Scenic Designer Brittany Elias overseeing the slip stages

Cole Porter's Nymph Errant opens tomorrow with a matinee and evening performance, Thursday Aug 9th and plays thru Saturday Aug. 18th. 

This show has one of the most intriguing sets I have seen on the Tibbits stage.  I have been so enamored with the backstage and onstage workings of this show, I decided to dedicate this blog entirely to "your backstage pass to Nymph Errant."

Nymph Errant is a huge show, we have a lot of places to cover within the play: from Switzerland to France, England, Greece, Italy and even Turkey.  Our director Charles Burr had given our Scenic Designer, Brittany Elias the beginning idea of a possible storybook, or postcards from each of the places the play is set.  Well Brittany took it even further to create a moving world.  Our stage crew have built a slip stage you see in the above picture.  Basically, behind this frame are tracks built in in rows.  Each of the two dimensional flat pieces move on a track to create a 3D picture of where we are.  There are several layers to each location that are then switched out for the next local.  Each of the pieces are moved by hand by our backstage crew, mimicking the train ride movement from one place to another.  See below the work at hand.

From the audience's point of view, you see something like this below.

Stage Manager Mark Abrahamson 

Assistant Stage Manager Gabe Taylor

Each set piece, including the slip stage moves on a cue from our stage manager Mark Abrahamson, who is located in the booth above the balcony. He calls the cue, via headset, to our Assistant Stage Manager Gabe Taylor, who then cues the rest of the backstage crew to go with the next set change. It sounds complicated but it works, and these guys are working hard on this show, believe me!



With all the backstage workings, the performers have been getting used to the space since we entered tech rehearsals on Monday afternoon.  We have been running the songs and dances, adding props and certain costume pieces as we go, transferring our numbers from the gym, where we rehearse, to the stage.  Our choreographer, also playing the French girl Madeline, shown above, Aisling Halpin, makes sure our spacing is correct now on stage and keeps an eye on the musical numbers, even while performing them, to make needed adjustments.

This show, mixed with its wonderful Cole Porter music and lyrics, has quite a bit of tap dancing in it.  It fits wonderfully with the rhythms and time setting of the show. 

I have sincerely enjoyed learning new Cole Porter songs, some I may have never known if I had not become a part of Nymph Errant.  The songs are certainly catchy, swim constantly in our heads and are sure to do the same to our audience members.  What a beautiful show to conclude our Tibbits 2012 season.  Don't miss this one, it is not the type of show you catch next year on tour, this one is a special treat brought to you by Tibbits.

See you at the show!!!



Funny Money is up and running with one more week of performances including Wed. matinee Aug. 1st and evening performances Thursday Aug. 2nd thru Saturday Aug. 4th.  Our set designer, Brittany Elias, has been creating the worlds in which you have enjoyed the shows this summer.

Funny Money, shown above, takes place in the 70's with mustard yellow walls, a pea green dining room, plus many furnishings, all transporting our audiences back to the 70's.  Brittany is originally from Palm Harbor, FL.  She holds a BFA in Theatre Design from University of Central Florida, but also attended the University of Cincinnati for 2 years as well.  This is Brittany's first summer here at Tibbits and loves designing in this space, especially with the historical aspect of Tibbits.

Brittany started performing at age 2, when she began ballet as well, but started competing in scenic design competitions in FL at age 16.  She won several state competitions and then went on to attend Carnegie Mellon's pre college program to see if she wanted to do this for real.  Brittany said she grew up wanting to be an architect and loved legos, so designing sets wasn't too far off from her childhood dream.  Brittany has extremely supportive parents who wanted her to follow her dreams of scenic design, she also had great inspiration from judges at those design competitions, who kept urging her to go to college for scenic design.

Last summer Brittany designed 2 shows at Weathervane Playhouse in Newark, OH along with being the prop master for all 8 shows that summer.  She has worked as a painter for Utah Festival Opera and a carpenter/painter for American Stage Theatre.  Brittany's dream show to design is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and advises young hopefuls to take lots of art classes.  She said her most challenging set of the season will be Nymph Errant.  It is a big show with a lot of locations.  Brittany said she had the most fun designing the On Broadway 1956 set.  She loved the inspiration behind it and it's free form style. 

Sound designing for us this summer is Shaun Reis.  Originally from Johnsburg, IL, he just graduated from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO with a BA in Theatre.  This is Shaun's 3rd summer here at Tibbits.  He is a carpenter as well as our sound designer.  He returned stating he loves the area and the theatre.  It helps in his position knowing the theatre as well as he does.  By knowing how Tibbits works, he can think outside the problem and come up with a creative solution.

Shaun is responsible for the amplified sound you hear onstage (our monitors) and out in the house as well.  You may have noticed the 1920's microphone used by many on the top platform of Chicago.  Shaun rigged that piece to a modern usable microphone for speech to be heard better.  Shaun ran the show backstage, pulling up the mic when needed throughout our run of the show.  As you sit back and listen to the morning farm noise in Charlotte's Web, it is Shaun who has found that sound effect and made it happen.  Also he found, and is responsible, for the BBC music before, during and after Funny Money.

Shaun started performing in 7th grade, his older brother was a jack of all trades in theatre and by high school, Shaun had entered the technical side and had a hand in all sort of backstage work.  While in college, Shaun worked for a local sound company, an after school theatre program and often for a production and AV company.  These gigs often came through connections with his college and allowed Shaun more hands on training.

Eventually Shaun wants to be a stage hand that tours for a couple of years.  He likes the idea of the venue changing and traveling, which he thinks is a good lifestyle challenge.  He advises young technical people to "put your heart into it and never let it go, theatre takes all of you."  Well said Shaun.

See you at the show!!!