Designing & Building the Set for Hula Moon

Initially, Shawna, Stephanie, and Wayne met to discuss the overall look, feel, and flow of the performance.

After agreement was reached on the basic design concepts, renderings of the set were produced in Photoshop. These renderings were done in accurate relative scale in order to test and refine the sizes, colors, style, and placement of the stage props.

After refinement, these images became a blueprint for designing the props and lighting.

Above, you can see the layout of the stage (as seen from above) and the view the audience sees immediately above the layout.

The taller palm trunks were made of a pipe wrapped with chicken wire for shape and then wrapped with burlap for outer form. Shorter palms were made from a thin plywood inner core, wrapped with chicken wire and burlap.

Fronds for the palms were made of painted corrugated cardboard which was cut and threaded onto wire rods. After threading, the ends of the fronds were cut at angles for shape.

The completed fronds where then placed into holes drilled into wooden blocks and then the blocks where placed atop the trunks.

The original plan called for the taller "pipe" trunks to be self-supporting. That didn't work. The first one we raised bent in the middle and looked like hurricane Iniki just passed through. After repair, these trunks where hung by cables from overhead.

Here's the lamp prop in the Photoshop sketch, being constructed on stage, and during the performance.

Mahalo to the many people who donated time, materials, and money to make this show a reality!

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