On The Record getting ready to open...

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 9:57am

Here is some exciting technical news from the show in Cleveland:

Last week, crews installed two three-story towers on the Palace stage to house the orchestra in a structure that looks like Hollywood Squares. A covered baby grand sat inside a lower unit. Three large, white, textured walls also were hung to replicate the baffles one would see in a studio.

Technical supervisor Patrick Eviston said last week was the first time the scenery had been put together in one space. He worked for 12 weeks on the scenery in Disney's shop in New York.

``It's a new production. Everybody gets excited,' he said.

The white walls are a blank palette for the show's bold, aggressive lighting effects, Shumacher said.

Lighting designer is Tony Award winner Natasha Katz, with Robert Longbottom serving as director/choreographer, Robert Brill designing scenery and Gregg Barnes designing costumes.

Eviston and his crew will be tweaking the show's technical aspects from opening preview Nov. 9 until the show makes its first move Nov. 22. All of the scenery, lighting, sound, props, wardrobe and hair can be loaded in and out of theater in eight hours. The tour will be on a tight schedule, moving to Pittsburgh, then Chicago.