|
|
|
|
|
|
BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet ends its 20th Anniversary
celebrations marking its move to the city with a major event in ballet,
a world premiere choreographed by its director David Bintley and
designed by the man responsible for the spectacular Nutcracker,
John Macfarlane. Roger Clarke talks to the man
responsible for bringing all the ideas and designs for Cinderella
together on the Hippodrome stage, Technical Director, Paul Grace. So the decision to replace a guaranteed, gold
plated sell-out with a new £1 million production of Cinderella could
hardly have been taken lightly.
Paul has been working on this production for more
than two years and is already well into future projects. The whole thing
is like a military operation which, no matter what, means that
everything has to be ready for opening night on November 24. Paul said: We had the contract signed with the
designer in March 2008 and we gave him a deadline for the initial
designs 18 months before the first night and for the final designs 12
months before the first night. “Being such a big production we had to be able to
cost it and go back to him if the designs were too much and also talk to
him about scale for touring.
“The last big show he designed for us was Nutcracker, apart from Le Baiser de la fée, which was designed not to tour so we have a double challenge in that we are designing a show to replace Nutcracker at Christmas so the audience expectation is that it has to be as good as if not better but we also have to be able to take it around the country to stages that are a lot smaller and more challenging.' More than two and a half years on and the sets,
costumes and wigs are ready and waiting as the skilled backroom staff
ensure moving scenery moves as it should, any special effects work
and are indeed special, costumes and wigs fit, props are ready and
lights come on and go off where and when they should. So while dancers practice their moves striving
for perfection so the stage crew have their rehearsals to ensure the
magic of Cinderella is as much down to the scenery and lighting as the
dancing. People watch a ballet and all they see and hear
are the wonderful dancers and the marvellous music but behind all the
glitz and glitter is a whole army under Paul who ensure the show goes
on. More than 50 skilled staff are beavering away backstage, in the
wings and suspended in the flies to ensure the show is memorable for all
the right reasons. Paul, 53, is coming up to 35 years working
backstage next year having started in 1976 as an art student in London.
His first show? “It was the Royal Shakespeare Company doing a
George Bernard Shaw play called Too True to be Good with Ian McKellen
and Judi Dench before either were well known personalities and I watched
every show for three months I was so enthralled by my first experience.
That was at The Globe in Shaftesbury Avenue. I hadn't had any experience
of theatre but something told me inside it might be a good profession to
get into.”
He left to go to Sadler's Wells Theatre, home of Sadler's Well Royal Ballet which was to become Birmingham Royal Ballet. So when he joined BRB 13 years ago found he was rejoining some former colleagues who had 40 years service with the company. “It is just fantastic to have that sort of knowledge and experience.” The job, or at least the skills needed, have
changed dramatically since 1976. “It is a lot more high-tech than when I first
started which is a lot to do with audience expectation. You see musicals
now that take a week to fit up into a venue with very polished technical
expertise and engineering in many cases and we have to match that with a
quarter of the time for shows to get in. “We have to have a lot of new skills in the
industry that didn't exist when I first started.” Those skills have been well used in this new £1
million production which Paul promises has wow to spare. He said: “When John Mcfarlane (the designer) was
talking about his inspiration to get into theatre he used to be taken to
the panto to the King's Theatre in Edinburgh and he was amazed at these
live transformations that used to take place in front of your eyes and
he has had that in his repertoire all his life - Nutcracker is a great
example of live transformations with people seeing scenes changing in
front of them - and we are doing that with Cinderella. We are doing some
amazing transformations going from one scene to another and it will be
as magical as Nutcracker. In Nutcracker if the transformation scenes go
well they get a round of applause because they look beautiful and I
think Cinderella will have that aspect to it.“The costumes are amazing
and the buzz that is going around is really exciting. There is not a
single dancer that has not been wowed by the costume that they have had
fitted on them. “All the scenery and props are made now and the
cloths look absolutely amazing, many of which John paints himself, which
is unusual for a theatre designer. “We have a lot of magic, the fairy godmother
appearing and disappearing as if by magic, we have a wonderful coach
and, well the build up for Cinderella leaving the ball will be the
biggest wow factor. Just look out for midnight that is all I will
say. It will take your breath away.” Paul is a great admirer of David Bintley, the
director of the BRB but more importantly to this production, the
choreographer. “He approaches things with quite a fresh mind and he does
want to put Cinderella's story into context and wants the audience to be
under no misapprehension that this is about an abused child.” The opening puts the fairy tale into context and
sees Cinderella mourning the loss of her real mother. Paul said: “It is
very brief and a strong image and a very poignant moment.”
The Hippodrome production is only one piece of
the jigsaw for Paul though. To show a return on the seven figure cost of
Cinderella it needs to be a success not only in Birmingham but in the
other ports of call for the BRB. Paul said: “If it proves as successful as
Nutcracker it will pay for itself in a very short space of time and then
go on to many, many more seasons of success. It is a very sound
investment.” Very matter of fact and modestly missing out the
technical wizardry which has been required to produce a ballet which can
work its magic at The Lowry, in Manchester in January, then the Theatre
Royal, Plymouth and then the London Coliseum in March. Four stages of different widths and depths, with
different heights for the flies, width of the wings and weight
restrictions. Paul said: “Weight is a crucial factor because
there are different weight capacities on the flying bars for the
theatres we go to. “In the ballroom for instance when we made a
prototype for a ballroom flat we realised that would be too heavy and we
have trimmed it in many directions. “We make a set first and foremost to fit into the
Hippodrome. We never start with the lowest common denominator. But we
make the set with component parts that can break down to different
sizes. When we take Cinderella on tour we know that with that ballroom
flat for example we can take the top three foot section off so not only
is it the right height but the right weight for touring. “We try to make sure we don't end up shoehorning
something into a small space. We look at the overall design and see how
we can reproduce it without losing any integrity even though it has bits
missing. “An audience with a smaller stage in Sunderland
or Plymouth won't look at it and say it looks as if there is a bit
missing there, it will be perfectly fitted into that space , different
but just as beautiful.” The production also has to break down easily to
travel around in a convoy of articulated lorries. One will be needed for
costumes alone. “There are around 180 of them, along with more than 50
wigs, then a huge amount of ballet shoes, character shoes and boots. “There is a fantastic range of props, in the
kitchen there is a sink where water comes out of the taps, there are rat
traps and wonderful props. “The scenery is just big and lumpy with lots of
scenery on stage and lots of flown scenery. It will probably be about
four trailers-worth of scenery, then there are two trailers of lighting
and another trailer of miscellaneous stuff such as ballet bars, lino,
dancers' make up boxes, so there is quite a lot travelling to other
venues.” That is eight full artics so far - not bad for a waif dressed in rags. Before Cinders and the bandit head off in convoy
though the ballet has its world premiere on BRB's home turf. All the scenery was built mainly at the Royal
Opera House in Covent Garden but that is just the start though. Next the
scenery has to be tested and if it needs to be played with then it is
built in BRB's stores.
This includes making large kitchen trucks which
glide in and out to make sure they do actually glide and to see how many
people are needed to shift them as if by effortless magic. There are
also some live flame effects to test and Paul said: “There is some
mechanical engineering that we are building and will be tested so that
when we get on stage we will not all be scratching our heads wondering
why this thing is not working. We don't have any room for delay. We have
to hit the stage running. We all know that at half past seven on the
24th of November that that curtain will go up and everybody wants to be
amazed.” Everything has been collected and costumes are on
final fittings. But as Paul said: “Getting everything made on time is
one challenge. In most Hippodrome seasons we would get in on a Sunday
and open on Wednesday and in that we would have two piano rehearsals and
two orchestra rehearsals before the first night. “It is quite compressed but with a new show such
as Cinderella we will be on stage for nine days before the first night.
We need time to build and rig the lights and light the show and we need
time to rehearse these wonderful transformations before the dancers get
on stage.
“We will have a pianist in the pit, because it is
all to music, and we will have the stage crew and lighting crew on
stage and stage management and we will spend three or four hours
rehearsing these stage changes before the dancers come on stage. “Then when they do come on stage we will have
five piano rehearsals and three orchestra rehearsals and that is not
including any comfort zone. For a show of this scale and complexity
every hour of every 12 hour day will be fully utilised.” Cinderella's clock really is ticking . . . Paul's backstage army includes: Wardrobe: 8 BRB plus 10 dressers
provided by the Hippodrome Stage: 12 crew from BRB plus 5
from the Hippodrome Lighting: 11 BRB plus 2 from
Hippodrome Wigs: 2 Shoes: 1 (see
FEATURE) Stage managers: 3
|
|
|
|
Nutcracker
