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BILL BAZELMAN - answers the challenge

May 28, 1976

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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.

See the article in its original context from May 1976.

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With virtually no previous experience in the backstage elements of theatre, Bill Bazelman seemed an unlikely choice for stage manager of the current CDS Cayman Singers' production, "The Boyfriend." "But no one else would do it," he says grinning. "So we had to figure out something that would work." The built-in handicaps of stage designing at the Town Hall are numerous but Bill took up the challenge. He was faced with a stage with two different ceiling heights, a floor area different in width than its depth, no provisions for flying sets, a skimpy budget and just about every drawback you can think of. He asked Claude Beaulieu to assist him in this impossible mission and they succeeded admirably.

Considering the fact that Bill, executive vice president of World-wide Helicopter, had never done any design or engineering before and was of necessity required to obtain an immediate grasp of inherent problems of staging, he did a remarkable job.

To prove to himself that his well-thought-out ideas would work, he constructed a fairly elaborate working model of his proposed design. Satisfied that everything was in order, he and Claude set about constructing a group of lightweight plywood slats, free standing and mounted on both sides so they could be turned around providing various changes of set with a minimum of movement and noise. They constructed two corner sets in a kind of triangle that revolved on an axis allowing a change in perspective as well.

Many hours later, they were able to achieve three distinct sets, the first a drawing room at a finishing school in Nice in the 1920's, the second a boulevard scene, and the third, a terrace of the Cafe Pataplon where a carnival ball is being held. Bill is a native of Holland who now holds Caymanian status. He and his wife, Sonia (who worked on props in the play) have been visiting Cayman since 1969 and now reside here. Before the Boyfriend, Bill had never been backstage in his life. After this triumph, he can hardly wait to try it again.