The Masters Of Stage Craft Magic…IATSE Local 1, New York City

Before videotape came along in 1956, live television was very dependent on skilled stage hands to move scenery in and out during the broadcasts of everything from comedies like “Your Show Of Shows” to dramatic anthologies like “The Kraft Playhouse”, and all the rest.

Videotape brought in “time shifting”, and once it became widely used at the networks, a lot of stage hands lost their jobs, because now, game shows for instance could be set up, a weeks worth of shows taped, and the set struck in just one day. Before this, each set had to be set and struck for every show, which was of course live.

When production started to move from New York to Los Angeles, east coast people were struck by the difference between how the stage crews worked on each coast. In New York, stage crews usually had Broadway experience, and sets were flown in and out and moved quickly.

In LA, the stage crews had motion picture experience and were used to a slower pace, because they always did their work between takes.

When CBS produced a second live performance of “Cinderella” in color in 1965 at Televison City, it cost twice as much as the original, live color presentation in 1957 at their Studio 72 in NYC. The cost difference was mostly due to the speed of the New York stage hands. -Bobby Ellerbee

Check out the Act II scene change in Puccini’s La Bohème, returning to the stage on April 15! The streets of Paris come alive in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic production of this unforgettable tale of love, youth, and tragic loss. bit.ly/1PUCScr

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