I have the space delineated, but for other reasons I have not been able to set that stage up yet. I now have another piece of that puzzle- stage curtains and drops.
A theatre associate, Tony Cantore, who owns the largest collection of costumes in Bucks County and probably the general region, has lent me his collection of curtains and drops.
I have been keeping him abreast of the progress of "The Gnomes of New Hope" since we first met around twenty years ago. His shop originated on New York, and Tony was associated with Arthur Gerold, who owned Brooks/Van Horn Costumes. Tony's Collection includes the Cardell Costume Collection from Broadway.
So, I'm happy to have a collection of stage curtains and drops, which initially, I thought to use only for my sound stage. But the truth is, that these curtains will accommodate a forty foot proscenium. Well, not only a full set of blacks, but a number of sky drops and greens (which might be forest). Luckily for me, Tony is ok with me repainting the drops, which means that the forests for the center of Gnomeville will probably end up on at least one drop.
I'm thinking through how to best use these drops. Unfortunately, my shop only has a fourteen foot ceiling and the stage space I have delineated is (at most) 20' for the proscenium, 8' in the wings and 18' deep. That's pushing it, I originally set the depth at 16', figuring it would match a "Little Theatre" scenario. This size configuration will also work in prepping the Show for houses like The Bucks County Playhouse. In that instance, we need to cut the stage in half and playstage down on a thrust, because we need to avail ourselves of the turntable for set changes.
I'm not sure how the Bucks County Playhouse will come into play, but we have a long process to go through before we will be ready to open a show.
In the meanwhile, I am focusing on in-house activities that will take advantage of the sound stage, puppetry, parade float, and film/video/animation. Putting the stage musical up will depend largely on getting "The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture" up and running with a Vested Board of Directors and initiating the Ancillary Markets to support production. If we can create a cash flow from Ancillaries, then we will be better off then begging money in a Limited Partnership. That may come into play, but not until it can be managed under another organization, such as the Elder Gnomes or IMS Management.
Further along those lines, "The Gnomes of New Hope Productions" needs to be formed.
More later. AG
