My GF and I’d like to give my finished basement some needed visual punch and already have about 10 framed theater posters on the wall. But what I need now are some creative “accessories” to complete the look. If the theme were Hollywood theater, I could mount film reels or empty popcorn containers (whatever) to the wall.
Can you think of stage theater themed accessories? My posters include shows from Les Miserables, Jerkyl & Hyde, How to Succeed, Showboat, Beauty & the Beast, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor.
My (sorry?) ideas so far: costume pearls and, um, that’s about it. Yes, I suck. Please help.
“Reverse” one wall, as if it was the back of a piece of scenery, including bits of writing (“Act 2, scene 3”), blobs of paint, and a fake prop list, as if it was the actor’s view outward.
Or rather than redoing one complete wall, frame it like the procenium (either from the actor’s or the audience’s point of view.
Any consignment shops around? Scrounge up something that might have been worn in your favorite play or musical, either hanging it on the wall or on an inexpensive dressmaker’s dummy. For fun, add an “historic” tag: “Worn by <made-up name> in the <Podunk> premiere of <name of show the item might have been worn in>”.
Don’t know where you are, but there are a few shops here in Touristaland that sell items autographed by/worn in shows/once owned by famous people.
And of course a bookshelf full of scripts and piano/vocal scores.
I think one of those Phantom of the Opera posters that just has the Phantom’s mask is standard issue for this kind of decoration, whatever your feeling about Webber.
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[li]Velvet ropes and a ticket taker box. [/li][li]Usher style pillbox hats.[/li][li]Director’s chairs[/li][li]A director’s megaphone[/li][li]old ticket stubs and playbills[/li][li]if you have an adjoining bathroom, do it up like a star’s dressing room[/li][li]build a riser (say 18") that extends out in an oval/semi-circle from one wall. Mount small footlights around the edge. hang crushed red velvet theater curtains behind it. Bonus points if you can make them go up via remote control and there’s something really cool behind it. [/li][li]Cool lighting - maybe some stuff like this. Mind you, American DJ gear isn’t great if you ever plan on taking it places - it’s not durable at all - but for cheap, cool club and theater lighting in your basement, you won’t find much else near the price.[/li]
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You may want to put up a notice telling people to silence their cell phones and beepers, that no electronic recording is allowed and persons who arrive late will be seated at the discretion of the management.
I think a Phantom mask and a (fake) red rose would be recognized by everybody. The Complete Les Miserables book has two pages of the stylized “Cosette” logo that were customized for when the tour was in different cities. A framed copy would be a nice framed decoration.
You might want to look at some of these lights to light your paintings. They even have little barn doors (the floppy things on the front). They should also come with color frames so you can buy some sheets of color to add to the theatrical effect. If you do go with a backstage area, you could even leave some pieces of color lying around. It looks neat and it’s fairly cheap.
If you go for a “stage” area, it might be fun to hang some theatrical lights over head, but that can get very expensive, and full size lighting instruments put out incredible amounts of heat. You could get some footlights, erm, I mean some lightsto use as footlights as well.
What size space are you dealing with? How tall is the ceiling? What’s the ceiling made of?
Definitely velvet ropes and red velvet curtains. I strongly suggest hitting a thrift shop for the curtains. I don’t know how you plan to use this room, but if it’s an entertainment/media room, you can mount the curtains right on the wall, around the entertainment center.
I like the idea of track lighting, too - you can aim the canister lights to criss-cross one another.
I just saw Lemony Snicket and Jim Carrey’s character, an actor whose evil is martched only by his hamminess, has this famous photo of John Barrymore as Hamlet in prominent display. You’ve gotta include it!
