The idea behind a “Build Blitz” is to get as much done on a show set as possible in one weekend. Members of the stage committee and the other Guild members try to give as much time as possible to the Build Blitz over the blitz weekend. They frequently share meals during the day and work well into the night.
During a Build Blitz, the Guild doesn’t look much like the Guild that patrons see when they come to a show. The auditorium is a mess with the seats of the two front rows piled on top of the permanent seats. Items from the construction process clutter the area in front of the stage and the the auditorium aisles. It seems as if set pieces are being constructed in every available foot of space.
The stage is also a mess with light bars hanging down and electrical cables dangling here and there. The stage curtains are tied together and pulled up into the fly space to get them out of the way. Set pieces are scattered about the stage as the volunteers work to build and paint them.
The shop hums with activity. Saws whir and whine as end tables and garden benches are fashioned for A Little Night Music. At the conclusion of the blitz, the shop will have to be rearranged as it becomes the “parking lot” for the set pieces that will move on and off stage during the production. The Guild stage is short on space in the wings and the pieces spill out into the shop.
In the photo, Mike Mayne and Chris Boudreau, members of the stage committee, work on a portion of the Armfeldt mansion set piece. See the same piece in the photo of the model of the set attached to the blog about the read-through.
To the uninitiated, it seems like chaos and they wonder, “How can a show come out of all of this?” But, it always does.