A DiGiCo Double Play for the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts

See the link above for the whole article. The venue where I work, The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, has substantially upgraded our audio system. Starting with the audio desks. Two new Digico Quantum 338’s.

We have also acquired a line array, from D&B audiotechnik, and a full stage monitor system, each including amplifiers and all supporting gear.There’s a lot to list and it’s almost showtime so I don’t have the time to do so right now. Maybe later.

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Another thing which is included with this system is a new switcher which we can switch through an iPad from the stage managers panel (SMD) or anywhere in the theater. This alone is a huge improvement, as now nobody has to run up to the amp room on the second floor to switch the video from the advertising during preshow and intermission to the camera for the show presentation. There’s still more to do but things are vastly improved.

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The prop department is responsible for many jobs on a Broadway/musical production.

The first job that the props department usually does is loading in gear from the trucks with the rest of the crews. Then we lay down marley. Marley is a vinyl-based, slip-resistant surface used as a dance floor. Almost all musical productions will use marley. It comes in giant rolls, which weigh hundreds of pounds each, and usually arrives on large steel carts capable of carrying around six rolls. The whole setup weighs several tons, and marley carts are responsible for many broken or injured stagehand feet. The vinyl surface is laid down over the stage floor and taped with marley and gaff tape. After this, the props department will sweep and French mop the surface (which they will do between and after every performance).

A French mop is basically a large, barely-wet towel slung over a big push broom. Very fancy.

A lot of stuff stored in the shop after the load-in,

The main job of the props department is to lay out or pre-set small items that the actors will use during the show. Objects like hats, pencils, pads, scarves, swords, pitchforks, fish etc.

After pre-setting props before the show, the props crew will also hand out props to their assigned actors during the performance. All of the cues (instructions about who, what, when, and where) are contained in what we call tracks—usually typed up on a piece of paper or a laminated card. The prop master (with the touring company) will also sometimes cue the crew during the show or give us a “standby” and “go” at the time when we should hand off the prop.

Many people wonder how we see everything in the dark. Everything is on a shelf and labeled in its place with tape that glows under blue light. It’s hard to miss that glowing tape.

When the shows are over the prop crew packs up the boxes and rolls up the marley, and of course we also push everything to the truck with the rest of the crew.

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Here’s an example of stagecraft trickery. How something flat looks 3D.

The amount of wigs and wardrobe on the show is also incredible. 

The cast was friendly and also quite talented. Their acting and dancing skills showed on stage but the most impressive thing about them was their singing. One of the best things about working a Broadway-type musical show is standing in the midst of the chorus while they sing the songs from the wings (at least when they’re good!).

I had the pleasure of meeting the actress Caroline Portner when she missed the cast bus to the hotel at the end of the first night. I waited with her outside until her Uber arrived. Funny thing is I didn’t know what character she played due to everyone wearing elaborate wigs and costumes in the show. I found out the next day she was one of the lead characters. Caroline is a super nice person but in the show she plays the mean girl, a sign of a really good actress.

This production brought four fully loaded semi trucks (road cases stacked 3 high), so fitting everything into our theater was pretty tight. Myself and some of our other house crew had to work with the touring crew to use the stacking motor in our shop to un-stack road cases at the load-in and re-stack everything at the load-out.

Unfortunately a lot of the company’s road cases were in bad shape, which sometimes made this difficult. (Likewise The set pieces were also in pretty bad shape). We would tell the crew, ”You ought to fix that,” to which the typical response was, “It’s just gotta last another 5 weeks!”

I don’t envy their crew for the next five weeks, but at least they all work well together and have fun. Overall, working with them was a pleasure; they were good people, and their cast was talented.

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Today should be an easy day, we start off by striking (taking down) some lighting fixtures and cables. Mostly ellipsoidal (Leko) lights, a workhorse in lighting – especially in theater.

We unplug power and data cables and then untie them from the linesets, then remove all the lighting fixtures hung on the (battens) pipes for storage on “Meatracks”.

In the foreground of the picture above you can see the thick Socapex cables hanging off the end of the pipe. These cables carry multiple circuits of power for lighting fixtures so they are made out of a lot of copper and thick non-conductive outer casing. They hang from the grid at the top of the flyhouse and we usually keep them coiled up on our midrail which we call the 42ft Level. They need to be pulled up and down that 42 feet whenever they are used, have to move or be stored. They connect to stage pin (Bates) cable through “Breakouts”. (photo above) Those cables then can be split with 2-fers or converted to other types of connectors for moving lights etc.

Aside from Par Cans

and Ellipsoidal (Leko) lights, we will also remove or move some larger moving lights to use on the next show or be stored.

We also have to collect and distribute small accessories for some fixtures. Things like “top hats”, for lighting control on the front of Leko’s, gels for coloring/softening/color correction on conventional lighting fixtures, gobo patterns for creating shadows.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY SAFETY CABLES.

Many fixtures will be coming out of a box where they have been stored, as such will have to have pipe clamps re-attached to them so they can be hung on the battens.

We need to scavenge some Baby Colors from the aluminum truss in the shop.

Moving lights don’t work unless they are connected by DMX cables (or network) so there is a lot of DMX cables that have to be run out to each light. And don’t forget about power. After leaving the Socapex, power is converted to Stage Pin / PowerCon or whatever is needed for a particular fixture.

There’s 5 pin and also 3 pin DMX which can be converted between the two but are definitely NOT XLR cables which are for audio.

At the end of the moving lights DMX cable chain don’t forget to put a terminator on the last data output or things may not work as expected.

The moving lights are each assigned a unique address on the network, some lights have dip switches, this one is a little bit more modern.

Once all the old lighting fixtures are removed, the new ones hung, all the cables stripped and then re-hung for the new placement of everything and all the DMX, Power cables, breakouts, and Soccapex are in place and tied up neatly we can tie on a short border to the front of the batten in order to make sure the pipe and cables go unnoticed by the audience during the show. Like everything in this black hole it should be invisible.

Now that everything is connected and looks beautiful it’s time for the carpentry crew do do their thing. A loader at the top of the flyhouse on the loading bridge (82 foot level) will add or remove steel bricks (the same kind as in the upcoming video). The weight of all the lights, cables, accessories, borders etc. will be calculated by the flyperson (in our case here today Alma), at that time the loader will be told how many bricks are equal to (or very close) to that weight and the loader will place steel bricks on the arbor (a carriage) to counterweight the load on the batten (pipe pictured above). Then the flyperson working at the Rail will pull the batten “out”, which to most people means up!

All the lights are hanging in the air! So I guess were done? Nope, now it’s time to build booms! We are lucky to have rolling boom bases which we can build light trees on and then roll where we need them, very convenient.

Each of the rolling boom bases will be loaded with 24, 22 pound steel bricks. The same type of bricks which the loader on the loading bridge uses to counterweight the fly system.

Pipes, pipe clamps, lighting fixtures and cables are gathered together to be hung on the rolling boom bases using the scissor lift and a ladder.

Fixed Cheeseboro (“cheeseburger”) clamps are used to attach horizontal pipes to the tall vertical pipe (upright). The lighting fixtures will hang from these horizontal pipes.

Everybody on the lighting crew today pitches in to build the rolling booms.

Once the booms are built, all the lights are hung and secured and have been cabled with power runs and data to their bases, power cables are pulled from the floor trough in order to route power and data to the fixtures on the booms from below. Then the ME/LD can test the setup from the onstage control wing of the lighting desk.

It’s a short day so it’s time to clean up now. Here is a view looking up at the Socapex cables hanging from the 42 level and above at 85 feet, the big yellow thing is our grid from which everything hangs in the flyhouse.

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Currently, in the latter part of what I’ll call my career I am a local stagehand. I have traveled in the past but like to have a “house”. I know lots of techs who prefer to be on the road. Sometimes it’s fun to do a bit of both.

My house is The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. (CCPA)

I have been with the CCPA for thirty one years. 

I at first thought I would do a few part time gigs in the venue and continue freelancing, and I did for a while – But now I’m getting old! Hahaha

I started at the CCPA before the doors first opened. Since the place is a world class venue that artists say they love, I decided to stick around. 

A lot has changed since the beginning. The building has changed, so have many tech crew personnel and venue staff – and of course the artists come and go almost every day.

Although I work at a house gig, almost every day is different. That keeps things interesting (sometimes tiring), and that’s something I love about my job.

You also see many strange things when you do this job for a while. And meet many interesting people. 

Every day I learn something new and try to pass on whatever I know to new people. There should always be stage techs, or the world may fail!

When I’m not at work I like to travel and adventure, cycle, film stuff with cameras and drones, play with software (video edit, color correction, and FX), and work out at the gym so I don’t fall apart when I go back to work.

I wouldn’t mind scuba diving somewhere tropical right now either!

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