Last week my daughter’s school performed Singin’ in the Rain Jr.! My wife, Betsy, and I were in charge of set design and construction. Over 90 kids were involved and it took SO many parent volunteers to pull it off. I called out a handful of them below, and I know I missed a bunch.
Sarah Jane Rau, the director, is a saint and truly believes in the capabilities of elementary school kids to pull off a complicated show. She would tell them often that she “doesn’t do elementary school shows” and expected them to be operating at a middle school level. Many parents I’ve talked to since the show were floored at just how good the show was.
Friends and family and coworkers are sick of hearing me talk about the play and curious what in the world we did for it so I’m collecting some photos here of a handful of things I was involved in.
NOTE: I cropped out kid’s faces or covered them up as much as possible so some of these photos are a bit grainy, but should let you see what all went into it!
The “Triangle”
This was based on the concept of a Periaktos. It’s a three sided set piece that rotates to show different faces depending on the scene. After a lot of planning we decided to make ours 4x4x2 and 8 feet tall to accommodate the stage.
Here’s some photos of it unpainted to show off all three sides:
Each side fit a different purpose:
- The solid side we hung different backdrops from.
- The cutout side had an opening for access to the interior so we could have lights inside to shine out through an art deco window we hung over it.
- The short side had an alcove that they could swap in other props. A small change to what was in that alcove made it feel very different.
In the final scene they even used it to hide one of the actresses and then rolled it away to dramatically reveal her.
Here’s some pictures of the base with casters. There are three triangles for support throughout the carcass. I had to use the Pythagorean theorem to figure out the sizing for the triangle!
After assembly everything was painted black by me and a few of the kids and we tossed in about 100 lbs. of weights to keep it from tipping over.
The alcove was just a box. My wife put a background in it to really make it pop:
Thanks to Sam Allen for helping me get this put together, I really couldn’t have done it without him! And MG for the use of his trailer to get it to the school.
Backdrops
There were four different backdrops that got hung on the Triangle. “Grauman’s Chinese Theatre” went on the flat side. It got swapped with a white backdrop to act as a projector screen (no photo of that, alas). We ended up reusing fabric that was left over from a play that was done at the school years ago.
The Bookstore and the Art Deco Window went on the cutout side. For the window there were lights inside the Triangle that were turned on to make it feel more like a real window.
Betsy adds:
“The custom built wood frame was covered with two kinds of glass privacy film. One with a frosted effect and another with a stained glass effect. Then electrical tape was used to make the fan/rectangles. Eye hooks on the back of the frame were used to hold it on the Triangle. Since the hooks were hidden behind the decorative top, smudges of paint were added to aid in the hanging process.
The kids did very well to learn the hanging process, but I would have visible hooks next time. “
The Chinese Theater painting was a group effort. At least 5 parents were involved getting all the details just right!
Cake
There’s a scene in the show where one of the actresses pops out of a cake at a Hollywood party before a big song and dance number. It’s a super fun moment! This meant making a structure that we could build the cake on top of that could also be wheeled out while the actress was crouched inside.
My wife had the idea that the third tier of the cake could be a hat that she wears and then dramatically removes before the song. It was very fun!
Thanks to Michael for helping think through the tricky curves and getting the frame together! And for all the parents who helped decorate it. It came out SO well.
Rain
To get a rain effect we hung a pulley system from the ceiling that the kids would lower down for the big Singin’ in the Rain number. Getting the pulleys setup correctly took quite a bit of effort! The rain was fishing line with plastic/glass beads tied into it. For the song the stage was filled with kids with clear umbrellas, bubble machines, and the rain. The overall effect was magical. Dave and Jimmy worked on this one with us.
Before the final show my wife asked the kids to write out nice things to each other on stars and then she attached them to a backdrop to lower down for the last song titled “Lucky Star”. It made me tear up.
Signs
My wife made a bunch of Broadway signs that the kids held during Broadway Melody. She sent me this about them:
“The tin letter effect on the Hollywood and paramount signs was made using cardstock strips shaped into letter outlines then lined with string fairy lights that had mini ping pong balls pushed on. (Thanks Chris for getting me a cutting board while I stabbed the white balls with a paring knife on the floor of our living room!)
The flourishes on the Paramount sign were made with a dense packing foam, and those on the SHOW TIME sign were cardboard painted silver. The mini lights on the Rialto sign were tips of microfuge tubes salvaged from a lab and glued onto the fairy lights. The MOVIES! and Now Showing signs were both backlit with raised features built in. Arrow lights were carved and assembled by parent volunteers and one kiddo and adorned the lobby. “
