Where do Broadway sets go to die?

[goodoneinlou2]

Alright, my first (non-response) post... so please be kind.

I already did a search on the topic, and only found a thread that mentioned a rumor Disney kept the touring set from Beauty and the Beast. I have also heard a rumor that Andrew Lloyd Webber actually has a set from Sunset in "storage."

So therin lies my question... is there some sort of "elephant graveyard" where elaborate or costly sets go to die? Are the set just scrapped? Do production companies hold sets and equiptment in storage for future use?

On a recent tour of Radio City Music Hall, they mentioned that their sets and secenery pieces are built and stored in New Jersey. They get shipped over when it's load in/tech time. That makes sense for an annual show such as the "Christmas Spectacular" where sets are re-cycled year to year.

However, what about shows that leave Broadway and then go on hiatus? Are the sets demolished and then re-constructed for the tour?

The best example I can give would be the touring version of Joseph. That show has been cycled around every 3 years with a totally different cast, costumes and Director. Yet, the set has remained the same (Circular ramp with turntable in the middle.) It has to be stored away somewhere in the downtime.

I recently saw 9 to 5, and knowing the show will launch a tour next year it prompted me to ask the question. Now, obviously they cannot tour with the complete Broadway Set... that would be crazy... but one has to wonder if at least portions will be stored away until the road company goes out.

Anybody know?

[Annas_Priest]

There are probably warehouses.....I don't really know, though

[Sondheim_Geek]

When a national tour is announced/in the works, pieces are usually saved to cut initial expenses. Sometimes they have to be discarded entirely for smaller scale replications.

Sometimes well-off producers, like Webber, will store them for their personal worth and dreams of future productions.

And then again other times they are just scrapped and thrown out in dumpsters outside of the theater, which is how some people on this forum have been able to dumpster dive and find one-of-a-kind pieces.

[WOSQ]

Some sets are stored intact because they were originally designed to be able to be moved comparatively easily. These are sent out on tour eventually and again and again.

If the production is lucky the set can be sold/rented for productions that are being produced by other entities. (The Full Monty at Paper Mill last spring used what looked like the touring set.)

Sometimes the scenery is kept a long time. Disney has a lot of real estate so finding an out-of-the-way warehouse doesn't cost them that much. Sooner or later most of their shows will head back out on the road for another farewell tour.

Other sets are adapted with pieces cut and redesigned and then sent out.

Other sets are redesigned for the road. They will look like the Broadway design--but only sort of.

Some sets for shows that are closed, done, over, finished or DOA (and that the producer doesn't want to pay for storage) are thrown away. The Hackensack Meadow landfills are full of dead sets. There are always producers who think their flop was misunderstood and will store the set for a flop for a while. (Alan Jay Lerner stored the set for Lolita, My Love which closed twice out of town, a dubious distinction as ever was, for nearly two years.)

If a set is brought in from abroad and is not being taken back out of the US, it must be completely destroyed so that nothing, repeat nothing, is reusable. No storage, no rentals, no sale. The set must be rendered into junk before it is taken to the dump, and there are agents from the government present at the load-out to make sure this happens.

[showtuneserenade]

One of the overseas productions of Spring Awakening got the Broadway set.

[jeffmiele]

while we're talking about sets and stuff has anyone seen the broadway and touring version of mary poppins? ive only seen the broadway one and some ppl i know have only seen the tour.. how does the set on tour compare to broadway becuase it is so incredible out here in ny i cant imagine them moving that entire thing with all the mechanics from week to week

[morosco]

The Hackensack Meadow landfills are full of dead sets.

There used to be a specific place where most sets were taken (and burned?). I can't remember the name of the place. The name of the place was a common expression associated with a show closing. Does anyone remember?

______ dump?
______ lot?
_____ yard?

[Dollypop]

Often the original sets are rented out to regional or summer stock theaters.

The original set for DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is currently onstage at the Patchogue Theater for the Gateway production starring Joe Piscoppo.

[Jon]

One thing I know is that set pieces may not be re-used for productions of a DIFFERENT show - for example, a backdrop from "Oklahoma" may not be used in a touring production of "Paint Your Wagon" - even if the set designer says it's OK.

This has to do with the set builders and painters' union. Re-using the same set pieces for differetn shows takes away work for those craftsmen.

I remember a case of a giant (12 foot tall) martini glass created for "Legs Diamond" that the producers tried to re-cycle into some revue (I think it was "Stardust"). The union complained, and they had to scrap the old set piece and build a new one.

Of course, this only applies where the unions have control.

[Mr Roxy]

Bryan's house.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Rental houses may also purchase individual pieces, especially drops and scrims. I know that the original limo from Crazy for You is still floating around out there and being rented out, at least according to the choreographer, and former cast member, who set the show a couple summers ago when I did it in St. Louis.

[Jewtopia]

I think the set from [title of show] is in my my living room

[tourboi]

The POPPINS tour house is different from Broadway ... it's almost like a pop out book. The roof doesn't descend from the fly loft as it does on Broadway. That's really the only major noticeable change in the physical production.

Also, the tour generally sits for a few weeks to a few months. I don't think they're doing ANY one weekers at this point.

[ThankstoPhantom]

The current tour staging of Mary Poppins will never be able to afford-ably perform in a venue for a one-week run. It is far too large.

[alterego]

And some end up in Australia. Both the original Broadway sets from CRAZY FOR YOU and THE FULL MONTY were bought for the Australian productions. In the case of CRAZY the sale included the costumes too.

[amoni2]

One of the overseas productions of Spring Awakening got the Broadway set


What set?

[husk_charmer]

I wanna say there's a regional playhouse that has the original Chorus Line periaktoi...

[morosco]

I have one of the original CHORUS LINE finale costumes.

[songanddanceman2]

ohhh morosco thats fab

I know the Wedding Singer UK Tour set went to the dumpsters once the show was done and didnt get its west end transfer

[BwayBaby18]

Now, here is my question. Every time a set is reused or rented does the Scenic Designer get money from that?

[WOSQ]

New production = new fee. Sometimes the fee is reduced, but, oh yes, there is a design fee plus royalties, and it is the royalties that can make you rich.

With today's big grosses, I'd love even a 1/4 of a percent (.0025) of something like Wicked's grosses. That would be $2500 per week per million of gross. How many companies are out there in North America alone and what is the total weekly gross?

[Jon]

So yes, Tony Walton and William Ivey Long got nicely paid when their 1992 GUYS AND DOLLS designs were used up in Ogonquit this summer (and at Papermill a few years ago).

[ErinDillyFan]

I don't think there is a rule for this.

Some shows that are going to tour after closing will use most of the original set.

Others can be bought by companies that will rent them.

Most flops will send the sets to the dump. I have seen pictures on this site from people who scavenged parts of sets from dumpsters or bribing the movers.

There is the famous case of Sherry! that sent the sets to the dump and accidently discarded the trunk which contained the only set of full score and orchestra parts and final scripts. James Lipton only discovered it years later, when someone inquired about doing a revival. Luckily, years later someone found a reel-to-reel tape that someone had snuck in and recorded from the audience and they were able to recreate the score from that.

[AEA AGMA SM]

I don't think William Ivey Long is still receiving any royalties for his designs for Guys and Dolls. He may have still been getting money when the costumes were owned by Dodger Costumes. The designer receives a royalty when the sets and costumes are rented or sold by the producer. I don't know if Dodger Costumes was considered a separate entity from Dodger Theatricals back in the day, so I'm not sure what the agreement was back then. However, Dodger Costumes closed and Costume World bought a majority of their stock back in 2005, so at best he would have received 10% of the sale price from that transfer.

Where he would be protected is that Costume World can't recreate anything without his permission. They can repair it to within an inch of its life, they can make something that looks similar and fits within the scope of the rest of the design, but the original design can't be reproduced without consulting him.

Designers are also not always protected in terms of another production being mounted by the same producers. For instance, should a show close in New York, the sets and costumes can be moved to another theatre or city as a whole. The designer only gets additional payments if additional work is needed, i.e. pieces redesigned to fit a new space, costumes rebuilt for a new cast member, etc. They do still get their royalties, but the producer does not have to pay them additional design fees in a case such as this.

[AEA AGMA SM]

And the history of some things like the Guys and Dolls costumes gets even more convoluted, as I forgot that Dodger Costumes wasn't created until 1998 when the Eaves-Brookes Collection was acquired by Dodger Stage Holding. I don't know if the Guys and Dolls costumes had been acquired by Eaves-Brookes when the revival closed and then essentially bought back by the Dodgers when Dodger Costumes was created, or if they had had them in their own warehouse somewhere and simply merged the Eaves-Brookes collection into their own.