Production: Sets, Props and Costumes

 

Scene Shop | Props Department | Costume Shop | Work Room
Fitting Room | Costume Craft Room | Costume Storage

Scene Shop

San Jose Repertory Theatre 's scene shop is located an easy ten minute drive from the theatre itself. The 10,000 square foot shop is divided between 5,000 square feet of the shop itself and 5,000 square feet of paint deck and office space. The full-time staff consists of a technical director, an associate technical director, three carpenters, and a scenic artist. Overhire is contracted in for larger projects.

The scene shop is fully equipped for both wood working and metal working. The wood working area of the scene shop is a large, open space with ample room for storage made even more comfortable by the newly installed dust collection system. Having a well-stocked metal working area as well gives us the flexibility to choose the most effective material for the project. We also have the capacity to do aluminum welding.

The paint deck is big enough (75' X 36') to lay out a full stage deck. This allows for the painters to spend less time shuffling scenery and allows a cleaner view of the whole picture.

In the office, we are currently operating on AutoCad 2002 with a 42" color Design Jet printer, although we can still be found sketching on the back of a paper towel every once in a while.

The mechanization of scenery also plays a large part in our day-to-day build process. In the summer of 2001, we embarked on a capital improvement project that added five motors to our existing three, as well as adding a Goddard control system. This computerized system has added accuracy, sophistication and ease to our ability to move scenery.

Props Department

San Jose Rep has a 5,000 square foot prop shop next door to the scene and paint shops. The prop shop, with its 4 rolling 4' x 8' worktables, provides an adaptive work place for all prop needs. At the San Jose Rep prop shop we are able to handle large soft goods projects, molding and casting, carving, furniture construction, and upholstery projects. Next door in the scene shop we have access to the fully equipped metal and wood shops.

We have sophisticated computer resources as well, including a scanner, digital camera, and twenty-four inch desk jet plotter.

There is a large hand prop storage, which includes a number of hard to find items, a large quantity of set dressing props as well as a strong rehearsal prop stock. The prop furniture storage contains a wide array of period and style (from a Louis XV bureau to Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs) as well as specialty items such as juke boxes and a vintage coke machine.

Within the Bay Area we have reciprocity agreements with all the major theatres giving us a great local network. The prop department is also a member of SPAM, which expands our network nationwide.

The city of San Jose offers a great amount of thrift and antique shopping. There are also a large number of commercial resources within minutes of the prop shop. The San Francisco and Berkeley area round out the architectural salvage and antiquing resources, as do the many small coastal towns of Northern California.

Costume Shop

San Jose Rep's costume shop has a permanent seasonal staff of five employees. The costume shop manager, cutter/draper, and wardrobe supervisor are full-time, while the stitcher and the wig master positions are flexible part-time positions based on show size. Because of our reputation of high standards, we are able to add to our core members a pool of skilled local artisans, providing our designers with an excellent staff specifically geared toward the needs of any show. In addition, we have a reciprocal agreement with Tangerine Salow, a full-service hair salon with an exceptional hair colorist, located across the street from the theatre.

Work Room

  • 1 window that allows natural light
  • 3 cutting tables: 36" x 8’, 45" x 10’, 55" x 10’
  • 8 industrial sewing machines: 2 blind hemmers, 1 serger, 3 straight stitch, 2 Bermina multi-stitch
  • 6 home sewing machines
  • 1 home serger
  • 2 industrial irons
  • A large inventory of shoes easily accessible in a storage room directly adjacent to the costume shop
  • Fully-stocked wig inventory and wig dryer

Fitting Room

  • Large space: 11’x 20’
  • Mirrors on adjacent walls (soon to have mirrors on doors of closets parallel to the main mirror)
  • Incandescent and fluorescent lighting
  • Hanging rack
  • Carpeting

Costume Craft Room - Located on floor above the costume shop

  • Spray Room with proper ventilation and both incandescent and fluorescent lighting
  • Dye Vat with proper ventilation and both incandescent and fluorescent lighting
  • 2 Washers and 2 Dryers
  • Large deep sink with connected counter
  • Good dye supply
  • Fire Cabinet
  • Separate work area with a large counter and easy access to supplies.

Costume Storage

Costume storage is located off-site, approximately a ten-minute drive from the theatre in the theatre's properties shop. We have a large and varied stock from which to pull and 600 square feet of well-lit, accessible storage.