Progress on the Heathers set

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post.  We have been working, but I haven't taken the time to talk about it.

LAST WEEKEND
Kate, Melanie and I got in a full day on Saturday and 2/3's of a day on Sunday.  We fabricated the guts of the 7-11 counter.  This one is a fun design.  The intention is to store it under the higher of the two platforms, alongside the steps going up on the platforms.  The higher platform is about 42" off of the floor.  A normal counter height is 36" and if the platform is a 2x4 frame with 3/4" plywood on top, that is 4-1/4".  So, doing the math, there is about 1-3/4" between the countertop and the underside of the platform.  However, I want a Slurpee machine on the counter.  So, to make that work, I got one of lift-out and up shelf brackets that are made for a Kitchen-aid mixer.  They mount in a base cabinet with a shelf holding the mixer.  You open the cabinet door and pull out on the mixer and the shelf swings out and raises up to be level with the countertop.  I adapted the concept but had a small shelf lift up and into a hole in the countertop,  So, the Slurpee machine lifts up out of the counter.

The next thing that we tackled was all of the platform skirting.  Now usually, this is just luan, maybe with a bit of decoration on it.  In this case, we have it designed with raised blue panels on a field of yellow...VERY 80's.   These blue panels are 3/4" styrofoam glued to the luan skirting panels.

Hidden behind these panels are two pieces of scenery critical to the story telling. First is the 7-11 counter, and the other is a pull out bed used for Heather Chandler and Veronica's rooms.  The skirting panels are affixed the the back of the 7-11 counter, so it gets pulled out and spun 180-degrees for the scene, then spun back and slid back under the platform.  For the bed, the foot board of the bed is the skirting panel of the lower platform and a fully-made bed slides out and back, kind of like a giant drawer.

The trick to this is that the reveals between the panels need to line up from panel to panel. That means that we had to work the footboard of the bed, the back of the counter, the step unit and the remaining luan panels all at the same time, making sure that the panels all lined up.

We got part of the way thru the skirting and realized that the steps are really part of the skirting, so on Sunday, we took the time to make the step unit and then included the same foam panels on it to keep the skirting consistent.

This week, I had intended to get all of this painted, knocked down and stored, ready to load in on 9/12. But, fate saw it differently and I had to make a quick trip to Chicago Monday thru Wednesday.  On Tuesday evening, Kate and Melanie came in and started the painting process, but when I returned on Thursday morning, I still had a BUNCH to do and was now behind.  In addition, office work and things at home had stacked up, so I didn't get back into the shop until yesterday.

THIS WEEKEND
Saturday evening I finished painting the skirting.

Sunday morning, we mounted the Slurpee machine to the counter, then added the back/skirting panel. Kate and I then shifted gears for a couple of hours to work on another project that needed  a little attention.  Kathleen showed up and volunteered to paint for awhile, so I tasked her with tackling the back wall that had been standing in the shop, ready for paint for nearly 3 weeks.  It took her over 3 hours to get it painted.  After Kate left at noon, I ran to Home Depot for the 2x3s that I needed to make 3 more benches like the one that I made for NOTLD two years ago.  That thing has see a LOT of stage time and acts as a workbench in the shop in between stage appearances. I spent a couple of hours and put together the three matching benches.  They are all ready for a coat of fresh paint.  Last thing today, I decided to get a coat of paint on the 7-11 counter and cabinet.  It needs some surfaces hit yet, but the basic peach color is on the cabinets and silver for the stainless steel countertop.

Just a little bit more paint and some prop snacks and cups added to it tomorrow and it will be ready to go.

I think that I will try to load some of this stuff into the trailer and make a trip over to the theater with it one day this week.  The shop is pretty cluttered at the moment and it would be nice to make some room.  It is great that nothing is in the Marcelle before our load in date in two weeks, so I can drop stuff ahead of time.  A luxury that I don't always get...

The last big item to deal with now are the lockers.  I am having one hell of a time finding some old lockers that I can work into my two rolling pieces.  I am running out of time.  They have to happen this week.

I will try to have one more post before the big load in day in two weeks.  With the holiday weekend next week, time is running a bit short...
R