Location: 1200-seat Gates Concert Hall, Newman Center

Director: Matthew Plank
Set Designer: Maya Linke
Lighting Designer: Emily Maddox
Costume Designer: Erika Daun

Scenery Director: Steven McDonald
Technical Director: Ally Lacey
Shop Supervisor: Andrew McGlothen

In 2019, we partnered with DU’s Lamont Opera Theatre to begin building scenery for productions on the Newman Center’s largest stage. The timing was tricky- the opera is in the same academic window as one of the department’s productions. But I had always wanted the chance to produce something on the 40’ stage in the big hall.

Our third effort with Lamont was L’Opera Enchante with Meow Wolf designer Maya Linke. The design was series levels made over interlocking steel frames- the project needed to be both light and strong.

The project had several challenges:

• We needed to ramp up our welding skill- our Shop Supervisor, Ally, was the only person who had knowledge to do so. She began a campaign of instruction and skill building to get us up to speed.

• We didn’t have enough space to assemble the full show, so we carefully mapped bolt holes and platform positions for assembly.

• We needed to make the unit sturdy to overcome the height and size and built sections so they could be moved with teams of students.

The show assembled in 12 hours over a single weekend. We made plans for team leaders, so they could utilize opera students with very little tech skill to implement assembly.

The show looked fantastic, and felt sturdy and safe.