Summary of the week: Showtime! This is the week of the play. We are installing everything and running our installation before and after all four shows this week!
Installation
On Monday, starting at 9AM, we began installation. Angie brought bagels and everyone got to work! Eliot and Louise were helping out with the installation. We installed two umbrellas and three clouds before lunch. Once we installed one umbrella, we got into the rhythm of putting them up. The second one went even quicker!
Work on the wiring was going well. We also taped down all wires and covered all electrical components to keep everything clean and out of the way. We would like to thank Louise Cutter for helping with the installation. We couldn’t have done it in such a short time without their help!
After lunch, we wrapped up the installation. We borrowed a lift from DR, who taught us how to use it properly. With Eliot’s help, we installed the UV lights. By the end of the night, the umbrella process was incredibly streamlined and we were able to execute it flawlessly. Shirley came to the lobby to see the progress, we ordered dinner, and continued until it arrived. Once we ate, we finished up the clouds and went home. Long day but incredibly successful! We were able to install everything within the course of the day.
Install time lapse part 1
Install time lapse part 2
Lauren with the first umbrella successfully hung!
Lauren getting the umbrellas ready to hang!
Setting up the UV lights using the Genie lift
Safety first!
Lauren connected all of the speaker wires
Aldora and Jiaxin hanging up the clouds
Final installation without the props (Eliot wanted them to be a surprise that was revealed just before the first show!)
Final installation with props just before the first show!
Tech Run
On Tuesday, we did a tech run. We found a few issues, such as one of the speakers in the umbrella not working. We pulled this umbrella up and fixed the speaker. We taped all the wires to the floor and covered the DMX boxes. Charlie worked very hard to fix the tech problems. We thank you! There were, however, some audio quality issues that we were not expecting. There was more distortion the louder the audio got, even though in our tests this did not happen. We assume the bundles of cheap wire, the long runs we ran, and other signals interfered with the audio connection from the speakers to the mixer. We never tested our tech bundled with all five speakers together. Afterwards, we got dinner and then left. Showtime is tomorrow!
Day of the First Show
On Wednesday, Angie and Charlie went in a bit early to make sure everything was working. Angie spent the morning re-editing the whisper delivery audio files with new audio settings that Charlie believe will help mitigate the crackling problem. We checked to see if the post-show event that Charlie created the night before ran properly, which it did. We also tested with some white foam-core boards to see if it would look cool with lightning on them.
Once everything was ready, we got snacks and prepared for the show. 40 minutes before the show started, we ran the Unity software. It worked! We waited until right before 8 to turn off the program. There was a slight issue we encountered, though, and it was once again the speaker distortion. The crowd volume was loud, which we tested the directional speakers with, and worked properly. However, we couldn’t raise the volume to what it was before because of the distortion. This caused an issue for guests, especially those who were older, as they couldn’t understand the audio and became frustrated. However, students were very excited about the installation. Lauren overheard many students praising the installation including some saying this was the best dramaturgy installation that they had ever seen! The team was thanked for their hard work.
Time lapse of audience interaction before show 1
We then watched the show, it was an incredibly good adaptation of the original show. Angie thought that it was better than the original performance in certain ways, and appreciated all the effort the cast and crew put into the production.
After the show, Angie, Charlie, and Lauren ran out of the theater to get the after show experience ready. Angie spoke with Maria, from the box office, to turn the house lights back on, while Charlie went to the laptop to turn on the Unity program. Lauren set up a time lapse video to capture everyone’s interactions with the installation after the show! We ran the after show, which was a success. People who left the theater went back to the pedestals to see them again and experienced the new version of the installation. We were very proud that we were able to attract people’s attention both before and after the show! That was a major accomplishment for our team. The “I miss you”s of the post show we’re easier to understand, allowing for a more successful implementation of our technology. After this, we went to the opening night celebration and got slices of cake. Successful opening!
Time lapse of audience interaction after show 1
Second Night
For the second night of the show, we tried to mitigate the audio quality problems. We moved speaker wires a bit further apart as well as adjusted the levels somewhat. This helped a bit, but the real solution is expensive fiber-optic cables, which we couldn’t afford. Once again, we had a successful run with guests excited and engaged with the installation.
Time lapse of audience interaction before show 2
Time lapse of audience interaction after show 2
Matinee and Final Show
We knew that lighting would be an issue with the matinee, so when the UV lights were more difficult to read in the middle of the day on Friday, we saw it coming. It was an unavoidable fact of trying to use lighting in a lobby full of windows. The installation still functioned well and many drama students played with the toys.
The closing night was full of activity, the waitlist was long (Angie overheard that there were thirty people on it!) and the lobby reflected this. The families of the actors were there, looking at the pedestals and enjoying the installation. Everyone was very excited about the piece and the final showing. It was an incredible night. After the performance, Angie and Charlie ran out of the theater for the last time to turn on the after show. We made a student cry with the chorus of “I’ll miss you”s, which was an incredible thing to witness. The families of the actors were taking photos with the pedestals, everyone was emotional from the show, and the Curtain Call team were thanked for their efforts.
Time lapse of audience interaction before show 3 (matinee)
Time lapse of audience interaction after show 3 (matinee)
Time lapse of audience interaction before show 4 (closing show)
Time lapse of audience interaction after show 4 (closing show)
Curtain Call with our point of contact Eliot after a successful show!
Lauren also got bouquets of flowers for everyone on the team and Eliot to thank everyone for their hard work!