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To
begin the process of set construction,
Set Designer Adrianne Lobel uses several
tools to communicate her ideas to the
director, technical staff, other designers
and construction team. These tools include
the following: rough sketches of the
set in the preliminary phase based on
photos from the actual site, floor plans
drawn to scale showing the general layout
of the set and miniature three-dimensional
models showing how the set will look
when finished. From these tools, the
technical staff and construction crew
can begin the actual set construction
at the scene shop. The construction of
the Doctor Atomic set began
in January 2005 and was finished in early
June 2005. The set is now ready to go
up in the opera house for the world premiere
on October 1, 2005.
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The Doctor Atomic set suggests the style and tone of the
production. Replicating the look of a stark desert, the set creates
the austere mood and atmosphere of New Mexico in July 1945. Adrianne
Lobel creates a backdrop of desert solitude and scorched landscapes,
where the stage becomes a laboratory of both apocalyptic science
and ground zero for a new millennium in human history. Her designs
evoke a sense of the infinite with a vast horizon and the great
expanse of the desert.
The set itself is quite simple. Lobel desired to create just a hint
of the time and place of the action – the barren desolation
of the New Mexico desert in July 1945. Unlike many other operas,
the Doctor Atomic set lacks the exquisite splendor expected
in traditional opera sets. The intentional sparseness of the set
is beautiful unto itself, and it funnels the viewer's attention
to the compelling content of the opera – to the powerful words
and music about the notion of a bomb that could destroy the world.
Oppenheimer watched the explosion in this bleak setting at the base
camp, which was ten miles southwest of ground zero. Just following
the explosion, Dr. Oppenheimer quoted from Hindu scripture, the
Bhagavad-gita, "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."
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Located on Indiana Street in the industrial sector of San Francisco,
the San Francisco Opera scene shop houses nearly thirty original
productions. All of the acts, backdrops, walls, soft goods and props
for any one of these productions can be found in this massive warehouse.
Other opera companies can rent these productions; however, rentals
are limited due to the vast size of the San Francisco Opera stage.
Only about six opera stages in the world are comparable to San Francisco
Opera's, which measures approximately 120 feet wide by 80 feet deep.
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At first glance, the scene shop appears to be a massive indoor
construction zone with construction workers in yellow hardhats
and orange vests. And indeed, the scene shop is a huge indoor
construction zone. Large wooden frame-like structures called
parallels are stacked around the perimeter of the warehouse.
They come in various sizes spanning from just a few feet tall
to sixty feet tall. These parallels can be used for many purposes,
but they are most commonly used to create instant boxes of
various heights. There are also large wooden structures called
rakers, which are used to make raised or tilted floors. They
are large platforms placed on top of little boxes cut at an
angle. Between the parallels and the rakers, the backbone
of a set comes to life.
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Large shelves of furniture and other various props are stacked
on one end of the warehouse. Included in this area is the
spear and weapon section. In a smaller room upstairs is a
dark storage area for mannequins, birdcages, brooms, and other
various items. While walking through these areas in the scene
shop, one can glimpse bits and pieces of many familiar operas,
such as Mozart's The Magic Flute
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Past a maze of props, wooden structures, backdrops and various
set materials, there exists a massive floor-space where the
set building actually takes place. This large, open area,
known as "Siberia," serves as the space where the
team builds, paints, and assembles a given set. Upon completion
in "Siberia," the set is then loaded onto a semi-truck
to be taken to the opera house.
Once taken to the opera house, the crew unloads the set and
stores it backstage among other sets of simultaneous productions.
During the season, the set team juggles multiple sets at once.
All of the sets are organized and stacked like a house of
cards on the backstage walls. It takes one day, usually the
day of the performance, to put up a particular set. First,
the set crew begins with the floor, known as the rake. They
put up supports, which hold up angled boxes. These boxes support
the large platforms or rakers, which are placed on top to
create the sloping floor. The crew hangs set components in
the air on a fly system and installs tracks on the floor for
the pulls. The crew then puts up the backdrops. In the case
of Doctor Atomic, a rear projection screen composes
the backdrop. The props are placed in their appropriate areas,
and the opera is ready for performance.
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Although the Doctor Atomic set is now built, it
is in various parts around the scene shop, and some
of the parts are undergoing meticulous detail work.
For example, the bomb itself is currently being completed
at the fiberglass shop on the other side of San Francisco.
In addition, construction workers are putting the
final touches on the large carriage that will cart
an adaptation of Jumbo, the container intended to
enclose an aborted nuclear explosion, across the stage.
The Doctor Atomic set includes a reproduction
of Jumbo and its trailer.
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Jumbo was the $40 million container measuring 25 feet long,
10 feet in diameter and weighing 214 tons. Although
never used, Jumbo was built to contain an aborted
nuclear explosion. The scientists initially planned
to put the atomic bomb in this huge steel jug to contain
the TNT explosion if the chain reaction failed to
materialize. This would prevent the plutonium from
being lost. If the nuclear explosion occurred as planned,
Jumbo would have been vaporized. However, as confidence
in the plutonium bomb design grew, it was decided
not to use Jumbo. Instead, Jumbo was placed in a steel
tower about 800 yards from ground zero. The test blast
destroyed the tower, but Jumbo survived intact and
can be seen today at the site. A specially built trailer
with 64 wheels was used to move Jumbo the 25 miles
from the railroad to the Trinity Site. For more information
on Jumbo, visit
http://www.olive-drab.com/od_nuclear_trinity.php.
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