Eight years ago we moved to Utah. For several weeks, we lived with relatives while searching for a house to buy. When we finally got to look at the house we ultimately bought, there were two big drawing features -- a large studio in the basement and a wide patio in the back yard.
My daughter and I both decided at first glance that the patio would make a perfect stage. In fact, she produced the first show on our backyard "stage" even before we had finished renovations on the house. This summer 2017 marks the seventh consecutive year of producing children's musicals on our backyard patio stage.
So, how do you turn a patio into a stage?
My daughter and I both decided at first glance that the patio would make a perfect stage. In fact, she produced the first show on our backyard "stage" even before we had finished renovations on the house. This summer 2017 marks the seventh consecutive year of producing children's musicals on our backyard patio stage.
So, how do you turn a patio into a stage?
First, it helps to have good bones. Our yard is pie shaped, meaning that the back yard is much wider than the front yard. Our cement patio runs almost the entire length of the house and it is several feet higher than the lawn area. This makes it a perfect viewing venue. Over the years, we have added several other features to the patio area: an outdoor kitchen with barbecue, smoker, pizza oven, and a sink as well as awnings to cover the wide open space across the patio. My husband rigged up light-weight poles to hang clips for holding the background drapes all along the length of the roof eaves.
The covered area of the outdoor kitchen provides a protected "back stage" launching area. It even has electrical outlets and countertops handy for running the sound system.
We use practically the entire house getting ready for these shows. Rehearsal spaces are in the family rooms on the main floor and basement, the music studio, the basketball court and patio stage. The dressing rooms are nearly all of the rooms on the main floor. Entrances to and from the house are through the kitchen dining area. We even use the stone steps leading down to the garden as fair game for blocking and choreography.
After two weeks of rehearsals, we invite parents and interested others to join us for the performance. We set up as many chairs as we can muster, and invite the audience (mostly neighbors) to bring their own camp chairs and blankets to augment the seating. Seems to work well. We've have audiences of up to 200 people come to these shows and everybody says how delighted they are at the performances. With the addition of added shade canopies this year, we also had people say how comfortable they were, too. Doing these Summer Theater Camps for the neighborhood kids has become a tradition now. Families are already signing up for next year!
RSS Feed