Giant Flamingos

The Stage Crew team poses in front of the pouncing board at the scene shop

As soon Opening Day activities concluded on Monday the 15^th, the auditorium at the Cincinnati Art Museum exploded into motion and sound. The lingering applause faded into chattering, laughter, and the clicking of chairs folding up as Apprentices began to seek out their various projects. Some groups made their way directly into the warm green of Eden Park for get-to-know-you games and planning, some stopped for a lunch break, and some headed right out into the city for field trips. Stage Crew was one of the lucky projects that got to go on a field trip—to the Alice-in-Wonderlandesque kingdom of Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s scene shop.

You can’t help but notice the giant flamingo standing by the vending machines just inside the scene shop’s doors, and the strange sights didn’t stop there. Caricatures of various creatures crawled along the walls, leading Stage Crew’s small group back into the area of the shop where props from past shows are stored and believe me, your grandma’s attic’s got nothing on this place. Bicycles dangle from the ceiling, stacks of dishes and cups of all shapes, sizes, and colors fill the shelves, disembodied dummy heads and “blood” stained sheets lurk under stacks of tables and chairs of every imaginable description. Besides providing a great place to ransack if one needed to furnish a new apartment, Playhouse in the Park’s scene shop gave the Stage Crew apprentices a glimpse at the sort of work they’ll be undertaking in the next few weeks, and certainly got them inspired.