I always begin by painting the floor plan on the stage floor.

Careful measurements are a must if the choreography is going to work out right.

This is the stage ready for the first choreography rehearsal.

I struggled and struggled with how to build the eggs, until my wife suggested using igloo doghouses! Boy...did I feel dumb! The manufactured ridges sanded off easily to give a smooth appearance.

A saws-all tool did this job nincely.

The eggs were mounted on dollies and then covered with raffia. The dollies were built for a show last year, and I can not tell you how many shows that raffia has been in!

It was necessary to trim the raffia, so it would not fowl the casters on the dollies.

The underwater scene presented a series of interesting challenges. We cut the shapes from two inch styrofoam left over from Alice in Wonderland.

The fish shapes were then mounted to hardhats.

We did this by driving 18 inch dowel rods through the hat and into the fish.

I realize there are no ropical fish in farm ponds, but it was decided to put them there anyway to provide color and interest. Of course, the wildfire paint looked great under blacklight!

All of the platform escapes were dependent stair units that were assembled in the shop ahead of time.

All the onstage risers were accessed by independent step units, also assembled in the shop ahead of time.

Since these units would be clearly seen by the audience, they were finished out with wood filler and sanded before painting.

This was a difficult challenge. The pot had to be large enough to completely contain the actor playing "Ugly". We used the largest washtub available and extended its sides vertically using tempered hardboard bolted to the tub.

Grip clamps made the job much easier.

We needed way too many of these to make purchasing them an option. We began by shaping the "cat tail" part on a makeshift lathe using a drill motor, a dowel rod, and a Surform tool.

The "cat tails" were then suck onto the smallest diameter dowel rods available.

We began the leaves by treating strips of raw muslin with polyvinyl glue.

Once dry, the leaves could be shaped using an iron.

Where would be without the ever present hot glue gun?

Once we were able to move onto the stage, legs could be attached to the platforms.

Before any platforms were set permanently, the snowbags had to be installed overhead.

With as much dancing and movement that is required in musicals, it is a good idea to mount those plaform legs to the floor.

You do not want the plaforms to get a mind of their own and start dancing around the stage! They must be strudy and mounted firmly to the floor.

You just can not do enough of this!

The cook popt lid was fashioned from styrofoam and then textured using drywall joint compound.

The texture was made very rough and uninviting by "pulling" it with a spongue.

The platform sides were coverde with tempered hardboad.

The seams were covered with dutchmen made of raw muslin and polyvinyl glue.

The final coat of paint was three colors selected to reflect the outdoors "marsh" setting. We chose to subdue them a bit in the name of disscretion. We did not want the colors of the set to over power the visual impact of the rest of the show. Hopefully, it did not.