Click on any image for a larger view.
While it’s still a ways from completion, the Granada is becoming a more stunning sight day by day as
things progress.
The ornamental plaster work is blossoming from its former dull primer gray into a dazzling array of greens, blues, reds, and golds. This is High Art on a grand scale.
The framework for the many technical accessories and mechanical fittings that go into making a theater work, especially one that will be as multifaceted as the Granada, are being hoisted, welded, fastened, pushed and pulled into place.
This wondrous transformation is happening at an amazing pace. This is due to the skills, and painstaking attention to detail, applied by the dedicated artisans and technicians that are working on the project. The amount of attention being focused on the project’s finely nuanced finishes and hand painted stenciling is truly inspiring.
Keep in mind that when we refer to the stencils used for the designs on the ceilings of the Granada, we’re not referring something that is taped in place and then sprayed with a paint sprayer to create the design. This stenciling was used only to trace the outline of the design. All of the painting of the designs is done by hand.
If you click on the images above you can get a better idea of the extreme detail that is involved in the work being done.
Putting the Framework in Place
While the beautification of the ornamental plaster goes on, so does the construction. In the last week of June ‘08, among other things, 2 twelve hundred pound I beams were hoisted into place near the ceiling about 40 foot above the stage. These beams that span the depth of the stage area will be used as anchor points for the Fly System. This is a group of pulleys and cables used to control the various lighting and scenery rigging that can drop down from above the stage, referred to in theatrespeak as the flyspace.
Prior to the beams being placed, mount points had to be positioned (precisely) and anchored through 16 inches of brick on the front and back walls of the stage area and about 40 feet up. This was not a task for the acrophobic.
After the mount points were securely bolted in place, two workers (yes, just two) using an electric winch and a hydraulic manlift placed the beams on the narrow ledges of the mount points. The beams only had about one and a half inches of clearance to fit in the space they needed to fit into. Needless to say, maneuvering a large hunk of steel around various obstacles while it hangs strapped to a steel cable can be a touchy proposition. 
Anybody have a shoehorn handy?
Meanwhile, Closer to the Ground…
Dealing with a space as large as the auditorium of the Granada might seem to be something that you’d attack with a large brush and broad strokes. Surprisingly, just the opposite is true.
