Psycho Beach Party (UNH)

This is my second semester at UNH, and we are about to open "Psycho Beach Party" - the first of our two shows for the semester (looks like I'm running out of hours this semester to get involved on the second show). One of the proposed design ideas was to have actual sand on stage...anyone who has been in the position to have to execute and build a show that takes place on a beach knows the conversations I've been having over this semester.  :) This was also a rare opportunity to have to build a building with a roof on stage, which is usually the bane of lighting designers (but they seem to be making it work on this show).

It's my birthday and I'm covered in sawdust...

The real enjoyment I am getting out of this show is working with the student sound designer, Terrence, who's a sweet kid with lots of ideas and chops. We've had a lot of discussions on soundscaping and, of course, designing in Qlab. The audio gear is a little limited there, and locked down, but along with the rest of the student sound team (Kyle and Sam) we've been able to pull out some great effects and tricks. There were a lot of spreadsheets to help keep things consistent from show to show. It's looking good!

Last season, when I worked on "School for Wives" here, I had to build a shop before we could build a show. This time around, in the interest of further organizing things, we took inventory of the whole space, and, among other things, color coded all the cables and lighting instrument barrels. We were in a bit of a holding pattern early in the season, getting things approved, so what do I do when I'm faced with free time? That' right, I clean!

-brian