Mathilde Ripoche
Rent - The Musical
Background and Inspiration
In 2019, we had the second years guiding us through the management of projects (The Nose and Ghost The Musical); teaching us how to work with other departments in theatre. This year; it's our turn.
I have to say, the biggest challenge of working on Rent The Musical has been working with other departments within a show and appreciating everybody's needs and limits.
One of the props we have been tasked with making is a 1980's New York public phone box.
Process and Materials
In order to have the right measurements for our full sized phone box, we took some reference photos and made technical drawings (ensuring that is was all correct each step).
We then had to decide what materials to use. So we chose to use MDF wood for the majority of the build as we did not have the budget to use metal for the entire build.
We used aluminium sheet for the external skin to make it look as realistic as possible adhering it to the internal MDF structure with Evo Stick.
Now for the detail. We were lucky enough to have someone on the team with a 3D printer which is what we used for the buttons.
We completely defaced everything we had worked so hard to make look perfect, covering it with stickers, posters, cigarette butts, ash, 'cocaine', used coffee cups and graffiti. Despite feeling stressed about doing so in the first place, it produced something incredible and I'm incredibly proud of how our team worked together to produce this.
My Contribution:
- The MDF and Aluminium
- Painting the stand and inside of the phone box
- Connecting the metal frame to the stand
- Connecting the stand to the box
- The defacing of the phone box (Along with several other members of the RENT team)
Credits:
Madeleine Iden, Adam Miller, Matt Bradley, Charlotte Williams, Abbie Street, Nancy Bond, Carly Everson