Coffee Talk with Aly Geisler

Next on the chopping block, our props mistress, Aly Geisler!


1) You’ve just recently begun working with Signature Theatre, where are you from and how did you wind up working in props?

I’m an Ohio native. My hometown is Toledo and I received my undergrad degree from 

Baldwin-Wallace College in the Cleveland suburb of Berea.  The theatre department at B-W 

is a liberal arts program which made it possible for me to develop a foundation in many

different skill sets. The way the program was set up also helped me focus on the big picture 

of a theatre production rather than zone in on one specific element and props lends itself to

be tied to all the other departments while also being its own completely separate thing. 

2)  What exactly does your job entail?

As I was starting to say in the previous question, props is its own special world. I sometimes will say that if it is not a wall, floor, or a costume it falls into the world of props. In the early stages of a production a props artisan spends a lot of time conversing with the director and designer about what the show should look like, the period it is taking place, how realistic the show is, etc. There is a lot of researching and hunting of items that has to happen next. I constantly am thinking how fortunate I am to be doing this job in a time that the internet is so big; I could not imagine doing this job without websites like Craigslist or Ebay! When I am not buying or borrowing items I am making them. Going back to the needing many skill sets, making props can be anything from creating the accurate look for an expensive bottle of champagne out of a $4 bottle (which I recently did for our current production of A Second Chance) to building a table to sculpting a statue out of Styrofoam.  Then there is the final touch of set dressing, which is filling a stage with whatever it needs to bring the look together and make the experience as complete and full as possible. I think it is important also to mention that as the prop shop manager, I have a crew of people who help execute a lot of these projects.

3) What is the most difficult prop you’ve ever had to find?

Oh jeez, it’s hard to say. I think every show has its own unique demands and needs that require you to think outside the box.  Often the hardest thing is when a designer has a very specific look that they want for a certain item and you cannot find it anywhere. Although, when this happens you can either make the item in the shop if there’s time or talk with the designer about other possible options that are more attainable.  In Signature’s recent production of The Boy Detective Fails we had ordered a specific clown head balloon off of Ebay. As the production continued and they needed a replacement set of this balloon I found out that it was a discontinued item. After spending a few days of calling many balloon stores I had to accept that we had the last of this balloon. Things like this, though, make me really appreciate my job. When a bad day is that I cannot find the exact clown head balloon, I suppose that my days are pretty good.

4)  I imagine Hairspray calls for a number of odd props. What sorts of props are you making yourself?

Hairspray has been a different sort of experience for me since I received this position fairly late in the process.  I spent most of my time on this show delegating tasks, researching/shopping, finessing items, and mostly trying not to fall too far behind. There are these record stands that are in Motormouth’s record shop that I had built off-site and when they arrived it was realized that they were three times too large for the staging of the scene. When this happened I did modify them and they are now one third of their original size.  

Aly fixing up her new 'do with one of the prop hairspray cans