A spooky story is in need of a spookier set
NEGAUNEE — Rocky Horror Show is set in Dr. Frank N. Furter’s spooky castle where almost anything can happen.
Such a wild and crazy story needs an even better set. Pat Barrus is building the set this year, and he’s hard at work making sure everything looks great.
“It is based in the fifties so there’s a certain style that we’re going to stick to. You just have to really use your imagination. Most people that are going to be coming to see the show didn’t live in the fifties, so some of it we can make up. But, there’s a lot of it that people are going to be looking at the detail, so we’re just going to copy a lot of what was already done and just reproduce it as well as we can,” said Barrus.
The Historic Vista Theater didn’t have to start from scratch this year, which saves them time and money.
“We were lucky enough to be able to salvage some of the set that we had for beauty and the beast, so we’ve kind of been recycling things. It’s very cost–efficient so that helps us because we are able to use that money elsewhere in another department or area,” said Co–Director Leslie Sollid.
“Worst case scenario, if it comes down to it and we need something, we’re going to just build something new if we need to. This year we’re going to have to build some new machinery for the laboratory scenes [and] another motor vehicle, hopefully, if we get that completed,” added Barrus.
Besides looking good, the set also needs to be well constructed. Adding different levels for actors to stand on provides symmetry on stage and a more dynamic production. That’s why re–purposing an old set benefits more than just the budget.
“We’ve been blessed to have the set that we have already because usually during a production time or during the practice rehearsal time it’s very minimal sets until probably the week or so before the production. So, with that, we’re able to place them, they get used to where they’re going to be, and they’re used to where things are,” Sollid added.
Rocky Horror Show opens at the Historic Vista Theater October 22nd at 7:30.