The Merry Wives of Windsor

Technical Direction Apprentice

The Juilliard School

Directed by John Giampietro | Alexis Distler (Scenic Design)

Kate Ashton (Lighting Design)

This opera production of The Merry Wives of Windsor was set in a World War I British ammunitions factory and was staged in the Rosemary and Meredith Wilson Theater. Set Designer, Alexis Distler, utilized the full space of black box venue with I-beam structures that spanned the entire length of the theater, two large walls of windows mirrored on each side of the set, several roof rafters that defined the architecture of the world, and all enclosed with alley audience seating.

As the Technical Director for this production and I was responsible for creating and managing the $6k scenery budget, technical designing all scenic units, managing staff carpenters and over hire labor, and overseeing the successful build and delivery of the final product.

WINDOW BUILD DRAWING EXAMPLES. These are a few of the drawings used to construct the window walls that stood on the north and south directions of the set. Each set of windows had different missing panes patterns that we cut out of sheets of plexiglass using a CNC router. The plexiglass was then attached to the offstage side of wood framing.

TECH REHEARSAL PHOTOS. The top photo is a view of north side of the set under stage lights taken from center stage. The bottom photo is a view of the same side at pre-show taken from the west side audience seating.

BUDGET ESTIMATE SAMPLE. A page of the unit summary from the scenery budget estimate, which presents the materials cost, build labor hours, and load-in labor hours.

GRID LAYOUT SAMPLE. The grid layout was used to hang pick points that supported the I-beams and roof trusses, as well as three petal drops. Each department received this document and it was used as a tool to address potential challenges prior to load-in.

TEST ASSEMBLIES. Before the load-in we would shop test most of the units to establish efficient methods of assembly and ensure automated effects worked properly. The top image is a trial assembly of one of the roof trusses, which had to be transported to the venue in multiple pieces. The bottom photo is of the shop trial for our stock petal drops.

TECH REHEARSAL PHOTOS. This photo is a view of the south side of the set under stage light taken from the west side seating bank.

I-BEAM BUILD DRAWING SAMPLES. These are sample build drawing of the I-beam structures that spanned the length and height of the Rosemary and Meredith Wilson Theater. The I-beam sections were constructed using MDF for the paint finish surface, with 1x2 and plywood for the internal framing. Internal plywood splices were then used to connect each I-beam section.