And so, it begins...

Initially, I was hired only to fabricate the truck for Hardbody.  When I first applied for the temporary lighting designer position advertised by New Line Theatre last April, I included production sheets from previous shows as a portfolio of my scenic and lighting work. One of the shows that I included was the 2010 production of "The Grapes of Wrath" at Looking Glass Playhouse. (the one in Lebanon, IL, not the Tony Award winning one in Chicago)

For this show, I fabricated a beat-up, old 1930's truck that moved around on the stage as the show progressed.  Made out of wood, fabric, chip board and two trailer fenders, it was a stylized, 2/3 scale model of no particular make or model. The intention was to simply capture the flavor of a truck from that era.  A good paint job of rust and grime, and it worked.

About the time that I applied, Scott was mulling over whether or not to try to take on "Hands on a Hardbody" which was just closing on Broadway after a disappointingly short run.  I believe that it ended up with less than 40 performances. His biggest concern was how to handle the truck.  His first question to me was not about doing lighting for the rest of the 2013-14 season, it was if I were willing to build a truck for him. "Sure" I thought... not realizing that not only did it have to look like a NEW truck, it had to be a specific truck... a late model (there are lines that one contestant has a son in Afghanistan so it takes place within the last 10 years), Nissan (it is a Nissan dealer holding the contest)...red (there is a lyric in one song about the red one looking good next to the blue one already in the driveway). SIGH...  but I agreed nonetheless. I'm always one to embrace a challenge.

As we talked early on, we bantered about "should it be a real truck?" "can it be a stylized truck...ala the horses in Warhorse?" Stylized would certainly be easier and cheaper. If we can't find money to fund a real truck, I'm sure we can do something that suggests a truck.  Then, as word got out that New Line was taking this challenge on, inquiries began to come in about how we were handling the truck and it appeared that, maybe, there would be a rental market for this truck after we finished with our run. Now, the pressure is ON! This truck MUST be good enough to become a rental demand.  Scott has a reputation for taking shows that seemed dead after quiet closings on Broadway and turning them into regional successes with a new lease on life. If history rings true, "Hands on a Hardbody" has a bright future in the regional theaters...and we have a bright future in truck rentals. :)

So, what does that mean for me and making this truck.

• It has to be realistic.
• It has to be solid enough for the cast to climb on  but light enough to move.
• Somehow it has to come apart so that the pieces fit through a 3-foot door. New Line's theater is on the second floor of the building and NO DOUBLE DOORS!
• Even if it doesn't move on stage in our production, the truck in the Broadway show moved on stage. If we are going to rent this thing, it probably needs to have accommodation for being on casters.

There are only two or three ways to make a realistic looking truck.  

1. I can build a framework, cover it with hardware cloth and foam, then carve it, coat it, and paint it. But, unless you are a REALLY good sculptor, it is hard to reproduce the lines of a real truck. Imperfections are instantly obvious. Some quick pricing by prop houses indicated that this would cost between $10-15K. OUCH!
2. I can find a real truck, have molds made of the body panels and cast the parts in fiberglass, assemble them on a framework and finish them...not unlike a kit car. OK, but who will let me make molds from their shiny new Nissan truck?
3. I can get a real truck with a body in great shape but ready for scrapping because of a blown motor, flood damage, a million gentle miles on it, etc. Cut it apart, assemble the body panels on a framework and repaint it to red.

Right now, option 3 seems the way that we are headed.

So, the search is on for a Nissan truck that looks new enough and in good enough shape.  Craigslist is a great resource and I have a couple of leads.

More to come...