part about the whole set was that it literally took NO time for set changes.
ajkowalkowski	our set was also pretty minimal. we didn't have a "kitchen" because it would just take too much time and space. it really isn't necessary. the one line where Mae is supposed to put her head in the oven works just as well if she's just sitting at a couch absent-minded knitting. we did have a small card table for Conrad to eat on, but that's it.

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The Set!!!