A Preview of Things to Come....(and a couple 1st's)

Here is a photo(an apertif via cel phone, if you will) of the set for The Complete Works, happening at Northampton's Academy of Music this weekend. New City Scenic designed and built a rake for this very traditional, historic space and it's getting a lot of people excited about seeing this show. It is the 1st rake in this house that we know of!- or, perhaps, just in our lifetimes??? Nonetheless, the rake definitely works well in this space.
{This past December, New City also replaced the long defunct stage trap- created for Houdini!- with a new working trap.}



Go see it!:

The Complete Works
of William Shakespeare
(Abridged)
by Adam Long, Daniel Singer & Jess Winfield
Directed by Tom McCabe

Featuring:
Phil Kilbourne, Sam Rush, and Brian Smith

Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 2 p.m.
The Academy of Music in Northampton

More in Process Shots of The Man in Room 306....

New Year, New York.

New City Scenic has been contracted to build the sets for the Off-Broadway production of The Man in Room 306, the acclaimed play about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It's all happening at the 59E59 Theaters, produced by the folks at Luna Stage.
The set was designed by one of our longstanding clients, Charlie Corcoran, with lighting by Jill Nagle, starring Craig Alan Edwards and directed by Cheryl Katz.

Here are the model photos:
photos by C. Corocoran






Some research photos:








Some in process shots:

Coming Soon!

Designed and Fabricated by New City Scenic:



This Valentine's Day, show the one(s) you love just how cultured you really are! You could score big points...if you get our meaning.
Catch a preview performance of New Century Theatre's
The Complete Works
of William Shakespeare
(Abridged)
by Adam Long, Daniel Singer & Jess Winfield
Directed by Tom McCabe

Featuring:
Phil Kilbourne, Sam Rush, and Brian Smith

Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 2 p.m.
The Academy of Music in Northampton
(Part of the Northampton Arts Council's Four Sundays in February Series)

New Century Theatre kicks off its Year-long 20th Anniversary Celebration with an homage to one of the world's greatest dramatists. The scope of his work is so staggeringly huge it can only be honored by attempting to tackle every single one of his great works in under two hours! Time well spent to be sure!
All tickets $16 in advance; $20 at the door.
Sponsored by the Kahn Institute's projects Telling Time: Its Meaning and Measurement and Wellness & Disease

For Information and Tickets click here.

Lights, camera....!

Alyson Dell Isola, the Executive Director for Everett Community Television & Technology Center, sent us these images of the studio set we recently fabricated for them.

Before and After

Today, I thought I'd share this Shaker style hutch that I am finishing up for a client.
They wanted this newly unfinished two-piece hutch to be imbued with history.
Take a look.


BEFORE:


AFTER:

5 Reasons theatricality will boost retail sales

Courtesy of of DDI magazine, one of the top retail design magazines, they discuss the positive effects of fusing theatre(as design concept) and the retail/restaurant environment.
Coming from theatrical design backgrounds, this article, written by designer Janice Davis, emphasized our own philosophy of using large strokes and bold choices to give customers something they would never expect.
This is how we approached our design for the new Apollo Grill and Bar . Taking our cues from retro-futuristic design and The Jetsons, we created a large scale bar and backbar on a technicolor backdrop that has created a buzz and increased their liquor sales. (see photo)

Anyway, the gist of the article is that you can guarantee increased sales if you make your store stand out from the rest (having customers/clients walk into another world, not just another store), give the customer the feeling of entering another world (allow them to shed the reality that consumes their lives- this is why we love theme parks), imbue your products with romance, mystery, desirability (display things magically), make their experience in your store like no other, create a buzz (customers will be almost guaranteed to discuss their experience in your store).
Click on the photo of the article to read in detail.

Below are some photos of of a pop-up clothing store courtesy of Bella @ Set Design Thinking. Created wholly out of cardboard, yes, but man, it makes you want to check it out and share with other folks.