Just a short while ago Michael wrote a highly detailed article about the advantages of using affordable 3D printing in theatre, to test props and lighting with miniature models of the stage. The article went on to describe dozens of examples of applications, starting from Owen Collins, associate professor in the Theatre Department at Washington and Lee University, and his experience with RepRap 3D printers.
A new project by Guido Petzold is now taking 3D printing to the opera. The scenic and lighting designer has worked in some of the best known opera venues throughout the world producing renowned operas such as Tosca, Carmen and Madama Butterfly. He prepared for his next work using his Leapfrog Creatr 3D Printer to design the stage.
Mr Petzold is to design the stage and lighting for Fidelio, Ludwig Van Beethoven’s only opera, which will be playing at Bonn’s Opera House during the September 2014 Beethovenfest. Having a miniature version of the stage is proving particularly useful in this case as the entire opera takes place inside a prison block and spectators sit all around the stage at different levels.
Having an exact copy of the stage to work with, albeit made of thermoplastic filament, allowed Mr. Petzold to fully visualize and understand what the decor will look like from all angles and how the light would reflect and pass through the complex structure, which will later be reproduced in steel and mesh.
The entire stage was printed in separate parts, which were then glued together and the final result is quite impressive. The Leapfrog team was impressed as well and rewarded the project with a free roll of filament as the 3D print of the week.
Fidelio is an opera about Leonore who, disguised as a prison guard, rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison. It seems only appropriate that it may be used, along with a 3D printer, to set stage and lighting creativity free as well.
