A weblog about theatrical drapery and stage curtains for Production Managers, Set Designers, Custom Drapery Resellers, and local/school/church Productions
Springtime is finally in full swing, and with that comes the start of Summer, too. Rent What? loves to be a part of our clients’ End of Year Banquets, Yearly Awards Shows, Wedding Celebrations, and of course all of the many concert tours that are starting to sweep our country. One of our most eclectic and gorgeous drapes would be absolutely perfect for these events, and for any special event that you may want to add some soft shimmer to. That rental drape is our 24’x40’ Ivory Satin Austrian, from our Delightably White Series. This drape is stunning just by itself with regular room lighting. But once you add a little bit of color and specialty lighting from above, below, in front, or behind, you will be blown away with the variations in feel and design you can create from just one single drape!
Take a look at how creamy and decadent this drape looks with just regular room lighting:
Now take a look at how unbelievably beautiful and dazzling this drape can be with a little bit of imagination and creative lighting choices:
However you decide to use this drape, you and your guests will NOT be disappointed by its sheer elegance and versatility
Austrian drapes tend to reflect the light in the most unbelievable way, creating unique and dramatic effects on the drape based just on the placement, color and intensity of the light against the beautiful swags in the Austrian drape. Anything that has any sort of translucence will want to have a strong front AND back light in order to utilize the best look of the drape, whereas those with no translucence will still have a very powerful effect with strategic front lighting only. This specific lighting can be especially effective on glossy, shimmery, and iridescent materials. Drapes of this style can be made from all different types of materials and in all different shades. However, the most popular materials tend to be silks, satins, synthetic velours, silky charmeuse, irridescent, super vel, and anything with a gorgeous, polished finish which will really help capture the light very dramatically. Used in combination with some of our gorgeous giant swag drapes can completely finish the look! These photos show clearly how different lighting completely changes the look and “feel” of the exact same drape based on their intensity and colors.
One of Rent What?’s most popular Austrian drape styles is definitely from our Silver Satin series. These have been so popular because they are the ultimate in diversity when it comes to creating new and exciting looks for our client’s stages, tv shows, concerts, and productions. As you can see, with a slight change in the angle of the lights, lighting color, and stage design, we can help create a unique and exciting look for any event. Some of our satisfied clients have been the Jennifer Hudson/Robin Thicke Tour, Maxwell, Foo Fighters, the Glee Live Tour, and an Amfar Benefit starring Lady Gaga, the queen of fresh and innovative style herself. Each Austrian Drape has such a wonderfully rich and special look to them, that you can use them for practically any event you can think of where you may need to add a little touch of “wow-factor”.
All in all, we are very proud to be able to offer a wide variety of Austrian Drapes for our clients, and we know that adding one to your special event will make it that much more memorable.
The Austrian Drape has had a very special history with production houses around the world for many years, in which Austrians are used to shape and add unique drapery outlines to staging areas in a very dramatic and effective way. This beautiful style of “front curtain” was originally created centuries ago to help production houses keep the gorgeous and elegant look of a grand drape when their space didn’t have the width to travel the drapes off to the left and right of the stage, called “wing space”. Another great thing about the Austrian Drape is that in situations where there might not be space in the rafters to “fly the drape out”, then the motor in the lift system can raise this drape up and basically just fold it onto itself, making it a very compact system that will still hide the drape when opened, but also won’t take up any additional fly space, either.
One of the main reasons Austrian Drape rentals are so popular for Rent What? is that our expertise in this field has allowed our clients to obtain a designer look for their special event or production, which is now an affordable possibility for them. Because of the massive amounts of man-hours it takes to build, and the vast amounts of material it takes to make one of these gorgeous drapes, they can be expensive to purchase. Ever since we’ve started offering them for rent through Rent What?, they have been extremely popular items for everything from concerts to cabarets, as well as stage productions that want to add a real touch of class to the overall feel to their show.
We started out with a few Silver Satin Austrians, and have expanded to fit our ever-growing clientele’s requests. So now we have Silver, Red, Ivory, Gold, and White in satin and silk varieties, and because of its popularity and demand, our rental base is growing all the time!
Recently Rent What? was able to add a gorgeous, shiny, beautifully created drape to its Rock ‘n Red and Timeless and Traditional Series. It is an unbelievable 30′ high by 60′ wide Red Satin Austrian Drape, with close to 50% horizontal and 25% vertical fullness in its beautifully sculpted folds.
Our client needed something spectacular for a special edition of an internationally famous play here at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Utilizing our fabulous and easy to assemble rental Drapery Lift System (more on the different types of drapery automation to come in a future blog), this refined yet exotic Austrian Drape was able to be lifted and dropped with complete control from our client.
With the help of our sister company Sew What? and the brilliance of their representative Gwen Winter, we were able to have them make this luscious drape merely from an simple idea in our client’s vision, and actually create it completely from scratch.
With the incredibly hard work of an amazing sewing staff, she was instrumental in helping organize its development and creation in just two days– unheard of in the drapery design industry. A drape of this size takes more than 240 yards of material to construct, which is more than 720 feet, or 8640 inches, or 22,000 centimeters of material! And each panel is painstakingly sewn one at a time, with the lift line sewn right through the back of the seams. The seamstress has to gather all of this material on the vertical seams in order to create the iconic “smiles”, or soft swags, that an Austrian drape is known for. The greater the horizonal fullness, the longer and deeper these swags will become. Because it’s being lifted and lowered by a lift mechanism and not human hands, the lift lines have to be stragetically and evenly placed exactly right. The drape’s extremely elaborate construction takes a HUGE amount of man hours to sew and create, so that when the lift mechanism is activated, this beautiful drape will ride up and down smoothly and flawlessly so the audience will be completely blown away.
You can see now why it is so impressive that our sewing masters were able to cut, sew, and design this gorgeous 30×60 foot Red Satin Austrian drape in just two days!
Now that we have added this amazingly versatile and gorgeous drape to our Rent What? collection, we know it will be a huge hit for all sorts of events– from holiday parties, rock concerts, stage productions, television shows, and everything in between. We can’t wait to see what else our clients will come up with next for us to help design for them!
I have posted in the past about the various stage curtains that Sew What? and Rent What? have provided to Glee, both the television show and the touring show. It is such a fun and innovative show (recently nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy® Awards, including “Outstanding Comedy Series”) that it is exciting to be selected to provide custom stage curtains to the franchise.
Recently, Rent What? provided a gorgeous 30′ h x 60′ w Gold Satin Austrian Curtain to the show, which was used as a backdrop to numerous musical numbers in the show’s Season Two finale. This beautiful drape, along with a portable lift system (also provided by Rent What?) then “went on the road” with the Glee Live tour. Also on the tour were several other rental drapes, including a Red Contour Drape and a White Silk Austrian.
Whether you are staging a rock tour, designing a theatre, or planning a special event, custom stage drapes, wide format digital backdrops, and other soft goods can play an intregal part in bringing your vision to life. But what if your vision is tenuous? You have a general idea of the mood you’d like to create, but you are unsure of how to use drapery to help achieve that mood. How about checking out the Sew What and Rent What portfolio pages? We’ve got photos of many different projects that we’ve worked on in the past – I’m sure that you’ll see something that strikes a cord!
Maybe the Katy Perry parachute inspires you towards a red, white and blue patriotic theme, or Chris Cornell’s Metal Mesh drape gets you think of a cool industrial look. Remember, these looks aren’t just for Rock ‘N’ Roll – similar looks would work for a special event.
Maybe the gorgeous swags used by Jennifer Hudson inspire you, or the Austrian used by John Mayer at the Nokia fits the bill. Traditional and dramatic theatrical drapery such as swags and Austrians aren’t just for traditional theatres – they look beautiful in any venue, whether it is a concert or a special event.
Whether you choose a large scale backdrop with elaborate scenes, a step and repeat banner, or a geometric pattern, digital printing can be one of the most “custom” ways to achieve your vision. Check out the terrific images we printed for Kenny Chesney, Sheryl Crow, and many more.
I love the way that Rent What has organized their specialty drapery into different series – “Silver Satin”, “Rockin’ Red”, “Ivory Scene”, “Industrial Textures”, and “Timeless & Traditional.” And the way that the series are presented on their website is terrific, too. Next to each series on the page is a list of the various drapery elements available in the series (such as Austrians and Swags), several photos of the drapes, and a link to a pdf “Profile” with more information, photos, and inspiration.
It makes it so much easier for the client – to be able to choose from a variety of custom stage curtains in various fabrics that coordinate together a achieve one cohesive look. Rather than having to start from scratch, all the customer has to do is review the information and “Profile” file for each series and then select which series best fits the design vision for the show or event.
From there, in consultation with the folks at Rent What?, the designer can discuss the different drapery options before choosing the specific elements to rent.
Each series includes beautiful custom stage drapes and theatrical backdrops, but the one that I find the most interesting and innovative is the “Industrial Textures” series. It’s a little more “rock-n-roll,” a little more funky. It includes elements such as Metal Mesh drapes, Camo Net backdrops, and Texturelite (a gorgeous crushed fabric).
Yes, I will admit it…I am a classic rock fan, and my radio station of choice (here in the Los Angeles area) is 95.5 KLOS. Every weekday morning on my way to work, I listen to the Mark and Brian Show (based here in L.A. on KLOS, but syndicated throughout the country).
So, after listening to M & B talk for weeks about the Christmas Show being held on December 16th at the Nokia Theatre (and wishing I could go), you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Rent What? was renting drapery to the show.
And not just any drapery…this was drapery from the Silver Satin Series. If you are a regular reader, you know that I absolutely love the Silver Satin drapery pieces that Sew What? made for Rent What? Most recently, I posted in November on the Silver Satin Austrian and Swags that Rent What? provided to the Maxwell tour. Well, here they are again, looking as spectacular as ever!
Under minimal lighting, there is only a slight variation in the color (the drapes appear more of an opalescent white than a silver).
Change the lighting, and suddenly they appear red…
…or green…
Pretty amazing, don’t you think?
I was also excited to learn about a YouTube video of the drapes. Most of the videos that we find on YouTube that feature our drapes are shot during the show – which is great for seeing the artist, but doesn’t always give the best shots of the drapery! That is why I was so excited to learn about this video – since it was shot during sound check for the Mark and Brian “Super Group”, there are lots of angles and closeups of the drapery.
So, here I am – the show is over and I am regretting that I didn’t buy tickets and go. Not only would I have had the fun of attending the M & B Christmas Show in person, but I would have also gotten to enjoy the drapes in person. Oh, well, maybe next year…
Austrian and Braile Curtains are generally used as Front Curtains (aka Main or Act Curtains), when theatre personnel would like to fly the Main Curtain but have little or no loft space.
When a traditional backdrop or curtain is flown into the loft, an amount of loft space in excess of the height of the curtain (plus the batten or whatever it is hung on) is required. For example, a curtain that is 20 feet high might require at least 21 or 22 feet of loft space, or even more, depending on the sight line of the audience. In the case of an Austrian or Braille, however, the drape gathers upon itself as it opens, requiring little space in the loft – when in the full open (raised) position, it can easily be hidden behind a proscenium or border, taking up very little loft space.
Through the use of a series of lift lines on the back of the curtain, the Austrian or Braille is raised and lowered, with the bottom of the curtain drawing up against itself as it makes its way to the top. This is similar to the Contour Curtain. However, in the case of the Contour Curtain, differing amounts of lift are used on the liftlines, giving the curtain the contoured effect. With an Austrian, equal amounts of lift are given to all of the lift lines, so that the entire curtain raises and lowers in a smooth, fast, and even fashion.
What is the difference between an Austrian and a Braille? Both use the same lift line system, and both raise and lower in the same manner. The difference is in the fullness and how the drape appears in the lowered (closed) position. When down, a Braille Curtain resembles a regular curtain with fullness (similar to a pleated traveller curtain). An Austrian, however, has additional horizontal fullness created by gathering the fabric along the vertical seams, creating a series of swags even when the drape is in the lowered position.
Typical fabric choices include theatrical satin and silky chiffon. Austrian and Braille Curtains required motorized rigging systems to allow the liftlines to be raised and lowered simultaneously in a quick and smooth fashion.
In late 2006, we were approached by the tour’s designer. The designer had a great idea – design the entire set around fabric. But not just any fabric – the Stewart Family Tartan. The problem: there wasn’t a Stewart Family Tartan fabric available in the grand scale needed for custom stage curtains – most available tartan fabric is on a scale that would be lost in a large arena. Despite (or perhaps because) of the challenges, we jumped right in to find a solution. Here is what we did:
Found a traditional textile dye house with a drum printer that could print this grand scale Stewart Family Tartan onto 1,500 yards of 100% cotton fabric
Had the printed fabric custom flame-proofed through topical treatment
Cut the fabric extremely carefully to allow exact pattern matching (very difficult in a large format)
Sewed those 1,500 yards into pleated skirting and drapery, including a 36′ h x 160′ w Austrian Drape, which would be hung on a circular mechanical truss and raised and lowered for this “In the Round” show
Did it all in three weeks from start of project to delivery of finished soft goods, in time for rehearsals prior to the tour’s mid-January 2007 opening show
Here is a photo of the finished drapery, installed for rehearsals
