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Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com
She (Times
gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Above: A piece of equipment that plays a role of rotating the stage in the upcoming
production of The Wizard of Oz at the Hosch Theatre.
Left: Students work on the stage set on Tuesday, Oct. 30, for the upcoming production
of The Wizard of Oz put on by the Gainesville Theatre Alliance.
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE The Times
‘A sense of journey’ brought to Oz
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Revolving stage creates spectacle" in GTA’s ‘The Wizard of Oz
BY LAYNE SALIBA
lsaliba@gainesvilletimes.com
Following the yellow brick road
will feel a little different in the
upcoming “The Wizard of Oz” play
from the Gainesville Theatre Alli
ance. In fact, most of the scenes
will feel a little different than other
depictions of Oz you may have seen
over the years.
With the help of Larry Cook,
scenic designer for the play, the
stage will come to life with a new
revolver, a friction-drive turntable
machine, enabling the show deck to
spin. Think of it as a record player
with castor wheels underneath and
the revolver putting it all in motion,
turning at different speeds and in
different directions when needed.
The show is set for Tuesday, Nov.
6, through Nov. 17 at Brenau’s Hosch
Theatre. Although tickets are sold
out, guests can be put on a waitlist.
“One of the things that we talked
about early on was how we were
going to give a sense of journey to
this on a solid stage,” Cook said. “So
we had this piece of equipment over
here and we had just gotten OK’d to
buy another one.”
The new setup from Creative Con
ners Inc. cost $30,000 — Cook had
already built one for about $5,000
for another show, but that system
lacked the control needed to bring
“Wizard of Oz” to life, prompting the
purchase of the more sophisticated
setup.
There’s a lot of gear that will go
into making the play the best it can
be.
The new revolver, along with
the Stagehand Apprentice machine
that controls the automation for lat
eral movement, the Showstopper
3 Consolette that controls all of the
cues and the Spikemark Licence,
the software that makes it all work,
spins the outer disc of the show deck
while the older one Cook built spins
the inner disc.
“They’ll turn together, they’ll turn
in opposition to each other, they’ll
turn at different speeds,” Cook said.
“It really gives us a lot of versatility
in what we can do.”
The speed is set to a maximum of
4mph.
“I wish we could go a little faster,
but you know, you don’t want to get
much faster than walking speed.”
Apart from making the stage spin,
Cook said the show has quite a bit
of other moving parts to it. It’s the
most technical show he’s ever been
involved in. There’s flying, projec
tions, small pyrotechnics — all
intended to give a little more juice to
a plot that will be far beyond famil
iar to audiences.
“Almost everybody has seen the
movie, and we can’t even come close
to it,” Cook said. “We can’t hope to
match MGM. And so we wanted
to capture enough of it that people
would recognize it for its spectacle,
but at the same time, do something a
little different.”
Having the revolving stage deck
also gave Cook an opportunity to
change scenes while another was
happening. All that has to happen is
the stage needs to spin to reveal the
next scene. In order to do that, he
had to create large shutters, stretch
ing from the ground to the ceiling,
that are pulled out so the changing
scene in the background wasn’t
distracting.
“They travel back and forth on
the stage to kind of subdivide it,”
Cook said. “So basically, I can close
off one place, change the scenery
and then they open up and that scen
ery revolves down.”
With all the moving parts in the
Alliance’s first performance of “The
Wizard of Oz,” Ali Hooks said there’s
a lot riding on all of the moving parts
working properly.
“It just means we’re going to have
to be on our toes with this show,”
said Hooks, assistant technical direc
tor and run crew chief. “There’s
very little room for error. But that’s
what makes theater magic. What
we’re going to try to achieve is, we
want to hit every single mark every
time so that once you’re in the play,
you’re never taken out of it.”
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Left: Students
work on the stage
set Tuesday, Oct.
30. The stage will
revolve during the
performance.
Right: Larry Cook,
scenic designer
on the upcoming
production, speaks
about the rotating
stage that will be
used in the show put
on by the Gainesville
Theatre Alliance at
the Hosch Theatre.
FAITH EVENTS
Sounds Of Jericho. 6 p.m. Nov.
3. First Baptist Church, 3780 Old
Oakwood Road, Oakwood.
Creating Transcendent Moments
in Our Lives. 10:30-11:30 a.m. Nov.
4. Georgia Mountains Unitarian
Universalist Church, 439 S. Park
St., Dahlonega. 706-864-0661 or
revcharlottearsenault@gmail.com.
Gainesville Prayer Band. 6 a.m.
Nov. 4. Church of the Nazarene,
Garden Boulevard, Gainesville.
770-536-4864.
Gene Turpin and The Gospel Way.
6 p.m. Nov. 4. Community Baptist
Church, 153 Double Bridge Road,
Mount Airy. 706-778-9521.
Highest Praise. Mass choir
workshop and concert hosted
by the Brenau University Gospel
Choir. 6 p.m. Nov. 4. Pearce
Auditorium, 202 Boulevard NE,
Gainesville. 770-538-4764.
World Day of Prayer. 7 p.m. Nov.
5. Greater Timber Ridge Church,
Gaines Mill Road, Gainesville.
770-536-4864.
Holiday Bazaar. Holiday gifts,
crafts, food and fun. 10 a.m. to
3 p.m. Nov. 10. Cornerstone
of Faith, 3485 McEver Road,
Gainesville. cornerstoneoffaith@
gmail.com.
Book signing for the Rev. Cynthia
Whitehead Jackson. Books and
other products from her “Tiny
Tots & Tikes” product line will be
available following the 10:45 a.m.
service on Nov. 11. First Baptist
Church, 1810 Martin Luther King
Jr. Blvd., Gainesville.
Gene Turpin and The Gospel Way.
6 p.m. Nov. 11. New Hope Baptist
Church, 5040 Pea Ridge Road,
Cornelia. 706-778-9521.
Marriage Enrichment. 9-9:45
a.m. Nov. 11, Dec. 9 and Jan.
13. Mount Zion Baptist Church,
4000 Thurmond Tanner Road,
Flowery Branch. 770-967-3722 or
mzbcinfo@yahoo.com.
Orpheus Men’s Ensemble. 5 p.m.
Nov. 11. Cumming First United
Methodist Church, 770 Canton
Highway, Cumming. efumega.
com/music-and-arts/concerts-
and-festivals/#.
Veterans Appreciation. 10 a.m.
to noon. Nov. 11. Mount Zion
Baptist Church, 4000 Thurmon
Tanner Road, Flowery Branch.
mzbcinfo@yahoo.com.
Interfaith Thanksgiving Service.
6-8 p.m. Nov. 13. St. Elizabeth’s
Episcopal Church, 1188 Hamp Mill
Road, Dahlonega.
706-864-0661 or
revcharlottearsenault@gmail.com.
Putting the “Thanks” back into
Thanksgiving. 8-9:30 p.m. Nov. 16.
Grace Chapel Church of Christ,
6755 Majors Road, Cumming.
Singles Enrichment/
Empowerment. 9-9:45 a.m. Nov.
25, Dec. 23 and Jan. 27. Mount
Zion Baptist Church, 4000
Thurmond Tanner Road, Flowery
Branch, mzbcinfo@yahoo.com.
Movie Night. 7 p.m. Dec. 1,
Jan. 26, Feb. 23 and March 30.
Chicopee United Methodist
Church, 3 First St., Gainesville.
770-634-6803 or pegflute@
yahoo.com.
Christmas Lessons and Carols.
8:45 a.m. Dec. 16. Cumming First
United Methodist Church, 770
Canton Highway, Cumming.
The LeFevre Quartet. 6 p.m. Dec.
16. Lighthouse Baptist Church,
329 Harmony Church Road,
Dawsonville.
The LeFevre Quartet and Sounds
Of Jericho. 7 p.m. Dec. 28. The
Venue at Christ Place Church,
3494 Atlanta Highway, Oakwood.
ONGOING
Celebrate Recovery. 6:15-9
p.m. every Friday. Dinner, large
group service and small groups.
Children’s ministry available for
children of all ages. CrossBridge
Community Church, 751 Ga. 53
E, Dawsonville. $2-3.
770-883-2576 or slreeves2@
yahoo.com.
Free clothing store. 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. every Tuesday. Infant,
children and adult clothing
available for those in need.
Donations appreciated. Holy
Trinity Anglican Church, 7049
Spout Springs Road, Flowery
Branch. 678-336-6964.
Gentle Hearts Ministry Food
Pantry. Distribution of food. 5-6
p.m. every Wednesday. St. Paul
United Methodist Church, 705
Summit St., Gainesville.
770-536-4910.
Senior adult choir. 1 p.m.
Wednesdays. First Presbyterian
Church, 800 S. Enota Drive,
Gainesville. Membership not
required. 770-532-0136.