So, in case you've ever wondered what amateur thespians do with their time after a show closes...
We just wrapped up our fall production of LI'L ABNER. I was in the cast as a sweet young thing a couple of decades ago, but decided to sit this one out, while my son enjoyed some stage time instead. I did paint the set, though, as well as creating a big statue of "Jubilation T. Cornpone."
So naturally, yesterday I pull into my driveway after running errands and what do I find decorating my mailbox garden? Well, the photo above will illustrate. Those theater pranksters!
After enjoying a good laugh, my son and I printed up a sign (right), which we tacked to the side, put the statue on a borrowed dolly and rolled it up the street to the house of another cast member, where we removed the dolly wheels. Hey, transporting it to its next spot is HIS problem. (big wicked grin)
The one with the church in the background is my yard; the blue house is the next victim.
And finally, after all these years of painting flats that were lost to the world as soon as the next show was mounted, (with no photos to record the work), this time I took my digital camera and photographed the flats. I've uploaded the "Dogpatch" flat below, which is 32 feet wide, so I had to photograph it in 3 shots, then photoshop them together.
For Dogpatch, I went for as cartoony an effect as I could manage. These flats are 12 feet tall. The head of a 6 foot tall man comes to about the bottom of that little gray house in the middle. So for more than half the square footage, I had to paint from a hydraulic lift to reach above my puny 6 foot reach. Thank goodness for that new hydraulic lift. I don't think my knees could have stood that honking big ladder the theater used to own -- not to mention that moving the darned thing was like dragging around a dead giraffe. I got pretty good at steering & parking that lift in tight quarters near the paint room.
