PCS Blog

Behind the Scenes: Somewhere in Time

Posted by Desirae MacGillivray | 10 June 2013 | Comments (0)

How many costumes and wigs will be seen onstage in Somewhere in Time? How was the turntable built into the stage? And is the music recorded, or performed by a live orchestra? Group Sales & Promotions Manager Mandy Morgan takes us behind the scenes of our world premiere production of Somewhere in Time.

Set Design

The set of Somewhere in Time is probably one of the largest that our scene shop has ever created. A design of one of the early scenes in the musical is pictured above. The set was constructed in three separate locations. We would have needed a construction space the size of the Rose Garden arena to build all the scenic elements under one roof!

The photos below show the set pieces being loaded onto the Main Stage. How beautiful are those hand-painted columns?

A Sophisticated Turntable

The set floor contains a 20-foot turntable that can make a 360 degree rotation in less than 24 seconds. The stage floor was built nine inches taller than its usual height to accommodate all of the wires and cables needed to operate the turntable, as well as some other special effects used in the production.

Costume Design

All the costumes for the actresses were designed and hand-made specifically for this production by our resident costume designer, Jeff Cone. We were able to purchase and borrow many of the costumes for the men in the production; however, our costume crafts department added many hand-made elements to the men's costumes to enhance their look or rig them for quick changes. For example, they created 24 collars to complement the formal wear worn by our male actors. The collars are rigged with snaps so that the nine male actors can quickly change into different costumes.

Change... Quickly!

We are using a whopping 105 costumes and 26 wigs in this production! That requires a lot of costume changes, 24 of which happen in less than 60 seconds. We have three quick change stations backstage, but my favorite is located inside the turret of the Armory. It used to be the location of our green room, but that was moved to accommodate this dressing station. There are six dressers backstage to assist the actors with the costume changes.

A Live Orchestra, but Where?

We have live music for every performance, but you won't see them in the orchestra pit. The 11-person orchestra (including the conductor) are set up backstage. The music is piped into the theater and the volume can be controlled by the sound technician. This production has an incredible 350 different sound cues and it takes two computers and a special sound board (brought in just for this show) to control the sound.