CATCO’s production of Carter W. Lewis’ Evie’s Waltz features a number of special effects, things that break, blow up, or otherwise meet their demise during the course of the performance each night. These things seem to happen suddenly and magically, helping us suspend our disbelief and become lost in the theatrical experience.
Several people have asked us “How’d you do that?”
The answer is we “did that” by hiring the right person for the job. In this case, the right person is Greg Bell, the Technical Director for the Otterbein College Theatre Department.
Richard Ades, in his Other Paper review of our production said
“But the real offstage hero is Greg Bell, designer of the special effects that let us know Danny is out there somewhere, waiting to have the final word.”
Greg is a genius at stage mechanics and things technical, and seems to really enjoy a fresh challenge. We have been fortunate to have his expertise on several CATCO production in the past, helping us create the illusion that crockery was being “shot” off the mantle in Sleuth, and engineering the turntable that kept our world premier of You’re My Boy spinning in the right direction.
Greg created a plethora of effects for “Evie’s Waltz,” utilizing pneumatics (air-power), remote switching, and custom-fabricated steel pieces to make the magic that appears on on the stage each night.
Here is a video clip where Greg talks about creating the effects, and gives an inside look at how he makes them work.
Greg Bell on the Special Effects for CATCO’s Production of “Evie’s Waltz” from CATCO is Theatre on Vimeo.
Enjoy!
