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All About Tech: Props feat. Emily Schuman · philly has heART

0:15
How are you doing? Very well, Lou. We had...
0:19
The best weekend ever! Yeah, it was good. It
0:22
was so good. My best friend was in town. Oh,
0:26
yeah? What'd you guys do? Did you go out? We
0:29
went to Sam Pan Friday night. Not Spahn. Could
0:33
be Spahn. Up to you, Sam Pan. It was delicious.
0:37
Nice. We did the chef's menu, as we always do.
0:40
And then we went... To exercise Saturday morning.
0:48
We could talk a little bit about that in a second.
0:52
Condragulations on your 250th Barry's class.
0:55
Thank you very much. You were there. Yes. It
0:58
was all about me. Oh, was it? Yeah. And Genevieve.
1:02
And Genevieve. Celebrating 300. The irony. Yeah.
1:07
Who would have known? Picked on the same day
1:10
at the same time to celebrate. At 7 a .m.? Yeah.
1:14
I thought I'd be on my own on that one. No, no.
1:16
But can we talk about free smoothies afterwards?
1:19
Yes, please. They never do that. Oh, they did
1:23
it for you. And Genevieve. And Genevieve. Then
1:26
that night we went to Butcher and Singer and
1:31
we took her only daughter and my oldest son.
1:35
These two split the eight ounce filet mignon
1:38
and they polished it off. It was quite adorable.
1:42
Nice. They're so chic. Excellent. Excellent.
1:45
And then I saw you again Saturday after DGV.
1:50
My favorite. So good. So good. So good. Do they
1:54
always have a contemporary program around this
1:58
time? No, no. So this is usually what they do
2:02
in March. Okay, that sounds familiar. Because
2:05
after the last contemporary program, we went
2:07
out and got blotto, didn't we? Yes. Just me?
2:12
I forget. It was during the winter, though. Yeah,
2:15
definitely. I really enjoyed that. There are
2:18
three beautiful pieces put together. Chroma.
2:21
Chroma with some White Stripes music. Huge set.
2:26
They needed to be a 25 -minute intermission first
2:30
time to get that down and then pull up. Okay,
2:33
well, let's go to that set. What was it? Like
2:36
a padded room, basically. God, I dream of those.
2:40
I know. It seemed so surrealistic and perfect.
2:44
No, I mean, I want one in my house. But it was
2:50
white. Yes. And a little harsh on the eyes as
2:53
white tends to reflect light. Yes, with a white
2:57
floor as well. And so actually that original
3:02
piece would not fit on these. academy of music
3:07
stage this one was shipped in from australia
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because sydney opera house is smaller than most
3:14
stages as well and they had already staged they
3:17
had already staged it there so we borrowed it
3:20
from sydney amazing yeah the second program was
3:24
dance at great velocity yeah my favorite my favorite
3:28
my favorite it's a train It was in celebration
3:32
of one of the French train lines that was built.
3:37
And they did an entire curated choreography and
3:42
program around this train line that they had
3:46
brought in. And so it builds and builds and builds
3:50
as the program goes along. And it is just stunning.
3:55
And both Chroma and Dance at Great Velocity.
3:59
debuted in 2006 did you know that no 2006 royal
4:07
ballet oh great in london lovely and then we
4:13
closed out the program with in the upper room
4:15
1986 that's twyla tharp did you know that the
4:21
original costume design was by norma kamali no
4:25
yeah studio 54 fixture Yeah. She's still relevant
4:31
today. Carrie Bradshaw wore one of her dresses
4:35
on like a season two episode of And Just Like
4:38
That. So that would have been post -pandemic.
4:40
Oof. How about a little round of Fuck, Marry,
4:43
Kill? Oh my goodness. What are we doing there?
4:46
Chroma. Oh. Dance at Great Velocity. In the upper
4:50
room. You want me to go first? I mean, I'm marrying
4:53
Great Velocity. I... I want to live with that
4:56
for the rest of my life. Okay. So beautiful.
4:59
So great. I'm going to have a real good time
5:02
with In the Upper Room. Okay. You know what?
5:05
They start in those striped jumpsuits and they
5:09
keep taking them off. The jammies. And taking
5:11
them off and taking them off. That's an effable
5:14
evening. You're killing Chroma? Eh. Beautiful.
5:20
Beautiful. Stunning. I got to kill one of them
5:22
though. And that's what I'm doing. Okay. How
5:25
about you? Also marrying Dance at Great Velocity,
5:29
fucking Chroma, killing in the upper room. Oh
5:33
my goodness. You had more time to sit with these
5:38
because you saw them with multiple casts. Same
5:40
cast, two different nights. Last night. Did you
5:44
not go to the matinee? I did not. I missed it.
5:48
Were you tired, babe? I had an appointment at
5:52
that same time. For your tuxedos? Yeah. Okay.
5:56
So I will say, from Friday night to Saturday
5:59
night, much greater, I would say, Chroma and
6:05
Dance of Great Velocity, so much better Saturday
6:09
night than Friday night. Really? Really built
6:12
well together. I will say In the Upper Room was
6:15
better Friday night than Saturday night. Okay,
6:17
I was a little, I wouldn't say disappointed,
6:19
but I felt like there were certain duos or certain
6:22
trios that were so... fucking on their shit yeah
6:27
that it made other duos and trios look not as
6:32
good by comparison whereas everybody was fantastic
6:35
oh yeah beautiful yeah love that all right all
6:39
right let's get on to the conversation props
6:41
with emily schumann let's go thanks this is robert
6:59
marsh and you're listening to philly has heart
7:00
podcast in this podcast we sit down with artists
7:03
gallerists educators curators and other creatives
7:06
who comprise the philadelphia art world to discuss
7:09
upcoming performances, exhibits, and other events
7:12
and initiatives that are not to be missed. The
7:16
art scene in Philadelphia is so rich that it
7:18
can seem daunting. Consider this your weekend
7:20
cultural recommendation. With me always is my
7:23
producer, Lucinda Daggerland. Bonjour! And today
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we have Emily Schumann. Prop master extraordinaire.
7:32
I'll take it. Emily, as we do with each of our
7:37
guests, we want to take a step back and find
7:41
out where it all came from, right? Please take
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us through your journey that brought you to your
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role in prop design. Moments both big and small
7:51
that directed you to kind of where you are today.
7:54
This is awesome. Thank you so much for having
7:56
me. I sort of fell into prop design. It was not
7:59
like something that I was into growing up or
8:02
thought was a job growing up. I was a big theater
8:04
kid. I grew up loving like art and crafts and
8:08
my parents definitely got me into that. I took
8:11
art classes, ceramics, and got into theater in
8:15
middle school and very much, very quickly was...
8:18
into being an actor and performance I went to
8:21
a performing arts high school in New York City
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LaGuardia LaGuardia yep drama kid so that was
8:28
the track and I graduated and went to a all -around
8:33
What is it called? Liberal Arts. Thank you. So
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I went to a small liberal arts college called
8:38
Denison University in Granville, Ohio and studied
8:40
theater there. Mostly like performance was the
8:43
track. I was really into Shakespeare. And then
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I moved to Philadelphia after graduating college
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and joined the Arden Apprenticeship in 2013.
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And that's kind of like an apprenticeship that
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you kind of learn the all around, like what it
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takes to run a theater company. You work in all
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different departments throughout that 10 months
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of the apprenticeship. And that's when I... Worked
9:02
with Chris Haig at the Arden, and he was the
9:04
props master there at the time. And I sort of
9:07
started to work with him maybe like once a week
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or on like a different show that was happening
9:12
at the theater there. And he kind of saw that
9:15
I had a knack for it. I helped him out with a
9:17
few props. And after that, it kind of took off.
9:20
I just like started interviewing for different
9:23
prop gigs after the apprenticeship because. I
9:26
wanted to make a living in theater, not just
9:28
as a performer. And I loved how much Philly was
9:30
great for artists that have multiple avenues
9:34
that they're interested in working in. And that's
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sort of how it began. Yeah. I love it. I love
9:39
that. During your apprenticeship, what drew you
9:43
to prop design? And at what point during that
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cycle were you able to say this is... The path
9:50
moving forward as opposed to scenery or lighting
9:53
or costumes or something else in tech. And then
9:55
can you confirm that prop stands for? Theatrical
9:59
properties? Because that was new to me when I
10:01
Googled this. It is short for theatrical properties,
10:04
which is also something that was new to me. I
10:06
feel like my world in props, some people know
10:09
that it's what they want to do and they study
10:10
it. I kind of learned on the job over the 10
10:13
years that I've worked it. And yes, it does stand
10:15
for theatrical properties, which I learned when
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I had to teach a course for kids on props. When
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I was at the Art and Apprenticeship, Chris Haig,
10:25
he brought on the apprentices and he was like,
10:27
let's all make a prop together it was like a
10:29
part of our apprenticeship um they were doing
10:31
the kids show sideways stories from wayside school
10:34
i don't know if you remember that children's
10:36
book memory unlocked the memories unlocked it
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was a kid's book about rather than like the school
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building was supposed to be a one -story school
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building with like a hundred classrooms and instead
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the designer built a hundred story building with
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one classroom on each floor and the chapter book
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was like each chapter was a different floor oh
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my school so they made a show about this book
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and it was a great kid show that the arden did
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one year in i think 2013 and it was a very silly
11:03
show but there was a very silly prop that had
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to be made and chris was like let's all go into
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our prop storage and like people can just put
11:11
together random objects and make a weird prop
11:13
for this show I think it was called like the
11:16
snoodle or the snorkel and like make the snorkel.
11:19
So I made the snorkel and my prop made it into
11:22
the show. Nice. I was like, yeah, I got my snorkel
11:25
into the show. And it was like a piece of a trumpet
11:29
attached to like a crank that I like added some
11:32
weird like. things too and it was like a weird
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odd instrument so that was the first like inkling
11:37
that I was like like maybe maybe I've got a knack
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for props and then he brought me on for uh they
11:42
did a show called incorruptible that was an original
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play Oh gosh, I forget the name of the playwright.
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By Michael Hollinger. And that show had a bunch
11:50
of old -fashioned books that were on the wall.
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It was like, it took place in, I don't know,
11:55
during the Dark Ages. And so he had me basically,
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what is it? Not paper mache. He had me modge
12:01
podge a bunch of regular books to make them look
12:03
old. We were taking muslin and wrapping them
12:05
and adding little ridges to them to add like
12:08
old -fashioned spines. And then we painted them.
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And I did this over like the course of a week.
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And he was like, these are great. And they just
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like made it onto the show. They were not, there
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was like no edits that I needed to do. I just
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like did it and it worked. So yeah, I kind of
12:22
like little keys along the way showed me that
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I had an act for it. And I really have to shout
12:27
out Chris Haig. Like when I graduated the apprenticeship,
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he told me how to make a portfolio to interview
12:33
for jobs. He was like, these are the different
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things that you can do to, it really is a job
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you can have in theater. And very quickly, yeah,
12:40
it took off. Fairy godfather. Fairy godfather
12:43
for sure. He still is my fairy godfather. Oh,
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that's so great. That's so awesome. Can you share
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with us from a prop master standpoint of that
12:55
idea of a show to The Curtain Goes Up? What's
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the process in between there? ideas go into it
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how do you collaborate with the other parts of
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the show that are coming together to really go
13:09
from that hey here's an idea that we would love
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to bring to the stage to its opening night from
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the prop perspective yes yeah it's a wild okay
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um so you start by reading the play if it's like
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a standard play that's got a playwright and it's
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been you know produced before you read the play
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uh from chris haig's instructions you read it
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twice you read it first to enjoy it and then
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you read it for the props. The second time through,
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you're combing through and just thinking about
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the objects that you're reading about. And props
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is anything that's not set, lighting, or costumes.
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So it's anything that decorates a set, if it's
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like pictures that are hanging on the wall, to
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furniture, couches, chairs, to things that actors
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touch and bring on stage, objects, wine bottles.
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glasses and anything that's mentioned oh my notebook
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go get my notebook whatever whatever is written
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in the script that's a prop so it's kind of a
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fun like if you're kind of OCD like I am or you
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are into spreadsheets and lists you're constantly
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making lists so that's what you do the second
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time you go through the play uh is you yes you
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make your list then you have a meeting typically
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with the set designer and the director either
14:20
separately or together uh to you share your list
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with them And you get their feedback. Sometimes
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the director will read your list and say, this
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is great, but we're going in a whole new direction
14:30
with this show. You know, like we're going very
14:33
bare bones. Maybe they don't want all of the
14:35
things that are listed in the show. And then
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the set designer really is helping you, helping
14:41
guide you to the aesthetics of the props, what
14:44
the scenery is going to look like, what kind
14:46
of world that couch lives in. The set designer
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really... You're collaborating with them a lot
14:51
on what the props are going to look like. So
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I usually have a lot of Pinterest boards or lookbooks
14:58
that have a good, you know, here's what I'm thinking.
15:01
Can you tell me if I'm in the right world? Or
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they'll give me a lookbook of different images
15:04
and ideas of the aesthetic world. And do they
15:08
give you a color palette to work with them? Sometimes
15:11
you get color palettes. For Poor Judge with the
15:14
Pig Iron Theater Company, it was this beautiful
15:16
layout of different... drawings and images all
15:20
like collage together as like an image of these
15:23
are the color this is the color palette we want
15:24
um so it really helped me while i was doing my
15:26
research for different props Yeah, to kind of
15:29
narrow it in because, like, a couch, great. There's,
15:32
like, a million different couches out there.
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You choose which one. So that's that section.
15:37
Then once you get your feedback, then you do
15:39
a cost out. You have a budget. You work with
15:42
your production manager. The production manager
15:44
is, like, your guide through scheduling and making
15:47
sure you stay on track and in charge of your
15:49
budget as well. So then you're doing a cost out
15:52
to make sure that everything you need is affordable
15:54
and can work within your constraints. And then
15:58
this is all ahead of rehearsal starting. There's
16:01
a lot of meetings with designers about how we're
16:03
going to get to opening night. Once rehearsal
16:06
starts, my job as prop designer is to make sure
16:08
that they have enough props for rehearsal as
16:10
well as for performance. Even if we don't have
16:13
the couch for first day of rehearsal, they need
16:16
something to practice with. Something that's
16:19
like in the right world and in the right size.
16:21
So you're kind of doing two different hunts.
16:24
You're doing what do we have in stock or what
16:25
do I have in my wheelhouse that I can bring to
16:28
rehearsal for their first day. So they at least
16:30
have what we call do -for props. I don't know
16:32
if you've heard of this term. It's called do
16:34
-for, which it took me a while to learn. what
16:37
it actually stands for, but it stands in for
16:40
the actual prop. So I'll bring in doofers on
16:43
day one, and it stands for it'll do for now.
16:48
Yes. That's so good. I was running through my
16:51
head. I'm like, what is this a portmanteau of?
16:55
Yes, it'll do for now. And constantly you bring
16:58
something in the room and you're like, this is
17:00
a do -for. Do not think this is like the final
17:02
thing. Because sometimes, you know, you bring
17:04
in something and they're like, this is not what
17:05
we were thinking. You're like, I know, it's okay.
17:07
I have a quick introduction. A quick question.
17:11
What kind of car are you working with? What's
17:13
your vehicle? What are you toting these things?
17:15
What a great question. I added a question about
17:19
this because when we heard from Tom Weaver, he
17:25
was like, at any point in time, I could have
17:27
six different theaters lights in my trunk. Yes.
17:31
Moving from theater to theater. What? Could be
17:34
in a prop designer's trunk at any point in time.
17:38
We're like, how do you move it around? Yes, this
17:41
is the question. Do you just own a U -Haul? No.
17:43
So my husband and I share a 2003 Toyota Corolla.
17:48
Yes! And we can fit so many things in that Toyota
17:53
Corolla. It's a beautiful trunk. Yes, it's a
17:54
great trunk. It does have fabric seats. I had
17:59
at one point a bunch of suitcases in there and
18:01
some old suitcases rubbed against them. the ceiling
18:04
so we've got like remnants of old props in that
18:07
car my parents live in philadelphia and that
18:10
is wonderful and they have a slightly larger
18:12
vehicle so occasionally if i'm like i need to
18:14
get a i need to pick up like a desk sometimes
18:17
borrowing a car can never hurt and then if it's
18:19
in your budget you rent a u -haul and you really
18:22
schedule out your rentals you gotta be logistically
18:25
yes i am i love facebook marketplace and i can
18:29
schedule out five pickups four pickups in a week
18:32
or in a day and make sure that I'm like navigating,
18:34
talking to all my people that I need to pick
18:36
up from. And then I get my U -Haul and I pick
18:39
it all up in one day. Yeah. It took a while to
18:42
learn that. What is the last thing you do before
18:51
the curtain goes up? The last thing you do before
18:54
the curtain goes up is really running around
18:56
the theater, making sure that all of the little
18:58
prop notes that you're doing are taken care of.
19:01
By the time you get to tech rehearsals, you're
19:04
finalizing notes. The props have been acquired,
19:07
but everything is like little adjustments throughout
19:09
the tech week. And I would say it's whatever
19:12
that last note is. sewing the curtain that's
19:16
hanging in the window because usually those are
19:18
some of the last notes is like hems and little
19:21
hot glue moments or fixing a couch well not fixing
19:25
a couch but like tidying the couch up getting
19:28
the right cushions they were orange and now they're
19:30
blue throwing those on there yes yeah replacing
19:35
doofers so can we go back to small ball a production
19:42
that ptc did Back in the spring of 2025. You
19:46
worked on that. And I think as someone who saw
19:49
it, I think the props on that were really extraordinary.
19:56
Do you want to talk us through what that was
19:58
like? Yeah. For those of you who have not seen
20:01
Small Ball, Small Ball was an original musical.
20:03
It was a new musical that came out a couple years
20:06
ago. I think it was spring of 2025. Spring of
20:09
2025. The concept was that, imagine the Lilliputians
20:13
from Gulliver's Travels were real, and they had
20:17
a basketball team. and one of their basketball
20:20
players was recruited by normal -sized people's
20:23
basketball team. So there was a whole playing
20:25
around of scale. Like, you have these tiny, tiny
20:28
little characters that are playing basketball,
20:30
and then you've got these... human -sized characters
20:33
playing basketball. So we knew we were going
20:36
to need a giant basketball, like a huge inflatable
20:39
10 -foot basketball. So that was one of the first.
20:41
What was your question? What was that like? Because
20:45
you're designing to give the audience a sense,
20:49
like two different senses of perspective or scale
20:53
and size. Yes, yes. Like you want the characters
20:57
that are portraying the Lilliputian -sized people.
21:01
They're going to be next to... Next to human
21:04
-sized people. Human -sized people, but you need
21:06
to indicate who is which by what size they are
21:11
working with. Yes. Does that make sense, Robert?
21:14
Yes. So the set designer took a huge leap in
21:18
making that happen by designing a set that kind
21:22
of hinted at... some of those elements. You had
21:25
like this basketball court that was slanted and
21:28
scaling up with like a tiny little hoop at the
21:31
top. And there were these two desks that he designed.
21:34
The set designer was Christopher Ash. He designed
21:36
these two desks, one that was really large and
21:39
one that was really small. And another element
21:42
of the show was like sports casting. So there
21:44
was a lot of like interviews that were happening
21:46
at these desks about the sports. So that was,
21:49
those elements were not props and those were
21:51
very helpful. kind of helping guide us. And then
21:54
the props were a massive basketball we knew had
21:57
to roll on stage at one point. We had tiny basketballs.
22:00
We had regular -sized basketballs. And they played
22:03
with lights and shadow. So they used shadow puppets,
22:07
well, really kind of shadow design, to help play
22:09
with scale and using light behind. Like if you
22:12
stand really close to a spotlight versus really
22:15
far away from a spotlight. what shadow is cast
22:17
is going to help depict scale. And I feel like
22:20
those elements, I loved playing with the shadow
22:23
puppets on that one. I got to build some two
22:25
-dimensional shadow puppets. And we had like
22:29
a whole practice day with the actors and the
22:32
director of how is this going to work, doing
22:35
a lot of tests on shadows. What was the hardest
22:39
part of that? Oh my gosh. I feel like the hardest
22:42
part is honestly during tech navigating. Because
22:48
the actors need time to work through the new
22:49
music. The lights and sound need time to figure
22:53
out when things are coming in and out. And I
22:55
needed time with shadows. So we did a really,
22:59
I think we did a great job communicating what
23:00
our needs were and scheduling that out during
23:03
tech. Of like, okay, Emily's got time with the
23:06
shadows. She's going to be playing around with
23:07
making what is the right telescope that we need
23:10
or what's the right basketball size that we need.
23:11
And then I would go away and make what I needed
23:13
to so they could continue their tech process.
23:15
Yeah. It was wild. It was wild. Larry Bird sat
23:20
on my chair on one of the performances. Amazing,
23:24
amazing. There were some kooky props, and there
23:27
were props that got cut. There was a whole hand
23:30
puppet scene that happened that was a whole part
23:33
of one of Larry, I think it was Larry Bird's
23:35
song, where there were these hand puppets, finger
23:37
puppets, and they ended up not reading very well
23:40
from the stage, so they got cut, and that's...
23:43
That's part of the life of doing props. Oh, wow.
23:45
Yeah, sometimes you work on something for a while
23:47
and it doesn't work in the moment. What was the
23:49
other person in theater that we learned is there
23:53
to make sure that history? The dramaturg. The
23:57
dramaturg. I missed my calling. Because it's
24:02
history, it's context. Oh, my gosh. How are you
24:05
working with that individual? Some shows actually
24:09
don't have dramaturgs. I wish that there were
24:11
more dramaturgs on shows. But when we are working
24:14
with dramaturgs, they're so helpful. They provide
24:16
a packet, usually, of historical information
24:19
on what things actually looked like back then.
24:22
Usually, dramaturgs are really helpful for historical
24:25
shows. We had one when I worked on Spring Awakening
24:28
with Relic Theatre Company, and they provide
24:31
a packet about what's going on during that time,
24:34
giving you context into... what things looked
24:37
like, and how things functioned, especially in
24:40
today's modern day and age. There's a typewriter
24:43
and different ways of communicating, newspapers,
24:45
and I don't really like how that came out. I'm
24:49
like, yeah, of course we have newspapers and
24:50
typewriters, but... No, but yeah. It's good.
24:54
Right? Yeah. Great. Oh, no, that's great. That's
24:57
a great support to have throughout that process
25:00
as well, or someone else to kind of... off of
25:05
when it comes to picking out the things that
25:08
were going to go well with this particular time
25:11
frame within that show. The skills on your resume
25:15
are innumerable. Paper mache, foam carving, distressing,
25:20
sock puppet maker, painting, experienced internet
25:23
searcher. Same. Physical prop procurement. And
25:30
so we have a multi -part question. At what point
25:34
do you take the less practical route of buying
25:38
a prop and make one instead? And does it have
25:42
to do with the tone or the genre of the production?
25:46
Or is it something else? I think it really depends.
25:51
You have to be very adaptable when it comes to
25:55
doing props. Mostly because if you're going to
25:58
decide whether to buy or make something, it all
26:02
comes down to... Do you, A, have the budget to
26:04
buy it? If you don't have the budget to buy it,
26:07
do you have the skills to make it? If you don't
26:08
have the skills to make it, can you commission
26:11
it out? Can somebody else make it for you on
26:13
a scale that's like they can make it rather than
26:16
buying it off the market or somewhere? I have
26:18
a few examples. I worked on Julius Caesar at
26:21
Philadelphia Theatre Company. I don't know if
26:23
you saw that show. There's a huge statue that
26:26
was center stage that was like a big part of
26:28
the show. It was this statue that existed. Initially,
26:32
they wanted it to be this marble -looking statue
26:36
that was very indicative of Caesar. It was supposed
26:40
to represent the government at that time and
26:42
the reign of Caesar. So it was meant to be this
26:44
very prominent figure on stage, and we couldn't
26:48
afford to buy a big marble statue. It would have
26:51
cost more than my budget. So I started looking
26:54
into how can we make something like this, and
26:56
I did a lot of research on making some kind of...
27:01
Statue using either not paper mache, but like
27:03
modge podge. And how do we finish it with the
27:06
right material to make it shine like marble?
27:09
And the design of the statue actually ended up
27:11
changing throughout the course of the rehearsal
27:12
process. So I was really happy we didn't buy
27:14
something because it changed. What we ended up
27:17
doing was getting the statue itself was a big
27:20
urn that had this flowing fabric out of it. So
27:23
it kind of represented like mourning and grief,
27:27
I guess, over time was sort of how the statue
27:30
ended up. representing itself on stage and it
27:33
was this like big prominent feature but we ended
27:35
up buying a big planter from Home Depot like
27:39
a huge planter you would have in your garden
27:41
and got a big piece of fabric and we ended up
27:45
marrying the two together and painting it all
27:47
to look like one big statue and finishing it
27:50
with a whole bunch of resin so it had this great
27:53
shine and it was a it was a big feat but it ended
27:56
up costing way cheaper than buying something.
28:00
I'm trying to think of other things that I've
28:02
bought. Oh, yeah, there was another show that
28:04
I did where characters had to chop wood every
28:06
night on stage. And so, like, we couldn't just,
28:10
like, you can't just, like, buy wood that breaks
28:12
apart and comes back together. So I had to, you
28:15
know, buy wood and figure out how to break it
28:18
so it would come back together and fashion it
28:21
in such a way that it could be married back together.
28:24
And that was using... Velcro. But yeah, basically
28:28
it's about what does the prop need to do? If
28:30
it has a specific function, usually you can't
28:33
buy that. And often it comes down to we're going
28:36
to have to adjust it in some kind of way. The
28:38
times that you're in a play and something is
28:41
purposely broken. I would like to bring up Girl
28:44
Dolls at this point. Yeah, I saw Girl Dolls.
28:47
And did you see... Poor Samantha, one of the
28:51
Samanthas. Yes, her head. It was a head and arms.
28:56
Arms came off. I literally yelped. Because they
29:02
can't buy seven, how many shows did they do?
29:04
Like 20? They can't buy 20 Samanthas and then
29:06
just rip those arms off every night. She was
29:09
fixed for. Oh, she was fixed. Exactly. Fashioned.
29:13
Fashioned, yeah. She was prepped for the outburst.
29:16
The trauma. Exactly. It was the same girl that
29:19
took it every night. We've listened to Girl Dolls.
29:25
Yeah, Girl Dolls was so good. But we had Jackie
29:27
Sorrell on last summer. No, this past summer.
29:30
I just finished working on their show that's
29:32
coming out right now, Priority Hoarding. Yeah,
29:35
go see it. It's so good. It's an immersive experience.
29:40
It's an airport. They've built an airport. A
29:42
hair port? A hair port, to be specific. And you
29:45
walk into the first area that's like a lounge,
29:50
and then you go into the waiting room, and then
29:52
you get a shuttle to your final destination.
29:55
I think it's called, oh gosh, the Everything's
29:57
Terminal. And you get your suitcase, and you
29:59
go into these different rooms. It's all using
30:01
props and items from their shows. 18 years of
30:05
history. It's great. We had Rose and Nyla, the
30:10
grief consultant, on. Yeah, it's a great show.
30:14
Oh, lovely. Love the callback. Sidebar, are you
30:20
really good at making pinatas? I was wondering
30:25
why. I know. I've never made a pinata. That is
30:29
a shame because you have papier -mâché written
30:32
on your resume. You could, like, really... I
30:36
can nail a pinata. Yeah. Yeah. Because all it
30:39
is. Or a rat party. Yes. You know. Exactly. All
30:42
it is is what like a cardboard structure. You
30:44
got to make the structure first of cardboard.
30:46
Or like it could be wire. It could be wire. And
30:48
then you drape it with like some fabric. Drape
30:51
it with fabric. And then you can paint that fabric
30:53
with like glue water. Yeah. And that'll harden
30:55
it in place. Okay. And then you can. And then
30:58
stuff that with. Stuff it with candy. Or booze.
31:01
Or condoms. Or booze. I'm not showing you that
31:06
much. What is this show about that we're wrapping?
31:12
Yes. Yes. Oh my gosh. Okay, taking us back. Okay,
31:21
great. What does your everyday routine look like
31:25
when you are in a cycle of working on props for
31:29
a production? Can I ask another question? Sure.
31:33
How many productions are you working on at one
31:35
time? Are you ever working on more than one?
31:38
And then... Yes. Okay. This is a learning. It
31:42
was a learning process. I've done it now for
31:44
10 years, I'm really proud to say. Started in
31:46
2013. More than 10 years. It's like 2026. And
31:49
I've done about four to five shows at a time
31:52
per year. And sometimes that's stretched to seven.
31:54
And that's when it gets a little hairy. The best
31:58
way to overlap shows is you just don't want to
32:01
overlap your tech process. I've done that. I've
32:03
done two techs at once. Do not do it. I do not
32:06
recommend it. Because you need to be present
32:08
in the space during tech. That's when big things
32:11
come up. It's when problems come up that you
32:13
need to solve. And you really need to be there.
32:16
When you're kind of flexible is pre -rehearsal,
32:18
when you're doing all that research, when you're
32:21
kind of reading the play, you've got your list,
32:23
you've got your like spreadsheets and fun Pinterest
32:26
boards. That's like the fun at -home work. Some
32:30
of my favorite part of the job is like, oh, what
32:32
could this show be? Or what could these props
32:35
be as opposed to what they actually need to be?
32:37
Once you get into rehearsal, you're still not
32:41
as like tied to the theater. You're kind of managing.
32:45
receiving notes from the rehearsal room of like,
32:48
oh, we realized that this table actually needs
32:50
to be a little tiny desk. We realized that this
32:53
chair actually doesn't need to be there at all.
32:55
That chair is cut. You're kind of getting all
32:57
these notes and feedback from the rehearsal room
32:59
about what different props need to be. So you're
33:01
also still kind of flexible and I can be kind
33:04
of receiving that information and working on
33:06
another show at the same time. It's kind of about
33:08
where you are in the process. And on any given
33:11
day, it really is like, am I researching? a couch
33:14
and really trying and just scouring Facebook
33:16
Marketplace, which is honestly my favorite place
33:18
for props. I used to be Craigslist. I don't know
33:21
what's happened to Craigslist. It's a scary place.
33:23
But maybe I should go back to it. There's a lot
33:27
of cars on Craigslist. Facebook Marketplace is
33:31
my friend. Theaters are my friend, too. Like,
33:34
different theater companies are really great
33:35
at sharing resources. Shout out to Props Masters
33:38
all around Philly. We've got, like... Kelly McLaughlin
33:42
over at the Arden Theater Company, who is frequently
33:44
renting out and lending props to me over at Philadelphia
33:46
Theater Company. There's other people that work
33:49
in and around props that we're constantly texting
33:54
each other and asking, where did you get that
33:56
prop from that one show? There was wine that
33:59
I had to make for... a production at Philadelphia
34:02
Theater Company, and I saw a show at Inishinua
34:05
that had really great wine, and I reached out
34:07
to their managing director and asked them, can
34:09
you put me in touch with this prop person? I
34:11
really need to know how they made their wine.
34:12
And he gave me his recipe, and we had a way better
34:15
wine on stage than any wine that I'd ever made.
34:18
Was that a recent... That was for Wilderness
34:21
Generation. I saw that too. You've seen all the
34:24
PTC shows. That's amazing. Yeah. I got a subscription.
34:29
That's great. That's awesome. This next year
34:31
should be good too. I want to see Magic School
34:33
Bus for sure. Oh, that's going to be great. Not
34:35
just for me. Not just for me. Yeah, PTC is new
34:41
for me. I still kind of bounce around and freelance
34:44
a lot with a lot of different theater companies,
34:46
but lately it's been nice to have a home. in
34:48
one theater where I can, I have like a little
34:50
workshop. I've got recently a little bit more
34:53
resources and a little bit more budget. But yeah,
35:03
I was actually, I looked at my schedule. I was
35:05
like, what are some of the things that I've done
35:06
in past shows just on a day to day? And I took
35:10
notes. I was like, okay, try to reinforce the
35:13
couch was one note that I had for a day to do
35:15
visit the Arden. Source a fridge and a stove
35:19
this week was one. Pick up the credenza. Fan
35:23
test. Make more trash. And print paper props.
35:26
It really is like anything. It's a little different
35:31
every day. I have another question that I didn't
35:36
give to you on notes. What would you say to middle
35:38
school Emily who's doing theater? Aww. I would
35:43
say good job. I would say you did it. I mean,
35:45
when I was in middle school, like I was obsessed
35:47
with theater. I thought it was so fun and magical.
35:50
And yeah, I really loved performing. And I just
35:53
didn't, I didn't think that I would also be making
35:56
on the other side of things. And it really makes
35:59
sense because when I was a kid, I really loved
36:01
like decorating the dollhouse, not like playing
36:04
with the dolls. I really liked taking my parents'
36:06
tchotchkes and setting them up on a table, and
36:10
then I would take a picture of it. I was kind
36:13
of into objects and little things, and so I'm
36:16
glad that it's what I'm doing. It keeps me in
36:17
theater. Even when I am performing, I can still
36:20
have this other touch point creatively. I love
36:25
that. I love it. Can you share what is next for
36:29
you? Yes. Well, at the moment, what is next for
36:32
me is I just had a baby. Oh, congratulations.
36:34
So what's next for me is like no theater at the
36:37
moment. I'm taking a little break for a few months.
36:40
And so that's been really lovely. I just finished
36:44
priority hoarding. I worked on the suitcase fabrication
36:48
in the airport. If you go to the airport and
36:51
you go into the lounge. All of those suitcases,
36:54
I worked with a team of people on fabricating
36:56
this. So that was my most recent project. And
36:58
then what's next is Glass Menagerie at Philadelphia
37:01
Theater Company. Oh, B .D. Wong is in that. One
37:03
man. Yes. I love B .D. Wong. I never thought
37:06
in my entire life that I'd be working with him,
37:08
and I'm so excited. That's awesome. Who thinks
37:14
that? I know. Who thinks that they're like BD
37:16
Wong? Right? Like you don't think that that's,
37:19
I don't know, you don't think to dream big like
37:21
that. It's like amazing. It is amazing. From
37:23
SVU to PTC. Wait, was he a Star Trek? Did I make
37:29
that up? There are so many Star Treks. Oh, I'm
37:32
ashamed to say I'm not a Trekkie. I am not ashamed
37:35
to say that I am not a Trekkie. But Jurassic
37:39
Park. Oh, yes. He's in Jurassic Park. And Father
37:43
of the Bride. From the 90s? Father of the Bride,
37:47
part one and two. Yes. He's Frank's assistant.
37:50
Oh, my God. This is now a meeting on podcast.
37:53
Yes. We should have him on. Yes. We should have
37:57
him on. You. Might need to take a tranquilizer
38:04
that day. Yes. You have a subscription. I'll
38:07
contact Aby. We'll make it happen. Yes. Yes.
38:11
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Emily, thank you
38:17
so much for joining us today. Where can our audience
38:20
find you online? Okay. Instagram is Emily with
38:23
two Ys underscore Schumann. And then EmilySchumann
38:26
.net. Lovely. Lovely. Thank you so much. And
38:31
we'll be right back with rapid fire questions.
38:34
And we're back with rapid fire questions with
38:43
Emily. If you could collaborate with any artist
38:47
dead or alive, who would it be? Oh my gosh. Any
38:50
artist dead or alive. For some reason, my mind's
38:54
going to musicians. Like I would love to collaborate
38:56
with like, it'd be fun to collaborate with a
38:58
musician on like creating like decorations for
39:02
their musical show. Like what about like. I don't
39:05
know, Bob Dylan or something, and, like, creating
39:07
some kind of, like, stage set for his performance.
39:11
Okay, I like it. Give him a little, like, living
39:14
room to play in. So fun. Oh, my gosh, that was
39:18
just, like, Lily Allen, an Allen living room,
39:22
like, had a whole living room set with, like,
39:25
a bed and all of that. Yes, cozy vibes. A bed
39:27
and a living room, okay. Yes. It was good. It
39:30
was a studio. It was a loft, yes, basically.
39:35
And talk about props. And in the show, she put
39:39
all of the receipts from her ex -husband going
39:43
out with mistresses. Oh, my God. Into a sheet,
39:46
which then she wrapped herself with, which you
39:49
could see through all the receipts because of
39:52
the lighting. Oh, my gosh. I'd be in jail. No.
39:56
Wow. Watch out for a woman's corn, okay? I'm
40:00
telling you that right now. She'll put a whole
40:02
tour together. Back to the question. I love it,
40:09
though. Favorite Philadelphia neighborhood? I
40:12
mean, I just left Brewery Town. I've got to say,
40:14
Brewery Town was an amazing neighborhood to live
40:15
in. I lived there for 10 years. There are so
40:18
many great little shops, and it's right by the
40:20
park. Yeah. Dream venue to work in? I mean, I've
40:24
worked at so many dream venues. When I first
40:26
moved to Philly, I went to go see a show at the
40:28
Wilma and I was like, this theater company is
40:31
amazing. And this stage is amazing. And I'm so
40:33
happy to proud to say I worked on poor judge
40:35
that was at the Wilma at the art. Like I, when
40:38
I first moved to Philly and interviewed at the
40:40
Arden, I ended up working there. Um, even Philadelphia
40:44
theater company. I like, I really never thought
40:46
that there would be these, these bigger houses
40:47
in Philly that I would, I would find myself in.
40:50
So I'm really, yeah, I'm really proud of that.
40:53
And then like outside of Philly, let's go big
40:56
Carnegie Hall. Nice. Nice. I like it. I like
41:00
it. If you could have seen any theater production
41:03
in its original iteration, what would it be?
41:07
I think it would be really cool to see Into the
41:09
Woods in its original production. Rent, I would
41:13
have loved to see. I've heard so many things
41:15
just about that time on Broadway. Love it. Love
41:19
it. Slept on Philadelphia -based artist that
41:22
the city. needs to know about. I got to shout
41:25
out all the prop people that are in Philly. I
41:27
mean, what's exciting is that they may not be
41:31
slept on for very long because the Barrymore
41:33
Awards have started to bring in props as an award
41:36
that they're giving out, which is incredible
41:38
as it's being recognized as a Barrymore that
41:40
you can get for prop design. And we have Kelly
41:43
McLaughlin in Philadelphia, Claire Whistler,
41:45
who is new to Philly and is doing props all,
41:48
you know, freelancing all around. Yeah, there's
41:50
some amazing, amazing folks. I love that. I love
41:53
that. I love that. Emily, thank you so much for
41:56
your time today and sharing your experience and
41:59
your journey with us. And for everyone listening,
42:02
maybe now you can rethink the props that you
42:05
see on stage and the stories that go behind each
42:08
and every one of them. They're called theatrical
42:10
properties. The conversation. I know, I'm cutting
42:16
myself. Theatrical. properties and junk in the
42:27
trunk. Who would have thought? Oh, my gosh. So
42:30
fun. I mean, when you get, like, the tech people
42:33
on here, we get so much good stuff. The context
42:39
that we're building. This is why we wanted to
42:44
do this. I forgot about that for a while. Yeah,
42:47
yeah, yeah. We love it. We love it. Here we go,
42:50
Robert. Opera Philadelphia's Suddenly Last Summer
42:52
is running this Thursday, the 22nd. through Sunday
42:56
the 25th at the Forest Theater. Third Street
42:58
Gallery is fetting their October show with Fourth
43:01
Friday on October 23rd. Philadelphia Chamber
43:05
Music Society presents Sphinx Virtuosi and Janae
43:08
Bridges' Mezzo this Friday, October 23rd at Pearlman
43:11
Theater at Kimmel Center. And we are... There.
43:15
The Museum of Art in Wood, out of place. The
43:18
Windgate Arts Residency Program in Wood is closing
43:22
on October 25th. Robert, do you have an outfit
43:24
picked out for PCMS night? Yes, yes. I'm going
43:28
to go a little fancier. All right. And you? I'm
43:32
going sleeveless. You really are working your
43:36
arms. Monday, guns day, Robert. Guns meaning
43:38
my arms, not pow pow. Fuck the NRA. Signing off.
43:43
Philly has heart. And art. Thank you for tuning
44:19
in to Philly Has Heart. Don't forget to follow,
44:22
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