Lo Frate ‘Nnamorato

For my final show at UNCSA, I was the Technical Director for our Spring Opera titled “Lo Frate ‘Nnamorato” (The Brother in Love), an Italian three-act commedia per musica opera by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. This Opera is set in the 1950s and is based in the city of Capodimonte, Spain. In her research, the scenic designer influences her design on a family-run ceramic factory in Valencia, Spain that hand paints ceramics in bold, bright colors.

With a budget of $12,000, the scenic design features a show portal and an inner portal with ceramic detailing, two houses for each family, an arch connecting the two, a parapet, and a cityscape ground row. After my first pass at budgeting this show I landed about $2,000 over budget and with a few cuts to molding profiles and curves we were green-lit $400 over budget with a $1,200 contingency. We are now in our build time and will be loading in this show at the beginning of April.

After the budgeting process, I went into the Tech Design faze making the structural 3D Model. With my ATD and Drafts Person, we then plated all models preparing them to be sent to the shop for build. Our build and Load-in process went fairly smoothly with time being allocated for a test fit in the shop before load-in allowing us to fix/make tweaks to the connecting pieces as needed. We fell slightly behind in the metal fabrication of the hand railings so I adjusted our load-in schedule to allow a team to stay in the shop to finish while another team started load-in. We then completed load-in on schedule and assisted other departments as needed before opening.

huge shout out to my team and carpentry crew as I would not have been able to put up such a beautiful set without them.

Complete 3D model

Design Model by Mrinali Thanwani

Completed Set

Stage Right (MC House) 3D Model

Ground Row 3D Model

Inner Portal 3D Model

Stage Left (DC House) 3D Model

Parapet 3D Model

Show Portal 3D Model