The House That Phoenix Theatre Built

Phoenix, Ariz. – Phoenix Theatre’s production team is currently constructing a three ton set for Noises Off, the first show in Phoenix Theatre’s 90th Mainstage season.

Noises Off runs Aug. 25 through Sept. 12, 2010 at Phoenix Theatre. The show pushes farce as far as it can go, following the onstage and backstage antics of a fifth-rate acting troupe touring in a new, horribly-written sex farce called Nothing On. The show is complete with slamming doors, characters falling down the stairs, windows breaking and a plate of sardines that continues to go missing. Each act is packed with more laughs than the one before it.

When stepping into Phoenix Theatre’s scene shop the site of a massive two-story house frame fills the space. The sound of wood being cut, nails being hammered, steel being bent and Phoenix Theatre’s production team hard at work fills the air. They have until mid -August to complete the set of Noises Off before final rehearsals begin.

The set is created completely, as with all productions at Arizona’s longest running arts organization, by Phoenix Theatre, with all set pieces having to be fully customized to fit the set. That means, any doors or windows purchased for the Noises Off set have to be adjusted to fit the frame of the house and installed to meet the needs of the actors.

More than 800 yards of steel, weighing almost a ton is required to create the rotating house used in Noises Off. The second-story of the house alone weighs 1,639 pounds! The steel makes the set strong enough to endure whatever the show produces.

“This set takes a good amount of engineering in because it has to endure a large amount of abuse from the cast. The actors run up and down the stairs, slam doors, fall down on and off the set for two hours straight in eight shows a week! The set really takes a walloping. It’s really the 10th character in the play because it has to interact, assist and withstand all the physical comedy that happens in the show,” said Mike Eddy, Production Manager at Phoenix Theatre.

Don’t miss the chance to see the set in action. Tickets for the Noises Off begin at $25 and can be purchased at Phoenix Theatre’s Box Office by calling 602.254.2151 or pick your own seats online at phoenixtheatre.com.

Published on behalf of Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix Theatre is a not-for-profit corporation that offers a full range of theatrical programming currently in its 90th consecutive, producing year. Programming includes: Mainstage Season series of Broadway musicals and plays; the 30-year-old Cookie Company, producing professional theatre for young audiences and families; the annual summer New Works Festival; and PT Education, supporting curricular and extra-curricular educational programs for all ages across the Valley. It is a member of Theatre Communications Group, the national organization of professional theatres, employs members of the Actor’s Equity Association, and is supported in part by the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and hundreds of individual, corporate, and foundation donors. Phoenix Theatre is located at 100 East McDowell Road, just east of the Phoenix Art Museum at Central and McDowell. For more information, visit phoenixtheatre.com.

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