Staged: Asolo Repertory Theatre — The Scene Shop

As the curtain rises on the night of “The Matchmaker,” the world of turn-of-the-20th-century Yonkers, N.Y., and New York City lights up the stage.

As the characters Dolly Gallagher Levi, Horace Vandergelder and company transition from a general store to the bustling restaurants and shops of Manhattan, the set moves on hydraulics. It’s a fluid transition and one that requires hours of engineering and labor.

This foundation on which the Asolo’s artistry stands is constructed at the Robert and Beverly Koski Production Center. The 45,000-square-foot space lies on an unassuming stretch of Tallevast Road, hidden  behind the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. Within the spacious building are offices, conference and rehearsal rooms, but the heartbeat of the building lies further within.

It’s here where the experienced crew of the Koski Production Center designs ways to build sets to the specifications of visiting scenic designers. But more than learning how to build sets, they figure out how to dismantle and tear them apart quickly for the changeover between shows.

“The quickest way to get a set off stage is to push it off in big lump, but that takes up too much space,” says Vic Meyrich, producing manager at the Asolo Repertory Theatre. “The most efficient way to space it is to break it up into tiny pieces, but that takes up too much time. And my job is to figure out how big of a piece I can take at one time, but still fit backstage. That’s the key to designing and working in rep on the scenic end.”

Meyrich and his International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union shop are a cast of problem-solvers. They combine artistic and craftsmanship skills and talents to coordinate and build sets with a surgeon’s precision for detail and efficiency.

According to Meyrich, it takes the scene shop six to seven weeks to build an entire set, including building the walls, flats and the ability for the set to strategically collapse when needed.

“My specific involvement is in the engineering,” says David Ferguson, the technical director. “How are we going to break pieces apart, make them move, make them fly?”

And the Koski Center is not limited to a seasonal mind frame. In between building the repertory sets, it builds sets for local arts organizations such as the Sarasota Ballet and Sarasota Opera as well as theaters throughout Florida and the country.

During the rep season, the crew fixes anything that malfunctions during the performance as well as switches out entire sets in an hour and a half to two hours.

During the week of Feb. 15, there were nine performances of three different productions.

“The whole technical administration is about problem-solving,” says Meyrich. “We have to figure out how to make that changeover happen because between the matinee and the evening show, we are going to do a (different) play that night and there will be a set for it. We’re going to make it happen.”