DMMO 16 | Portfolio

Manon Table The tabletop consisted of two sheets of 3/4" plywood end to end laminated together with 2 sheets of luan for a nice surface.	Manon Table The edges were routed to provide a nicer look.	Manon Table The tabletop was flipped upside down and braces applies to the seams in the 3/4" plywood. Then it was cut in half to appear broken.
Manon Table After some putty, legs and a skirt were applied. The legs were placed so that each half of the table could balance without the need of the other. Locking keys were created to keep the table together, but were ultimately not needed.	Manon Table The table was painted gold through the following layers: orange, 2 coats of gold, then a coat of amber shellac mixed with gold flitter flake. In this picture, we had shellacked the entire left side and the bottom of the right side, but left the right top to show a before-and after of the shellac.	Manon Table For its first appearance, the table is intact, and covered with a lush red tablecloth to hide the break.
Manon Table In the second half of the third act and curtain call, the table is upside down broken in half.

My second Summer at the Des Moines Metro Opera proved to be quite different from the first. The shows were very different, and no one else on the props team returned so I had to learn to work with an entirely new group of people. I was able to work on a variety of projects this season, from small hand props to the centerpeice table for Manon's act 3.

Falstaff Benches One of several different sized benches created for Falstaff. This was the largest at 6' long.	In this image you can see the smallest "bench" in falstaff. More a stool at 18 inches long, it was kicked and thrown across stage each performance.

Des Moines Metro Opera 44 Season

For Orphee, Elysium was decorated with many bright red trees. We purchased these trees, but they were very top heavy, and needed larger bases before being bagged like a tree with a rootball.	IMAG0319 The tree's rootballs were a collaborative effort of the entire props team at different points. Painting them red was done by both the props team and the scenic charge.	The red trees onstage in the emotional scene where Orphee loses Eurydice for a second time.

The iconic prop of Orphee is his lyre, which hangs from the character the entire show. We purchased a lyre, but to fit the design of the show, it needed to be completely refinished.	After sanding the lyre, the surface was treated with an ebony stain/poly blend. It was left to cure for three days, and after it stubbornly refused to cure in the Iowa humidity, it was treated with several layers of shellac, which left it hard and shiny.	The lyre onstage when Orphee is being dragged into hell.
The lyre hanging on Orphee's back.

The character of Amour was a rather gaudy character, clad in yellow with large golden wings. As such, she needed an equally gaudy bow an arrow. The arrow is a dowel with a papercraft head and feathers. The bow was a wooden bow left over from a previous season. Both were covered in a combination of gold leaf and mylar.	Amour onstage with her bow and arrow.

For Galileo's "Incline Plane" chapter, Galileo uses a long ramp to show several principles of gravity. The ramp I created was 12 foot long, rested on the back of a chair, and had wire loops at the bottom to catch balls from bouncing around the stage.	For Falstaff, we purchased a lute. It was later said that they wanted the lute to have a stand onstage. Rather than purchasing a stand, I built one using several images online.	Regretfully, I never got a picture of the lute on its stand, but it can be seen slightly in the corner of this picture.
For Manon, we needed four large topiaries that could be rolled around the stage. Affectionately dubbed "Frankentrees" these were created by combining two different store bought topiaries and some left over pots from Rappacini's Daughter the previous year. I created the platforms to pressure fit around the planters to prevent having to drill too many holes in the fragile plaster/fiberglass material they were made from.	As things wound down at the end of the summer, I, along with the props interns and assistant propsmaster, went through a painting workshop with the scenic charge. We only made it through wood grain, but this small pedestal was my first time ever using a wood grain comb.	Near the end of the summer, I helped the assistant propsmaster and assistant scenic designer with an upholstery workshop. I guided, and occasionally helped, a team of interns who had never upholstered before through the reupholstering of this chair in about an hour and a half.

Aaron Justice

Props Artisan

Manon Table

The tabletop consisted of two sheets of 3/4" plywood end to end laminated together with 2 sheets of luan for a nice surface.

Manon Table

The edges were routed to provide a nicer look.

Manon Table

The tabletop was flipped upside down and braces applies to the seams in the 3/4" plywood. Then it was cut in half to appear broken.

Manon Table

After some putty, legs and a skirt were applied. The legs were placed so that each half of the table could balance without the need of the other. Locking keys were created to keep the table together, but were ultimately not needed.

Manon Table

The table was painted gold through the following layers: orange, 2 coats of gold, then a coat of amber shellac mixed with gold flitter flake. In this picture, we had shellacked the entire left side and the bottom of the right side, but left the right top to show a before-and after of the shellac.

Manon Table

For its first appearance, the table is intact, and covered with a lush red tablecloth to hide the break.

Manon Table

In the second half of the third act and curtain call, the table is upside down broken in half.

Falstaff Benches

One of several different sized benches created for Falstaff. This was the largest at 6' long.

In this image you can see the smallest "bench" in falstaff. More a stool at 18 inches long, it was kicked and thrown across stage each performance.

Des Moines Metro Opera 44 Season

For Orphee, Elysium was decorated with many bright red trees. We purchased these trees, but they were very top heavy, and needed larger bases before being bagged like a tree with a rootball.

IMAG0319

The tree's rootballs were a collaborative effort of the entire props team at different points. Painting them red was done by both the props team and the scenic charge.

The red trees onstage in the emotional scene where Orphee loses Eurydice for a second time.

The iconic prop of Orphee is his lyre, which hangs from the character the entire show. We purchased a lyre, but to fit the design of the show, it needed to be completely refinished.

After sanding the lyre, the surface was treated with an ebony stain/poly blend. It was left to cure for three days, and after it stubbornly refused to cure in the Iowa humidity, it was treated with several layers of shellac, which left it hard and shiny.

The lyre onstage when Orphee is being dragged into hell.

The lyre hanging on Orphee's back.

Amour onstage with her bow and arrow.

For Galileo's "Incline Plane" chapter, Galileo uses a long ramp to show several principles of gravity. The ramp I created was 12 foot long, rested on the back of a chair, and had wire loops at the bottom to catch balls from bouncing around the stage.

For Falstaff, we purchased a lute. It was later said that they wanted the lute to have a stand onstage. Rather than purchasing a stand, I built one using several images online.

Regretfully, I never got a picture of the lute on its stand, but it can be seen slightly in the corner of this picture.

As things wound down at the end of the summer, I, along with the props interns and assistant propsmaster, went through a painting workshop with the scenic charge. We only made it through wood grain, but this small pedestal was my first time ever using a wood grain comb.

Near the end of the summer, I helped the assistant propsmaster and assistant scenic designer with an upholstery workshop. I guided, and occasionally helped, a team of interns who had never upholstered before through the reupholstering of this chair in about an hour and a half.