Empire: The Musical Goes Big Off-Broadway with PRG

	"PRG was essential for their ability to fabricate authentic scenery and meet all the demands of getting it into a theatre known for its small doorways and difficult-to-access spaces," Spangler says. Photo: Matthew Murphy

Empire: The Musical, which had its premiere at New World Stages this summer, tells the incredible true story about the construction of New York's iconic Empire State Building. This off-Broadway production impresses with its Broadway-sized cast, song and dance numbers and stirring visuals. Directed by Tony Award winner Cady Huffman (The Producers), PRG supported the show with multidisciplinary services, including scenery, automation, lighting, and audio.

The design team for this striking production includes Walt Spangler (set design) and Jamie Roderick (lighting design). When looking for a technology partner, the team turned to PRG to provide a comprehensive suite of services and to execute the production's vision with economically feasible and technically innovative solutions.

Set against the backdrop of New York City, this story follows three generations desperate for a touch of hope and buoyancy.

"This show is about building the Empire State Building and it spans the Roaring Twenties to the Bicentennial in 1976. My challenge was how do I evoke the main character, a 102-story Art Deco Skyscraper, in an intimate theatre setting?" says Spangler.

To meet this challenge, he began by building a physical scale model of the set. From there, he looked for ways to create a "realness," using custom-fabricated scenic elements depicting high beams, aluminum and stainless-steel girders, wood planks and truss to portray the building site, safety structures and materials used in 1920s construction. "PRG was essential for their ability to fabricate authentic scenery and meet all the demands of getting it into a theatre known for its small doorways and difficult-to-access spaces," Spangler says.

Spangler designed a large, automated window to serve as the show's central striking scenic element, inspired by the iconic exterior of the Empire State Building. The window's subtle tilting and repositioning movements and its opened/closed positions reflect the moods about the construction of the skyscraper, whether solemn or hopeful.

"Having PRG automate the window was great. Scenic automation is a technical feat but when it transcends its technical nature and starts affecting people emotionally, you know you've created something truly innovative and impressive." explains Spangler.

Spangler notes that one of the most important aspects of working on Empire was integrating the scenic and lighting elements. He collaborated closely with lighting designer, Jamie Roderick and his team, which included Sam Eisner (assistant), Sean Beach (programmer), and John Anselmo (production electrician).

One of Roderick's main goals was to depict the NYC skyline and the audience's position in relation to it, with light emanating from the city below or the sky above or through the structure itself, to help the audience feel how high they are as the building is being built throughout the show.

"To create a sense of height, I used GLP Impression strip lights that could tilt forward and back, making these big aerial moves. I also lit the air with VL 2600 profiles and GLP Impression wash lights," Roderick explains.

Color was an important element in Roderick's design. For the period that takes place in the 1920s and '30s, he used stark cool colors representing the despair of the Great Depression. Later, they become warmer, as the building gets closer to completion and the tone turns to one of hope and optimism.

Roderick had only six weeks to design Empire. "To get it done with such a short lead time, it was critical for our team to work closely with PRG. I felt very supported in terms of all the changes that were needed and confident that I was provided with the best tools available," says Roderick. "They helped me achieve what I envisioned, artistically, and still stay within the show's budget."

"Producers and managers are always looking for ways to drive maximum impact per dollar, and it was tremendously helpful to be able to work with such collaborative creative and producing partners on this show. Commercial Off-Broadway is really having a resurgence this year, and we look forward to supporting designer's ambitions on more projects like this going forward," says Alex Donnelly, VP/GM Broadway, PRG.

Learn more about PRG's work in theatre here.