Flair for the dramatic meets eye for engineering

The first of these shows was the theater’s production of “Hamlet,” which featured a glossy black set designed to blend into the background. The set included several sliding wall panels that opened and closed like an elevator door as needed. It also featured a floor trap that allowed the ghost of Hamlet’s father to float above the stage and another trap downstage for Ophelia’s grave.

For “The Three Musketeers,” a world premier musical, Chicago Scenic built scenic elements to complement the black and white “etched” look of the period, including the painted stage floor and a large moving staircase that split the stage into two sections to create different scenic environments.
Wooden-clad steel superstructures and bridge added to the set’s scenic flexibility on the thrust. In addition, CSSI engineered and built a sliding French trap in the floor of the thrust from which a horse rose up directly under its rider.

“Troilus and Cressida” featured textured wood and steel grid flats that covered the entire 40-foot-width of the stage’s back wall and slid open and flew. CSSI also built two ramps that stretched across the stage. The downstage ramp was fixed while the upstage ramp was a 40’ clear span that traveled vertically eight feet on one end and supported the weight of 10 actors.

Relationship with theater continues to grow

Chicago Scenic’s relationship with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater continued to grow with the construction of two additional recent productions, “Cymbeline” and “Passion.”
“Cymbeline” featured an all black set with subtle personality characteristics, including a raked and stepped deck. CSSI applied a vertical vacuform “tree-bark” texture horizontally to the flats, giving the surface a unique and abstract look.
Chicago Scenic also engineered an eight-foot-square elevator into the deck engineered to drop down, and in an especially dramatic scene, lowered 10 feet and rose again, carrying a bed with the character Imogen on it.

Engineering played a role in theater’s balcony expansion

Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Passion” recently played in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s small Upstairs space. Originally wrapping three-fourths of the way around the room, Chicago Scenic expanded the space’s existing balcony to wrap entirely around the space with minimal structural support. Only four supporting columns and strategically placed I-beams to support the new balcony, creating additional areas underneath to allow room for large set pieces to maneuver.
Both the existing and new balcony railings were enhanced with the addition of decorative wood details finished to look like bronze. CSSI also added a stair unit to the new balcony.