Kathy Riordan wrote an post about Glen Beck a few days ago that included a picture of workers assembling one of the stage positions. The picture that she used was an AP picture and was used by a large number of newsources. On the top of the stage is a man holding a level, his name is Ryan Palmer a person that I've worked with before.

This installation is 8' tall which is actually too short for a main stage and considering its location probably being built as the 'front of house' position. It is from that position that the sound, lighting, and some video is operated. 

The StageRight brand of staging is being used it snaps together without tools quite quickly but the 4x8 sheets of decking weigh about 150 lbs ea. The decking is strong enough to drive a car on. When you consider that an average size for a stage is 40x80 that is 100 pieces of deck. Quite often when working outside a stage is heaby enough to sink into the what ever it is sitting on so layers of plywood have to be laid to prevent that. If two layers ar right angles is enough that is 200 4x8x3/4 exterior plywood. 

It takes a crew of twenty about eight hours to assemble a 40x80. Then the roof can be errected over it. The next time you but a comcert ticket or go to a political event and wonder about the cost consider just what went into the stage alone.