NigHt of tHe pterodActyls, 1990

Well it is time to move into the 1990’s.

I had been at Brockport for almost eight years, had gotten a promotion and tenure and was fairly settled in.

There were big changes to come, some good and some bad, but life just keeps rolling on.

As always the spring of 1990 would be busy with several shows and music events.

First up in March was a production of NigHt of tHe pterodActyls by Julian Wiles.

It was a Youth Theatre piece with a few young actors added into the normal mix of college students.

NB: Fine and Jake were not in the play.

Plot?

Teenagers and single parents new in town, a young girls deals with finding her identity, young love and then messes it up by digging up Pterodactyl eggs in her back yard.

Ah, a normal play.

Most of the set was two rotating house units with exteriors on one side and interiors on the other.

They were tall and very detailed.

In front of the houses was a dirt pit in which the eggs could be found.

What made the show was the use of all the high tech items.

Behind the houses were plywood cutouts that were supposed to be a cross between construction equipment and dinosaurs when lit in silhouette.

To rotate the houses we just used people power with several students pushing the houses around as needed.

The best and scariest effect was of course the entrance of a flying Pterodactyl.

At the end of one scene a Pterodactyl would fly down from above the stage and out over the audience ending in a blackout.

The kids would all scream and it was fun every time we did it.

So what was the magic?

Our realistic Pterodactyl was simply two crossing pipes about 6 feet long with black plastic wings and a plywood cutout of the well-known Pterodactyl head profile attached.

The super high tech flying method was a simple.

The Pterodactyl was on a cable attached to a stage pipe measured out so it was arc down to just a foot or two over the floor.

On cue a pin was pulled to release the Pterodactyl which would quickly swing down and out over the screaming audience.

After the blackout a student crew member would use winch to quickly return the Pterodactyl back up into the flys out of sight.

Whether or not I liked doing Children’s or Youth Theatre, I liked the fact that we always gave them full mounted productions and did not skimp on the technical elements that I have seen done in other places.

We had both a student lighting and costume designer for the show and they both did very nice jobs.

There was only one weekend of adult performances and three sold-out school matinees for middle school students.

Soon after this production we had two music events and a student production to take care of before we would  do our spring musical.

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