LWT carpenters bending steel for the set of Ella
After last week’s work building the set for the upcoming production of Ella, one could very plausibly argue that Long Wharf Theatre’s carpenters are the fittest people on the staff. Or at least the most tired.
Long Wharf Theatre’s carpenters spent upwards of 30 hours bending 1-in.-x-1-in. 16-gauge box steel to create the framing for the deck that will sit upstage on the Mainstage. Using a contraption called a steel bender, the carps placed a steel beam inside the device, tightened clamps around it and pushed the beam through a small opening. The steel is forced over a wheel embedded inside the small machine. A combination of brute force – pushing the steel through the machine – and the internal wheels curve the steel. It is a laborious process, with two people generally pushing and pulling the steel back and forth until the right curve is achieved. Depending on the curve needed, they’ll need to pass each piece of steel through the machine approximately 60 times. “It is hard on your shoulders, hard on your back, hard on your legs. It is a whole body workout,” said Sean Ewers, shop foreman.
The radius specified in the set designs is then drawn on the floor of the shop and the newly bent steel compared to that arc. If the arc is wrong, Ewers and the other carpenters have to begin the laborious process again. Once bent, the pieces are then welded together to created the curved frame for the platform from which Ella Fitzgerald (played by Tina Fabrique) and the band will generally perform.
So far, Ewers says they’ve been pretty successful at getting the curve right on the first effort.