Unlikely monorail-door maker: the (seattle) opera

[keopeli]

The Seattle Times

When managers of Seattle's mangled monorail wanted nine new doors in a hurry, they didn't hire the big-time manufacturer from Europe. They called the Seattle Opera.

The decision saved three to six months — allowing the city to stick to its plan to restart the 1-mile line before the Bumbershoot festival at Seattle Center begins Sept. 2.

For "Macbeth," which closes Saturday night, the team built a retracting door, as part of a three-story metal wall that oozes blood. For "Parsifal," six gears lifted a stage platform like a drawbridge.

"We're used to building for safety," opera spokeswoman Rosemary Jones said. "Most of the things we build, people have to stand on them and sing. We don't want them plunging."

What a wonderful construction principle: yeah, but can you stand and sing on it!

Bravo Seattle for being creative to find a solution and employ local talent!