Choir Boy

For Choir Boy I was tasked with the technical design for two sets of sliding panels, one automated and one manually driven, as well as the masking portals with moldings and the large hanging mural.

Triple-E track and hardware was used to create the track that the panels would slide on. A two horse power counterweight assist winch was used to power each of the automated panels and was attached to the top of 50ft of truss that was used to support the Tirple-E Track. A custom turn down sheave was created to send the lines form the motors, on top of the truss, to the tracks, bellow the truss. The framing of the flats was made out of 18 gauge 1.5” square box tube steel and faced with different thicknesses of luan to create the desired effect. The stained glass window was made of steel framed with bleached muslin beautifuly painted by DGSD’s paint shop.

The masking portals were created using mostly existing stock aluminum flats and a few custom made steel flats. The battens had to be extended to 50 feet to accomodate the scale of the design. The molding is made from styrofoam and was purchased in the desired profile. The modling pieces were attached to plywood to create rigidity and then bolted to the stock flats.

CHOIR BOY by Tarell Alvin McCraney, directed by Christopher D. Betts, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, 2022, Photo By Joan Marcus