Just got back from the new Dallas Performing Arts Center

[Esoteric]

Hey guys, just got back from the opening of the new theater here in Dallas (the new home of Dallas Theater Center).

First off, the space is AMAZING!!! Totally state of the art, completely modular, it can go from an arena, to a thrust with two balconies, to a traditional proscenium. Hang points everywhere, electrical hang points everywhere. A grid over the house, and electric battens over the stage (when in use). Wonderful space. ETC Sensor Dimmers, all Source4 gear, 300+ instruments, MAC2Ks, on and on. Sound in on a PM5D (in the house THANK THE ALL MIGHTY!!!).

This was a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Magnificent cast (as you would expect it to be, considering this is the premier company in Dallas). Wonderful energy and that is saying a lot, this was like a 2.5 hour track meet. Modern music and dance numbers.

The Direction was wonderful. Perfectly blocked, very playful and they used the WHOLE theater. I mean actors running through the house, talking to the audience members, sitting in seats, etc. Brilliant use of the space. People constantly going up and down ladders, and off and on, using every entrance and exit possible. For Oberon and Puck's punishment they were pelted with nerf guns, stress balls, water guns, and even water cannons (as they run through the audience).

The costumes were great as well. Very bright, very colorful, very modern. Awesome. Not to mention how they helped round out characters and link them together or set them apart. The fairies, The Rude Mechs, the lovers, the king and queen. I could write a dissertation on the costumes. Brilliant.

Sound was acceptable, there wasn't a lot the designers could do sound wise. The mix was good. A couple of the mics were not hidden well at all (I mean messily so), but other than that good job.

The scenic design was VERY different. The whole thing was just a 3 layer thrust, with a small cross upstage from stage left to stage right. With 4 ladders going from the floor to both balconies. It was basically just black speckled with gray paint. Very plain. Until the actors come out. They begin and spend the whole first act drawing on the set with chalk. Storm clouds (when people are mad), stars and crowns (for the fairies), moons (for night and sleep), and just many patterns. The stage gradually fills up and fills in. At intermission, the crowd gets chalk and the opportunity to fill in the set even more. The actors invite people up and even coming out of the intermission sing to the people they select (one of the high school students in the show was singing to her boyfriend tonight I think). Also at intermission shapes made out of flex neon are revealed. This is the only problem of the design I had a problem with. There were only a few designs and they looked half hazard and half butted. Just kind of thrown in. Finally for the wedding celebration the back wall (with all the chalk writing) flys out and all the other places are covered with a bright yellow background with red, blue, green, and purple stars, moons, hearts and people on it with a large (15' tall) heart in the middle of the background.

But then there was the lighting... Admittedly the LD was messed up a little (because the action takes place everywhere on the stage, in the house, in the balconies, everywhere), and I am all for simplicity, there were only about 4 cues in the show, but all the cues were a little too large. There was no isolation, no transition, just lots of light everywhere. There were some nice cues, some good looks (particularly for the wedding at the end, the whole ending including Pucks speech, and the night scenes which were done with red star patterns). But the main look for the "forest" (which was transplanted to an urban setting) was really, really bright, with no sculpting, nothing. It seemed that he was a little in over his head with that look, it was just boring (and it was up for 70% of the time). The lighting design really let the production down I think. No color, no sculpting, nothing. And it wasn't like it was terrible on purpose (as in wow, that is awesome it looks terrible!!) but just bad. Plus it seemed like a waste of some material, with color scrollers used for units that never changed color and moving lights that were used for specials that never move. It did not look like a 455 unit plot (which the program said it was).

After the production, the backdrop flies out and the party starts. The audience is invited on to the stage to sing and dance and have a bit of an after party to open the space. A great idea.

Overall a wonderful production at a wonderful new facility, which combined with the new Winspear Opera House will give Dallas an arts district that rivals Lincon Center.

Man I want a crack at that space (if only I had my USA membership).

Mike

[jmabray]

Can I correct some items in your post?

I have worked in the space and know some things you might not have seen.

First up - it's not an ETC system. Yes, DTC is using an ION to control the lighting in the Wyly theatre, but it's actually a Strand based system. The house console is actually a Strand console - A pallette VL I think. DTC's people bought an ION a year or so ago to replace and Obsession 1 in the Kalita Humphries Theatre and are using it in the new space because they like it better. I have designed a show in that space - way back in June before it officially opened, and can tell you lots about it. However, since the space was not officially completed when I worked in it, I'm not going to comment since I didn't get full use of the full system.

Having seen the show file for this show I can promise you there were more than 4 cues. I haven't seen the full show, so Im not going to critique the design, but to each his own....

You don't need a USA membership to work in that house - it's completely non-union. If you want to do some overhire on the lighting crew, send me a PM and I can send you the contact info for the people who would be able to get you in the door. You will need an IATSE card to work backstage in the Winspear though - that is a union house.

The Winspear does have an ETC based system however, and we can talk more about that one if you would like....

[Esoteric]

I stand corrected! I saw the Ion and assumed it was the house console. Do they use Strand dimmers as well (the dimmers were not on the tour and I assumed with an Ion and all the Source4's that they would use Sensor dimmers)? Who did the lighting/sound install?

I am sure there are more than 4 cues. I was commenting more on the fact that there were 4 basic looks and about a dozen special looks. More that there was very little subtlty and that the harshness of the most used look was painful on the eyes. It wasn't ugly in a meant to be ugly way, it was just plain hard to look at. Then when you add that there were at least 4 units with scrollers that never changed color, and 16 units with scrollers that used only 1 color until the last 10 minutes of the show, I thought the design was dissappointing. The Vari-Lites being focused on the same spots for 90% of the show (the other 10% I wasn't looking, but I would be willing to bet they were still on the same spots), I mean all this technology, and he could have done the same show with just conventionals and gel (or at least I could have). And I love simple designs (I did A Dolls House in 16 actual cues), but this one was just dissappointing.

What is the policy on haze in there? This show would have benefitted greatly from it.

I thought you had to be a USA member to design in any LORT theater? That is good news if you don't!

I can't wait to check out the Winspear on New Years Eve. What console do they run there (of course I am seeing a touring show, but I am still curious).

Mike

PS I am so jealous that you got to design there! Having seen the space it is now on my short list of spaces to design in (along with the Humpharies, which I almost got into as a rep designer for a company that rents it now, the Carpenter in Irving, the Eismann in Richardson, and the Watertower).

Thanks for the info!

[Esoteric]

By the way, I know the Vari-Lites were leased, but do the MAC2Ks belong to the PAC or DTC?

Mike

[Darthrob13]

House Light system and Dimmers are Strand.

Spent the better part of the last two years getting that together....of course I didn't get to finish it.

R

[Esoteric]

Oh really? Which dimmers do they use? Who do you work for Rob or can you say? Do they use SL lights? I saw a lot of Source4 ERS units and PARnels, but I guess those could have belonged to DTC as well and there were some units that I could not see well enough to tell what they were.

I knew it had been in the works for some time. Great space! Although (I hope you don't work for the GC) some of the actual building of the structure looked a little.... Unfinished or rushed.

Mike

[jmabray]

They are C21 Racks. Up on the 7th floor, I believe.

The Winspear is all ETC in the House system. Sensor Dimmers and EOS control console.

The system at the Wyly and Winspear were both installed by an Electrical Contractor. There was no dealer involved with the lighting. I believe the Rigging in the Wyly was done by Secoa and in the Winspear was done by JR Clancy. (I think these are correct,but I could be wrong.)


The Vari-Lites aren't leased. They are owned by the PAC.

Don't know that there is any policy prohibiting haze.

[Esoteric]

Oh! I figured (getting myself in trouble figuring today) that with the thanks in the program, they were leased.

No dealer eh? Did they bring in a consultant?

Mike

[Esoteric]

I also wonder why Strand in the Wylie and ETC in the Winspear?

Mike

[rschwimmer]

Wyly Theater is STRAND!

Fixtures are ETC and that is all.

6-C21 racks

Don't know the count of Contact relay panels, but there are a bunch.

3-15" Vision.net touch screens

Multiple 7" touch screens

Multiple Vision.net push button stations

1-Strand LightPalette Live
1-Strand Preset Palette

This is a huge job. Patrick Henry here did all the Vision.net programming for the job, and I trained everyone on the Palette side.

If you have questions about the gear, let me know!!