The epicenter of Twyla Tharp’s newest creation, Waiting at the Station, is a large locomotive designed by Santo Loquasto and brought to life in PNB’s scene shop.

In a recent Seattle Times interview, Santo points out that the simple set has multiple entry points: Tharp, he said, “likes to manipulate the conventions of the space, so there are entrances from up center and the sides — people can come from many places. It just allows the flow to be more interesting to her eye.” Here’s a sneak preview of the process of building Waiting at the Station.

One of the challenges of set construction is to make everything light enough so that stagehands can move it around onstage and off, and assemble and disassemble it as needed between shows.
Nearly everything you see onstage during a PNB performance is made by hand by PNB’s skilled teams of artists and technicians. Pictured (l-r) Peter Gantt & Jeffrey Stebbins. 
 Pictured: Jonathan Hackett. 
PNB Technical Director Norber Herriges (right) conferences with Peter Gantt on the details of building Waiting at the Station.  
  

Get ready, a completed version of this train takes the stage at McCaw Hall on opening night of AIR TWYLA this Friday, September 27. 

All photos by Lindsay Thomas; blog by Judith Austin.