# Ripped Cyc!



## masterelectrician2112 (Oct 19, 2009)

So I come into the auditorium lobby at the end of my day and somebody pulls me aside and says that I have to see what happened. I go into the auditorium and she points at the cyc. I look only to see that there is at least a 6"x6" hole in our less than three year old cyc! What actually happened was that chorus was setting up on our stage for a concert and one of the acoustic panels that they were putting up fell backwards into the cyc. Yup, that sure was an awesome way to end my day!


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## Van (Oct 19, 2009)

I think rolling choral shells are the leading cause of damage to cycs, legs and teasers. they should be outlawed ! 
I'm sorry to hear about this. Is it a 3 corner tear? Those can atleast be sewn up easily, if not invisibly...


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## masterelectrician2112 (Oct 19, 2009)

I think it is a three corner tear but I did not get a close enough look at it because chorus rehearsal was going on at the time that I saw it.


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## Celeste (Oct 20, 2009)

What a bummer! Hopefully it's a rip that can be repaired so that it's minimally visible.


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## Reynolds (Oct 20, 2009)

Where is the hole in the cyc? We have a 15 year old cyc that we are usually able to cover with a set piece, and then we have the tops of rips gaffed so the rips are not noticeable next to the set.

(I agree that choral shells should be illegal.)


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## Studio (Oct 20, 2009)

Not only do they cause destruction they are a pain to store. We have a dedicated music storage room, but they always end up backstage in the way.


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## masterelectrician2112 (Oct 20, 2009)

The hole is in about as dead center as you can get! It's so dead center it looks like it was intentional! The TD is a good seamstress, so she is going to try to sew it to the best of her ability. I am still really mad on the inside, but I think I am doing a pretty good job of not strangling the people who set up the choral shells.


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## Reynolds (Oct 20, 2009)

We don't have dedicated storage for our shells either, and we get around that by leaving them under where the tormentors fall, then we only need to move them for shows.

The choir also does not set up the shells. Our sound engineer only comes in for shows, so he will set up the shells and enlist our crew to help when needed. The choir knows not to touch the shells...maybe you could have your TD sit down with all groups "renting" the stage and give them a quick run-down of what they are allowed to do when they are rehearsing, and that the crew will do everything else regarding their load-in.

I hope your cyc gets patched up well.


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## SHARYNF (Oct 21, 2009)

You might also let them know just how expensive it is to replace the CYC

Sharyn


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## derekleffew (Oct 21, 2009)

masterelectrician2112 said:


> ...What actually happened was that chorus was setting up on our stage for a concert and one of the acoustic panels that they were putting up fell backwards into the cyc. ...


I think we're ignoring an important safety consideration here: human flesh is not any more durable than 12 oz. muslin typically used for cycs. As painful as a tear is to softgoods, an injured person is far worse. (And they're likely to get bloodstains on the softgoods anyway.)


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## masterelectrician2112 (Oct 21, 2009)

If you are talking about choral shells being a risk to personal safety, then I could use that in my argument to Central Office about the darned things! Our auditorium hardly needs to use them anyways! We have great sound quality.


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## ChristopherRobinJ (Nov 26, 2015)

Better than having an angry techie punch a hole on the cyc during a show... that was fun. Needless to say he is banned from all theatre areas and events...


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## BillConnerFASTC (Nov 26, 2015)

masterelectrician2112 said:


> If you are talking about choral shells being a risk to personal safety, then I could use that in my argument to Central Office about the darned things! Our auditorium hardly needs to use them anyways! We have great sound quality.


A shell is often more help and necessary acoustically for the chorus or other ensemble than for the audience. I've rarely heard an auditorium with stage where a shell didn't provide support for the acoustics. Now, I don't design and spec much other than a large "Diva" class shell and don't really like the fold and roll class, and always plan an out of the wings storage niche for it, so appreciate that bad building design and poor shell selection is a problem.


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## Footer (Nov 26, 2015)

This is a 6 year old thread.... FYI


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## Evans Poulos (Dec 14, 2015)

Not any more...<grins>


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