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Scenic Fabrication Designer
Rick Papineau is the Vice President of Scenic Elements for Feld Entertainment. He creates props and scenic elements for the company’s touring shows, including Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice, among other shows. Rick collaborates with each show’s creative team to bring their vision to life. He handles anything that visually enhances the show, including much of the design and technical aspects of the stage sets, props, floats, scenic curtains, and special effects.
Click below to listen to 10 minute interview.
Resources
1. Feld Entertainment: www.feldentertainment.com
2. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: www.ringling.com
3. Disney on Ice: www.disneyonice.com
About Rick Papineau
As early as grade school, Rick Papineau discovered he had a strong interest in art and construction. His interest would later land him the role of Vice President of Scenic Elements for Hagenbeck-Wallace; a division of Feld Entertainment that creates props and scenic elements for the company’s touring shows.
Rick attended a variety of colleges in his native of Upstate New York to pursue his passion and was exposed to a wide range of disciplines which broadened his artistic base. Rick spent the majority of his time at SUNY Oswego, but also took courses at Syracuse University and SUNY Potsdam.
Prior to joining Feld Entertainment, Rick owned a sign shop business and co-owned a construction company with his brother in Upstate New York. In 1991, he joined Feld Entertainment to refurbish Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® circus wagons during rehearsals. That same year Rick was hired as a shop painter at Hagenbeck-Wallace. Eventually, he was promoted to Art Supervisor, then Production Manager, Director, and recently, Vice President. Since taking over the position, he considers improving the efficiency and creativity of the shop his toughest challenge, as well as his biggest success.
As Vice President of Scenic Elements, Rick collaborates with each show’s creative team to bring their vision to life. He handles anything that visually enhances the show, including much of the design and technical aspects of the stage sets, props, floats, scenic curtains, and special effects. On any given production, Rick oversees around 20 full time artisans and up to a dozen temporary artists brought in locally to help.
Rick’s day normally begins at 6:30 in the morning when he begins answering emails about questions and or problems that came in overnight from any of Feld Entertainment’s numerous touring shows. By eight o’clock, Rick is off to the shop to review props and projects that are currently in the works. The rest of his day is spent problem solving on the shop floor and creating props that the set designers have envisioned for each show. Rick’s day at the shop usually ends around six in the evening, and after a nice quiet dinner with his wife, Rick continues to work at home, drawing designs and outlining construction ideas for the next day.
Building and creating all the scenic elements for one show typically takes about three months; a month and half of creative design and decision and two months of building and assembling. In the 17 years that Rick has been with the company, he has been involved in approximately 75 different productions and countless other projects. One of his favorite props that he built was a 28ft. high inflatable dragon that came out of a circus wagon for Ringling Bros. “The dragon was impressive because of the mechanics that made the prop work,” he explains. Rick is also very proud of all the ringmaster floats that they have created; it was his shop that developed these small drivable floats that can rotate and spin in a 7 ft radius using an unique hydraulics system.
When asked what he enjoys most about his job, Rick says, “Coming up with new ideas that have never been done before and finding a new more efficient way to solve a problem.” In 2008, Rick created real-life versions of the characters from Disney/Pixar’s Cars that could move on ice for Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy. As the Scenic Designer for Disney Live! Rockin’ Road Show, he recently built the show’s centerpiece, a vehicle that can change from a tour bus to a hot air balloon to a submarine.