what iF we… built a house that could travel?
- Luke Ricca
- Jan 29
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 2
Paranormal Activity | Production Management
Paranormal Activity, a new stage play by Levi Holloway, was never going to be simple to tour. A two-story house, layered illusions, automation, over one hundred circuits of set-mounted lighting, and hundreds more props. This wasn’t going to be a case of rolling in a road box and plugging it in. But what makes it even more complex is how this production is structured.
It’s not a commercial tour. It’s a co-production—shared between regional theatres, with no touring crew. That means each city greets the creative team, cast, and stage managers with a new local crew, a new set of constraints, and a narrow window of time to make it all work.
And we do.
A HOUSE BUILT BY MANY HANDS
The central scenic piece of Paranormal Activity is more than a set; it is a character in its own right. As we started the process of planning the build we had the typical tour limitations: it must fit in two semi-trailers. But this time, we also needed to consider a host of practical lighting fixtures and illusions built within the set. Add to that an immense amount of schedule pressure: According to a 2022 Survey of Construction by the US Census Bureau, in 2022 the average home took over 8 months to build. Hudson Scenic Studios (HSS) had less than 3 months to build Paranormal Activity’s two-story house, all while making it capable of being set up at each theatre in 35 hours and taken down in just 16 hours.
Working closely with Scenic Designer Fly Davis, Lighting Designer Anna Watson, and Illusions Designer Chris Fisher, what iF we Productions worked to develop a clear picture and spec of what the set needed to be: how illusions would be concealed, how to be prep for the set electrics to be installed during our first load-in in Chicago, and an outline of how to assemble the house.
Fun Fact: The 2nd floor of the house is actually hanging from the steel grid-iron above the stage. The only physical connection between the two floors is the staircase.
To meet the timeline, HSS created two teams to simultaneously build the first and second floors. The two floors didn’t meet each other until our first stop in Chicago. Through meticulous drawings and 3D modeling, the two floors came together without any major alignment issues. Tyler Metoxen, Technical Director at Chicago Shakespeare, was able to make short work of and fine-tune the transition from first to second floor.
ENGINEERING THE SUPERNATURAL
The supernatural illusions—imagined by Chris Fisher—required a harmonious interdepartmental collaboration with the scenic design team, HSS, and the team building props at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Center Theatre Group. We worked to ensure that information flowed freely to meet deadlines and that every effect was both terrifying and tourable. Working with Fly Davis, she already had the answers for how to visually hide and conceal many of the effects. The end result is seamless integration where the illusions are part of the set rather than layered on top as an afterthought.
But seamless integration is one thing in a static shop; it’s another when that set has to fit into two semi-trailers and travel 2,000 miles. At what iF we Productions, we specialize in the 'how' of the move—ensuring that what HSS built in New York and the crew in Chicago fine-tuned—stays just as the creative team intended it to look and perform.
THE CO-PRODUCTION CHALLENGE
Unlike a traditional commercial tour, this co-production requires a unique logistical dance across four major institutions: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Center Theatre Group (LA), Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC), and American Conservatory Theatre (SF). There are four stakeholders to get approval costs; there are four venues to be accommodated equally; and there are four different labor agreements to consider. What would work in one city would need to be adjusted and adapted for the next. This is squarely where we come in: Our job is to bridge the gap between the theatres and ensure that the audience sees the same performance in each city. We work to balance the needs of all four theatre companies in the way the production is built and rehearsed from the beginning.
Managing a co-production of this scale presents a unique hurdle: In every city, we greet a new team of production heads and a new set of venue-specific constraints. Our role at what iF we Productions is to be the constant. We ensure that the technical elements move seamlessly from one local crew to the next, maintaining the standard set in Chicago without missing a beat. But it’s not just about moving scenery. It’s about moving trust, process, and consistency from city to city.
EVOLUTION ON THE ROAD
From a production management perspective, each stop on this project has served a different purpose: Chicago was about building the show. Los Angeles was about learning how the show moved. DC has been about proving what we’ve learned and demonstrating that we’ve fixed things that didn’t go as well as we hoped in LA.
As we prepare to move the show to San Francisco, we are doing what we do best: tracking the details. From mislabeled boxes to scenic pieces vulnerable to damage, every stop is a lesson in refinement. We don't just move shows; we keep moving the bar to make each jump smoother, faster, and more cost-effective, so that the focus stays on telling the story.
Every city teaches us something. This one taught us how to get better at moving the show—not just physically, but collaboratively.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM FROM COAST TO COAST
Our methodical approach to these technical details has yielded extraordinary results:
In Chicago, Chris Jones (Chicago Tribune) wrote, “the show…is in excellent technical shape and cleverly lights (and darkens) the house…to increase the immersive claustrophobia,” and that it “there were more screams, shouts and screeches,” than at a city hall budget meeting. In Los Angeles Charles McNulty (LA Times) called it, "brilliantly pulled off" and "the year's best staged production," noting that scenic and sound elements were "synchronized to produce maximum terror".
The production continues in 2026 with performances in Washington D.C. at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harmon Hall (Jan. 28-Feb. 7) and in San Francisco at American Conservatory Theater’s Toni Rembi Theatre (Feb. 19- Mar. 15).
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
A New Story Live Onstage
Written by Levi Holloway
Directed by Felix Barrett
Restaged by Levi Holloway
Produced by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Center Theatre Group,
Shakespeare Theatre Company, and American Conservatory Theater.
By arrangement with Paramount Pictures and Melting Pot
Scenic and Costume Design by Fly Davis; Lighting Design by Anna Watson; Sound Designer by Gareth Fry; Video/Projection Designer: Luke Halls; Illusions Designer: Chris Fisher; Production Stage Manager Melanie J. Lisby
Associate Scenic Design by Frank McCullough; Associate Lighting Design by Abby May
Associate Video Design by Lianne Arnold; Associate Illusions Design by Daniel Weissglass; Assistant Stage Manager Julie Jachym
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