The following is a transcript from this edition of Oregon On The Record.
From KLCC studios. This is Oregon on the record.
Michael Dunne: I'm Michael Dunne. In many ways, a big Broadway show can be likened to an iceberg. Many of us in the general public just see the tip of that iceberg, but below the surface is a massive production, almost too big to fathom. After all, there's a reason that a house like the Hult Center in Eugene has a curtain to hide all the stuff and activity going on backstage. Today on the show, we'll pull back that curtain just a bit and bring you conversations with the people who don't ever really get to take a bow, but whose work is critical to a performance like "Chicago" that recently played at the aforementioned Hult Center, the operations folks, the event staff and the technical directors who manage the staff and the stuff to make the show go off without a hitch.
That noise you hear is a small army of trades people pulling together the backdrop for the Broadway musical production of "Chicago" that recently played the Hult Center. I got a chance to go and see the load-in of the show and talk with the people who make the magic happen. I was blown away by the sheer amount of action and activity that is required to make it all happen so the general public doesn't have to give a thought to how it all came together.
It's really a hive of activity. There's probably 45 people working right now, and what they're doing is that they're rigging up all the sound and the backdrops, and you're basically in this enormous room that's 80 feet tall, and they're all these bars and cables and counterweights and all these people wearing hard hats because of the danger of things falling are all in sort of a synchronized ballet to load out the trucks and build the stage. And so, it's a combination of a lot of activity and people waiting for things to do, and for people constantly on the move, helping each other to erect a very, very complicated stage, after seeing massive speakers being lifted into place, and busy people rolling in trunks and setting up light stanchions.
I got a chance to ask the three folks who lead a team of permanent and temporary staffs bringing it all together. First, I spoke with the man in charge who conducts this manic orchestra.
Jeff Weinkauf: My name is Jeff Weinkauf. I'm the director of theater and facility operations at the Hult Center.
Michael Dunne: So, you're kind of in charge of this whole thing. Tell us, you know, kind of from your perspective, you know, how does the team that you assembled, how do they work together to make this experience so that the people like me who come and watch a show, you know, come away thinking, all they think about is, what a wonderful show. I loved it. It was great. You know, how do you kind of make sure your team is all sort of rowing in the same direction?
Jeff Weinkauf: Yes, sure. Thanks for the question. And I'd only correct you is to say I get to serve the team as the lead. I'm not, you know "in charge." Sure, I guess maybe, but, but really, what I'm all about is resourcing these guys who are very skilled operators at doing what they do and when they do it. Well, our audience has, literally, it removes barriers to everything so they can walk in and just experience the show with no barriers. They don't see the things that we see. They don't run into the same problems we run into. We're about removing barriers so people can enjoy the art. So that's what I get to do, resource them in that work.
Michael Dunne: What from your perspective, knowing all of its hidden warts or whatever, what's your favorite part about this house, about the Hult Center, and what it provides for all of this community?
Jeff Weinkauf: Sure. Well, I grew up in Eugene, and so I was here when the Hult Center opened, and my family's kind of been involved with it, both on the performing side and the technology side. So, I've got to experience the hall in a lot of different ways over the years, right from the beginning, and the excitement of it when it was freshly open, what that might look like local arts taking advantage, growing into programming, all of the things that have kind of gone on through the Hult Center's history, I've gotten to enjoy and experience that both on and off stage. So, I don't have a favorite part. I think what's exciting to me is that a town like Eugene has a center like this. We really shouldn't for the size that we are, but bunch of people got together and without a bond measure or any kind of intervention that way, got their money together and as a community, built this center. And that's what drives us to is making sure that both the community has access to it, but the community also has access to arts and experiences that people like dusty bring in, so that we can have a wide variety of things coming in and through Eugene to enrich the community well and pull that string a little bit more, because the benefit that the Hult Center even indirectly provides.
Michael Dunne: Obviously, you know, there are other venues that are part of what makes Eugene great. And you kind of talk about how this is, I don't know, maybe it's the wrong phrase, kind of the tent pole for some of the other venues as well.
Jeff Weinkauf: No, I think that's well said, because it's a municipality, because the city of Eugene owns the Hult Center, it really allows it to be an anchor point for the arts community in Eugene and make a lot of other things possible. So, part of what we're about is accessibility. We're about helping our local arts companies come in, like the Eugene Ballet, like the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Concert Choir, Ballet Fantastique. Those are our four resident companies. We don't look at other venues in the community as competition, like the McDonald Theater. The folks that run the McDonald, they're great. The WOW Hall, Very Little Theater, OCT (Oregon Contemporary Theatre), some of those other arts, downtown arts communities, we're all in this together. And because we draw some larger groups, and because we have a specific focused area, it allows them to do things as well. So again, in partnership with them, either in business, sometimes dusty, has ability to partner with another venue on bringing an artist in if we can't fit them. Here, we have two halls, and one is 2500 seats and one is 500 seats. And really, we're missing kind of that middle 1000 seat venue. So that's something that the McDonald does really well, or something. Maybe it's a brand-new band, and they don't have a lot of resources. They don't have a lot of fans yet. Maybe we'll help them connect up with a WOW Hall, where it's a little less expensive to be so we work together in community as part of this arts ecosystem that's in Eugene.
Michael Dunne: And that's going to be my last question for you, which is that ecosystem, and again, you know a lot of people, sometimes it's easy to take for granted that you have arts and culture in your community. But obviously it needs venues like the Hult Center. But what else does it need to thrive, in your opinion, in a community like this?
Jeff Weinkauf: Yeah, for sure. I think it needs patronage. I think it needs people to take a risk on going to something and larger communities. If you go to a city like Chicago, for example, there's always a pop up, something happening all the time in a storefront somewhere. So, people get that attitude. They're going to go sample what's out there this weekend. Sometimes in Eugene's a little hard to draw people out, especially post pandemic, when we're in competition and all the arts groups are in competition with your couch and Uber Eats, right? I think what, what Eugene could really use is just a very willing patronage of folks that are willing to come out maybe try something they haven't tried yet. We have opportunities for that in our 10 for 10 series, in our film series, those are $10 events that anybody could see for less than a movie. You can come check something out, a live piece of entertainment, and many of the arts groups around town have the same kinds of experiences. So, getting folks back out into those communities, experiencing what's going on, going out to First Friday Art Walk, seeing what's happening, whatever the thing is, just an engagement, an active engagement of our community, and Eugene is great for that. That's, I don't mean to say they're not. It's just, let's all remember, let's get back out in the streets and experience the arts that are going on. It's a rich, rich community, and we're so very grateful to have the kind of depth of art and professionality in Eugene.
Michael Dunne: Jeff, thanks so much.
Jeff Weinkauf: You're welcome.
Michael Dunne: Now we talk with the woman whose job it is literally taking care of everyone and everything when the show comes to town.
Kim Weiland: My name is Kim Weiland. I'm the Events Manager here at the Hult Center.
Michael Dunne: Okay, why don't you tell us what an Events Manager does?
Kim Weiland: Oh, my, it encompasses quite a bit. So as soon as something gets booked, it comes to our operations department, and I coordinate the advances. Advances are when we find out what the needs are for the show that's coming in. So, my job is to bring in all of our team, talk to the tour or performance or the artist that's coming in and find out what they need. That could encompass all kinds of things. Where they park, for instance, what they need while they're here to eat, where? What do they need? Tables, dressing rooms. If there's any specialty items that they need, brought in that could, that could vary from, you know, a mannequin to, you know, the joke, of course, is a llama. It depends on what they need. And that is, my job is to bring the team in, find out what they need and make that magic happen?
Michael Dunne: And so, I imagine some of that is, is even just the parameters of how big the production is going to be, I think maybe this is overly simplistic, but how to make it all fit?
Kim Weiland: Yes, and how to make it all fit, and that, actually, that's a great question. So, booking and programming, when they first start talking, they ask how does it fit? As soon as it's booked, then we say, what rooms do you need? What you know booking will have the rooms booked. And then we figure out how to put all those pieces together. Where are we going to feed them? Do they need the studio to dance in? Can I use the studio for wigs and hair? Can I use it for PT, or is it for primarily going to be for their dancers’ rehearsals, and these are just the conversations we have to find out where, where and how we're going to make this, all happen. We're definitely the HOW people.
Michael Dunne: That brings a lot of questions to mind, like, what are some of the biggest challenges? Is it accommodating all the people? Is it accommodating all the moving parts? Is it accommodating, and you don't have to get into specifics, all of the egos involved in putting together a major production?
Kim Weiland: Yeah, certainly I think all of that is important. It's what we want to do. And when we find out the how and what the needs are, we want to accommodate them so that they're comfortable. And if you think about it, an artist, a touring company, they're on the road. By the time they get to us, they've been traveling. They could have gone through an ice storm or a heat storm and or have not slept the night before. So, we really want to take everybody's emotional needs into consideration as well. So, if I know they haven't slept, the first thing I'm gonna do is start a pot of coffee!
Michael Dunne: At whatever level you're comfortable, what are some of the more unusual things you've had to do to be able to accommodate their needs, certain act’s needs?
Kim Weiland: Well, when you speak about the emotional content, that’s something too. Each person has different levels of shyness. So, if I can find out a little bit more about that, I can make sure that the room's a little bit separate. Those kinds of things the most original, though, that's a great question there. I think they're all original. Every single one of them is different. You know, depends on if it's a holiday too. We'll try to make sure that there's, you know, a space for them to go and take out their laptops and speak to their family and things along those lines.
Michael Dunne: I was lucky enough to come in during the load-in. How difficult is it sometimes to say, Okay, you have your stuff, we have our stuff, how do we marry it all together? And I'm not talking necessarily about the technical stuff, but just how is this decision made?
Kim Weiland: Yeah, those sorts of decisions are what we do in the advance. So, we'll go through whatever their production paperwork is that they sent to us, and then we'll get them on the phone, and we'll go back and forth. We've got this here. We've got this there... We've got this kind of equipment on hand. What do you have with you? This is the best fit. Here's what we can accommodate. Even merch needs coordination. Sometimes merch comes in with their own rolling carts, if they don't have their own things, and I'll say, here's what I can provide you. I've got grids, I've got tables. And it's that advanced meeting where we first start to talk about their needs, and then when they get to the building, we fill in all the blanks.
Michael Dunne: Do you also have to, sort of a little bit play tour guide and kind of explain, you know, where people can stay, and, Eugene is a unique place. Do you have to, kind of give them a good snapshot of what the city is like?
Kim Weiland: Yeah, definitely, when you go out our alleyway, if you turn right, you head towards 5th Street, and you can do a little bit shopping. This is definitely what I say. When you go out that stage door, you want to go right, you want to go shopping, If you want to get a little bit more of our downtown vibe. Take a left. So, we also have an event packet we hand to them that tells them about, you know, different restaurants that are in town, where's a good masseuse. So, there's a packet that they get. And then we just they all have specific needs. While they're here, they share with us what those needs are, and then I point them in a direction.
Michael Dunne: Talk a little bit about the difference from your perspective of a show that's plug and play. vs. a new show that's never played here before. I could imagine it's quite a challenge. But I imagine with plug and play, there are probably some challenges too, because they might want to try something new. Kind of, how do you help manage all of that?
Kim Weiland: I think a great thing that you just said was, if they haven't been here before, one of my favorite things to work with is somebody who hasn't been here before, someone who's also putting something together that's new and artistic that they haven't even done before. So, if they haven't been in a venue like this or performed in some place like this before, it's fun to be able to walk them through that process, and you get to see the eye-opening experience that they're having as they're producing their show, right in front of you.
Michael Dunne: When all your work is done, and you might sit in the audience and just watch a show. Can you enjoy it as a spectator, or is it that you're constantly, maybe worried that something might happen?
Kim Weiland: Well, that is a great question, and the honest answer is, yes, you do see it. There is a critique to it, because you've put in all this energy, and you've done this so many times before, you can see immediately when something goes awry. The beauty of that too is that we also know that the regular audience member isn't going to see that, and you have to keep it realistic in your head. Is that something that we need to address and do differently, or is it just part of the process of a performance? Things, things are organic, sometimes even when you practice things three or four times or 1000, they can be organic. A very simple way of putting this is I will sit in an audience and love and enjoy the performance, enjoy and know how it all came together. But I can look and see that linen is backwards, that lighting cue was off. So that is, it's, you know, it's a great, great thing to be a part of, but then also gives you that critical mind.
Michael Dunne: What's your favorite part of your job?
There's always something to improve on, but my favorite thing to hear is from a tour or from a local performance group, or when our community and creative learning people come through and the kids get to experience something, my favorite words to hear that was beautiful and smooth. Smooth is the word I'm looking for, beautiful and smooth.
Michael Dunne: That sounds great. Thanks so much.
Kim Weiland: Thank you.
Michael Dunne: Finally, we talked to a guy who's been at the Hult Center for decades and has worked at almost every backstage job and now leads the operations.
Nathan Cox: Hi, I'm Nathan Cox. I'm the Technical Director of the Hult Center.
Michael Dunne: You were good enough to take me to on a tour backstage, and I got to see, I think I described it as it almost looks like a panic room. There's so much going on; people in hard hats; so much being lifted and hoisted and so on so forth. I mean, it's something that the general public hardly ever gets to see, but it's your domain. And I kind of wanted to ask you, I mean, do you sort of, you know the specs of what the show is supposed to be? Do you kind of have a vision for how it's going to look even before the first truck shows up?
Nathan Cox: Oh, I do, yeah, right down to the load limits of what's going to be hanging on the grid above the stage, to what's going to be hanging on the battens, which are the pipes that go in and out that are counter balanced, to the fly rail, to the sound needs, to the lighting needs. We go over lighting plots and things like that. Yes, I have a visual of it. We also have CAD drawings and vector works and other programs that we use for to kind of pre plan what it's going to look like, and take their set and kind of plop it onto our stage and see what fits, and then see what sight lines work, and see what lighting looks work with, where our lighting coves are and our ladders are, and our overhead lighting, or with their lighting system, if they bring it in on trust systems, okay?
Michael Dunne: As a lay person, I always think of a show like "Chicago ", there's the sound, there's the lighting, and then there's all this, the stage stuff, all of the, you know, the scenes and whatnot. Is there one element of those three that's the hardest on you as the technical director?
Nathan Cox: I would say the load limits of our facility. I mean, these shows are getting bigger and bigger. I mean, when it comes to Broadway, specifically, there's more lights that are being hung, there's more automation. There's more stuff in the air, you know, there's more floor tracking. There's more automation on the floor as well. So, I think the hardest part of my job is making sure that those load limits are going to be correct and safe, because we obviously want to have a safe show and safe working environment for everybody here.
Michael Dunne: I have to ask; Do you love that high pressure environment? You've been here for quite some time, and being able to sort of walk around with you, and just seeing there's a lot of people depending on this coming off. Do you like that kind of pressure cooker?
Nathan Cox: Well, whether I like it or not, it's on me, you know. You know, making sure folks show up to the call. You know, all 70 of them make sure that, you know, we're going to have all our departments covered. Yeah, that's a high-pressure situation for it, for this department, and I do enjoy it to a certain extent, especially when it all comes together. You know, we came together for the load out for "Chicago" last night at full numbers, I was ecstatic! Like I went skipping back to my office because everybody showed up. We were so happy with that. I mean, you know, there's a certain percentage of folks that might get sick or might not be able to show up to a call, and we're talking about people that work, you know, maybe other jobs around the community and only will come in for a four-hour call or a five-hour call, you know, late at night, on a Sunday night in Eugene. You know, there's only so many folks that you can get to do that you know and have the skills that they need to fill these department needs.
Michael Dunne: What does success feel like for you? When do you know boy, you know that show that went about as well as it possibly could? Are you a hard grader?
Nathan Cox: Yeah, I tend to be a critique type person as well. I, I'd say my favorite moment, though, was with Robin Williams when he came to the theater, and he came through and showed up early. Very nice gentleman. And he shook all our hands. And we walked out to the to the front of house, and we walked around. He's looking up in the theater. He loves, he loves the beauty of our house. He says, it looks very unique. And he said, I said, oh yeah. It's kind of like being, you know, passed out under a lawn chair, you know. Kind of a quick quip. And he says, I love that. I love that so much!
Michael Dunne: You're giving comedy tips to a legend?!
Nathan Cox: He asks if he can use that for his material, for the for the show, I said, You're Robin Williams. You can do whatever the heck you want. I love you. And he did! He used it at the very top of the show. He added his own piece to it. He says, "Oh, this is, this is a beautiful house. Everybody claps. Everybody's very happy to see him. He says, I feel like I'm under a lawn chair right now and there's little fleshy bits of ass sticking through!"
Michael Dunne: Do you ever get star struck?
Nathan Cox: I was star struck by him, and when he walked over at the end of the show, he was a gentleman. He says, Thank you for letting me use your joke. And I said, You're Robin Williams. You didn't have to thank me, but he did that, and I think that was very moving to me.
Michael Dunne: That's outstanding. Thank you so much.
Nathan Cox: You’re welcome.
Michael Dunne: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon on the Record are available as a podcast at klcc.org. Tomorrow on the show, we talk with a political consultant and a leader of the Lane County Democrats to talk about what their party needs to do to get back into power at the federal level and stay in power here in Oregon. I'm Michael Dunne, and this has been Oregon on the record from KLCC. Thanks for listening.
This transcript was produced with an AI service. It may contain errors.
