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Scenery Rental Information

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General Information
The Opera Company of Philadelphia has an increasing inventory of scenery which is available for sale and rental to other opera companies. Our operas are complete packages including all of the original scenery and props. Costumes are available for a few of our productions as well. Due to the complexity and staff overhead involved with maintaining our inventory, we regret that OCP is not able to rent or loan individual props or portions of sets. Our focus is on providing entire productions, complete to the last detail. OCP maintains this website to give you detailed, up-to-date information on all of our rental productions. If you would like a hard-copy information packet on any of our operas please contact Boyd Ostroff , Director of Design and Technology (packets will only be sent to staff members of recognized opera companies).


Technical Information
Due to the nature of our company and facilities, we often need to setup and strike our scenery each day that we are in the theatre. This difficult situation was the prime motivation in the creation of our Scene Shop in 1993. OCP needed scenery which could be quickly assembled and taken apart. Now your company can also benefit from our investment. All but our largest sets may be completely loaded in and assembled in less than 8 hours, with some taking as few as 5 hours. Many of our productions may be shipped in one truck, and our largest productions only require two trucks. We have also designed our sets to be extremely flexible in adapting to a large range of stage sizes, so if you have a small theatre the chances are that our sets will fit. Our technical staff will work with you to answer all your questions and make the show a success. Scenery rentals are an important part of our business and we'll do everything we can to make you a satisfied customer!


Rental Rates
The rental rates for complete productions vary based on the size of your theatre and number of performances. Some of our sets are also for sale. Generally the basic rental rate falls within the $10,000 to $20,000 range. OCP understands the budget constraints of smaller companies and will endeavor to make our productions affordable, however please understand that there are certain parameters we must work within. In addition to the rental fee the using company is responsible for the cost of loading the scenery in and out of OCP's warehouse, for bringing a technical supervisor to oversee the load-in and strike of the scenery, and for payment of a royalty to the designer. Loading costs are typically $4,400 (this is an estimate, based on 2006-07 labor rates). The using company pays the technical supervisor a daily fee of $365, a $70 per diem for each day (including travel days), plus all travel and housing expenses. For most of our shows you should budget 5 days for the supervisor, however this can vary with your tech schedule and the complexity of the scenery. Design royalties are equal to 10% of the rental fee ($1,000 minimum). A number of our productions also grant the original director the right of first refusal to stage the opera again. In these cases, if the director is not available or if you choose to hire another director then a royalty payment must be made to the original director. Arrangements vary, so the details must be discussed on a show-by-show basis. These additional charges represent OCP's direct cost which is merely passed on to the using company and therefore they are not negotiable. The using company is responsible for insuring and transporting the production using equipment as per OCP specifications. For a quote on a specific production, please contact Boyd Ostroff


Placing a production on hold
We will be happy to place a non-binding hold on a production for your dates without charge. All requests for holds must be made in writing and will only be considered valid upon receipt of written confirmation by OCP. In the event that a hold is requested by more than one company then they will be honored in the order received. The hold will remain in place until canceled, in writing, by your company. OCP will continue to actively market the production during the hold period until a contract is signed and deposit received. When a second company requests a hold on the same production during an overlapping time period you will be asked to sign a rental agreement or the hold will be released.