Sweeney Todd

University of MN- Duluth

• Directed by Kate Ufema
  
• Set design by Karen Hoffman
  
• Costume design by Pat Dennis
  
• Lighting design by Steve Bates
  
• Technical direction by Mark Engler
  

North Dakota State University

• Directed by Kate Galvin
  
• Set design by Tiffany Fier
  
• Costume design by Bill Brewer
  
• Lighting design by Brian Lynch
  
• Technical direction by Mark Engler
  

Anticipating a set that was going to monopolize much of my free time, I decided to rent the chair from the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis.

The set was designed by Karen Hoffman. It was supposed to resemble the gears and smokestacks from a factory, the beginnings of the industrial revolution. The pie shop was a turtle (movable turntable) in the shape of a big cog. It traveled up and down stage in a track. The orchestra pit was covered by a gear platform, with a few openings between the spokes. 

While I was a little disappointed in not getting to build the chair, I'm glad I didn't attempt it then. The turtle ended up being the real technical challenge of the production.

I did not try to automate the turtle. I used a groove cut into the 3/4" MDF false floor to regulate its upstage and downstage movement. A 5/8" steel rod extended below the turntable into the track and acted both as a pivot and knife guide. There were 32 shop-made zero-throw casters under the unit and three stagehands pushed/pulled/and spun the unit from behind. It was so big they could stand behind it and not be seen.

The chair from the Guthrie was very clever. The drop rig was a simple scissor mechanism, and I ended up borrowing the design for the trap door in the barber shop floor. The only disappointing thing about it was its look. It wasn't really an elegent looking chair and it was heavy. It took two people to move it and we couldn't get it up and down the stairs of the pie shop. It had to stay there for the entire show, making the second act reveal a little anticlimactic. It spent the first act under a dropcloth. 

I decided to build the chair for NDSU's production in 2014. I spent some time scouring the internet for examples of the Sweeney chair; I sketched a few ideas on how the mechanism might work, but I couldn't come up with anything better than the mechanism from the chair I rented back in 2005. So I decided to adapt it for our production. 

Since I did not build the chair originally, I did not have any drawings, just a few old production photos and my failing memory to recreate it. I found a photo of a period barber chair that I really liked, which was also similar in style to the Guthrie's chair; I used this as the basis for my design.

Since the seat has to drop, the chair can't be built like a normal chair. The left and right side can only connect at the back of the chair. After I worked out the overall shape, I went about creating a steel frame to attach the sides and keep it rigid. The entire chair is supported by the steel frame. The wood parts are not weight bearing. 

The chair recline and the seat drop operate separately. I considered making them both happen with the pull of the lever but decided that it would more dramatic (and easier) if the victim could be reclined in the chair before the seat drops out. To accomplish the recline I purchased a cable latch from McMaster Carr. I had planned to rout the cables around the wood frame of the back so they wouldn't be seen, but that ended up kinking the cables too much. I had to run them straight across the back. Luckily, it wasn't noticeable on stage. 

The chair made its entrance via a low profile wagon through the upstage door. The wagon was operated by a winch located under the platform.