Ropes are hoisted from the catwalk, known as the high steel, above the theater space at the Temple of Music and Art and tied to white light boxes, each one 15 feet tall, lying horizontal on the stage.
A voice is heard shouting, ‘Applying tension!’ from above. The ropes tighten as crews on the ground guide each box into an upright position.
Like Roman columns, the boxes tower above crew members, each box standing tall as if ready for their theatrical debut.
For the first time in 18 months, there is a set on the Arizona Theatre Company stage.
‘I am so glad it came together,’ said Taylor Moss, who serves as assistant technical director for ATC. ‘We see everything in pieces. We get pieces of whatever comes from the creative team. We get pieces of information from artistic management. We see pieces of scenery that come out to the shop floor and it’s like, ‘I don’t know what this is going to look like when it all comes together or painted or with props on it.” After being shut down for the last year and a half, ATC reopened this weekend with previews of its current production, ‘My 80 Year Old Boyfriend.’ The onewoman musical is based on the true tory of actress Charissa Bertels, who creates an unlikely friendship with an octogenarian named Milton. Its opening night is Friday, Oct. 1.
Roughly 100 employees helped make the production happen, then not happen, then happen, then not happen, over the course of 18 months, according to Becky Merold, production manager.
‘My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend’ was initially set to open the 2020-’21 season, but was canceled due to the pandemic. It was pushed back to January of this year, then pitched as a possible streaming film in March, said Sean Daniels, its director.
‘Every time we’d call people and were like, ‘Okay, this is our first rehearsal,’ everyone was like, ‘Sure, sure, you got it. When we get closer you’ll call me again,” Daniels said.
Even during the first rehearsals of this latest attempt, Daniels and Bertels were unsure if the season was going to happen.
‘You just can’t dare to let yourself hope that it’ll actually move forward,’ Bertels said.
After taking a tour of the Temple of Music and Art on her first day in Tucson, Bertels, who hails from New York City but has lived in Kansas since the pandemic, was excited that things were back.
‘It was nice that first day to be like, ‘Oh my gosh this is really happening,” Bertels said.
For Charlotte Alcorn, the ATC artist in charge of overseeing the scenery, the moment the season officially started wasn’t when they were working in the production shop, looking for props or seeing the set on stage. It was during the designer run.
The designer run, which happens about a week before the tech and final rehearsals, is when the design team sits in on rehearsal with the directors, performers and stage managers.
Alcorn said the experience made her emotional.
‘I personally have been waiting for the other shoe to drop for a very long time,’ said Alcorn. ‘Because more shoes kept falling. So, even coming back and (with the ATC) saying we were going to go and everything, I was like, ‘but are we really?” Props supervisor Sara Pugh felt like things might be back in full swing at the first tech rehearsal. For Pugh, the rehearsal felt surreal at first, but as it continued, she thought, ‘I am home. I am right where I need to be,’ she said.
Previews for ‘My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend’ continue tonight at 7 p.m. and Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for those shows are $25-$58 through arizonatheatre.org. Opening night on Friday, Oct. 1, begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40-$73. The production runs through Saturday, Oct. 16.
ATC is currently requiring face masks at performances, and proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the show.
In preparation of Arizona Theatre Company’s “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” show, John Crain, right, carpenter, helps Nils Emerson, left, technical director, as well as other ATC employees lift a 15 foot light box at Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., in Tucson, Ariz. on Sept. 13th, 2021. It has been 18 months since ATC has put on a show due to the Covid Pandemic. “It was nice that first day to be like ‘Oh my gosh this is really happening’,” said Charissa Bertels, actress and original performer, “cause until now we have all been ‘is this happening? Is this happening? It is happening?’ It was a giddy excitement to be back on a stage again,” added BertelsTimothy Smith, lighting and projection supervisor, tests stage lights, in preparation of Arizona Theatre Company’s “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” show, at Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 20th, 2021. Smith and other lighting and sound employees cleaned 300 lights in preparation of the 2021-2022 season which is something they do before every season said Becky Merold, production manager.Taylor Moss, right, assistant technical director, lowers rope to the stage from the high steel while Isabel McNeil, carpenter, untangles a pile of ropes at Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., in Tucson, Ariz. on Sept. 13th, 2021. Moss and McNeil lowered ropes to the stage to help hoist up four light boxes for Arizona Theatre Company’s “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” production. “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” will have just one stage set due to it being ATC’s first show back since the pandemic over a year ago.Taylor Moss, left, and Arthur Potts, assistant technical directors, work on the wood framing for the light boxes in Arizona Theatre Company’s show “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” at Arizona Theatre Company Production Shop, 840 E. 18th St., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 16th, 2021. The light boxes and a piano are the only set pieces for the one-women show. There won’t be a painted backdrop and the light boxes will have the ability to change colors to match the mood of the show, said Becky Merold, production manager.Samie Nickel, assistant scenic charge artist, pours white paint into a paint tray in preparation of painting the wooden frame work for the light boxes in the set of “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” at Arizona Theatre Company Production Shop, 840 E. 18th St., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 16th, 2021. Due to “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” being the first show back since the pandemic, the set is simple in which there are few props and few paints being used. Red and white paint are the primary paints in the shows set. ATC decided to keep the first show back simple due to the staff being smaller and to ease back into putting on productions, said Becky Merold, production manager. ATC has a more elaborate show in December with their Christmas show, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” where there are more props, different paints and a large painted backdrop.Isabel McNeil, carpenter, saws wood pieces for the framing inside the light boxes in preparation of Arizona Theatre Company’s show “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” at ATC’s Production Shop, 840 E. 18th St., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 18th, 2021. The production of the set began in the middle of August to start building the light boxes and the frames they stand on. “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” was initially scheduled to be the 2020-2021 season opener, according to Sean Daniels, director. With the cancelation of the 2020-2021 season, the show was rescheduled for January of this year. Then it was talked about making the show a film version in march. “Every time I called people to tell them its delayed, they were like ‘I know, we’re all watching the same news. I know’,” said Daniels. “No surprises here,” added Charissa Bertels, actress and original performer. “So this time, every time I think ‘okay things are happening’. I think we are getting here,” said Daniels. “I think we are really going to Arizona,” Bertels added.Andrew Babb, assistant props supervisor, preps some paint for a small prop which will be used in Arizona Theatre Company’s show “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” at Arizona Theatre Company Production Shop, 840 E. 18th St., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 19th, 2021. There aren’t many props needed for “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” production so most of the props crew has been working on getting props for the Christmas show, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” said Babb. Having a decrease in props is due to easing back into a show from not having shows for the past 18 months as well as budget and the constant changes in the design of the show due to the pandemic, said Becky Merold, production assistant. Matthew DeVore, sound supervisor, double checks a light after cleaning it in preparation of Arizona Theatre Company’s production “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” at Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 20th, 2021. The one thing DeVore missed the most from the past 18 months was “humans.” “It’s not just co workers its back with your friends and in the same room,” said DeVore. “And also, I don’t necessarily always help with lighting maintenance so its fun to jump in and be able to help the other departments. We are really working towards that this season [because] we kind of have to because we are short staffed.” In addition to wearing masks, sanitizing and requiring the covid vaccine amongst employees, one of the biggest changes in regards to covid for sound engineers is that mic tests have changed. The sound engineer won’t be using the classic mic test as seen in the past, said DeVore. “We are not doing that any more. We’re gonna use a tone generator to set tones from a phone,” added DeVore.Phyllis Davies, costume designer, works on a skirt for Arizona Theatre Company’s production “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend,” at Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 20th, 2021. Though most employees are happy to be back, there are still concerns about safety and focusing on cleaning protocols. “Since we have issued the vaccine requirement for staff, it does make us feel safer but we are still masking and cautious,” said Mary Woll, costume shop manager. “We can’t do our job 6 feet away from someone. We literally have to stand there and do zippers and everything.” If there wasn’t a vaccine mandate things would be different such as employees wearing face masks, face shields, gloves and protective gowns, added Woll.Charlotte Alcorn, scenic charge artist, begins painting a piece for Arizona Theatre Company’s second show of their 2021-2022 season, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” at Arizona Theatre Company Production Shop, 840 E. 18th St., in Tucson, Ariz. on Sept. 3rd, 2021. While preparing for ATC’s opening season production of “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend,” the prop shop also began working on the second show which requires more painting, props and sets.Charlotte Alcorn, scenic charge artist, and Samie Nickel, assistant scenic charge artist, work on painting the backdrop for Arizona Theatre Company’s second show of their 2021-2022 season, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” at Arizona Theatre Company Production Shop, 840 E. 18th St., in Tucson, Ariz. on Sept. 9th, 2021. ATC prepared for their season opener “My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend” as well as their second show “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.”Kish Finnergan, residnet costume designer and design assistant, sorts through a set of delivered packages inside the costume shop at the Temple of Music and Arts, 330 S. Scott Ave., in Tucson, Ariz. on August 20th, 2021. During the last 18 months, Mary Woll, costume shop manager, built an inventory data base for their costume stock. “We have never had a full inventory done of our costumes and we have always just relied on our institutional knowledge,” said Woll. The inventory is also used to share Arizona Theatre Company’s stock with their location in Phoenix.Taylor Moss, assistant technical director for ATC, takes a picture of the final light boxes after helping other Arizona Theatre Company production employees put them on stage at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave., in Tucson, Ariz. on Sept. 13th, 2021. Seeing the light boxes on stage was a moment for Moss since she, along with other production employees, only see certain parts in small amounts. ‘We see everything in pieces. We get pieces of whatever comes from the creative team. We get pieces of information from artistic management. We see pieces of scenery that come out to the shop floor and it’s like, ‘I don’t know what this is going to look like when it all comes together or painted or with props on it,” said Moss.
