You know, it was once explained to me that there are two types of
theatre spaces and I've found it to be true in most smaller spaces until you get up to the larger regional theatres:
1) Designed or consulted by a
theatre designer/technician. This space is a dream to work in. Everything from a technical standpoint has been thought of and can support the workload going on. As an example, my last space was huge. Our
stage had plenty of wingspace for scenery storage. In fact, our
stage right
wing was larger than the
stage itself. It wasn't uncommon for us to store another shows set just offstage: Ie: The Montana Rep National Tour set that gets built in the summer and tours in the spring. The scene shop itself is equal in size to the
stage...and that was the alternate size when funding the building, it was originally supposed to be twice as big. Currently right now in their scene shop, they are building the set for their first production of the season, Hair, and also building this years USA exhibit for the PQ. So, from a technical side, it is amazing. Now, the audience perspective is another story. The exterior of the building is interesting but the novelty really pretty much stops there. The
lobby is nothing special at all. Some steps lead up to the
theatre entrance with an awkwardly placed elevator to allow for handicapped seating on the side. Once inside the space, you are treating to a horrific brown painted popcorn ceiling and walls with nothing special going on at all.
2) Designed or consulted by a
theatre director/
producer. This type of space is horrific to work in from a technical standpoint. Often times your shops are extremely small (assuming that they even exist in the first place) and you get almost zero
wing space. Now, from the audiences perspective, everything is top of the
line. These type of spaces often have breathtaking
lobby areas and a
house with nice detailed walls, perhaps fancy hanging
house lights/
chandelier. Everything is just visually pleasing. This type of
theatre also existed in Missoula, MT. The Missoula Childrens
Theatre fits this to the T. Their old flying
system was some sort of horrific blend of a hemp
system that gave you no leverage because the control area didn't allow you to see the
stage and you changed directions through some pullies so that you pulled the ropes in towards you in a horizontal fashion rather than vertically. It wasn't until many years later that they were able to ditch that
system and invest in Vortek. Their wingspace and shops are another story though. Those cannot be expanded without a TON of money. From an audience perspective though, it was all top of the
line.
And, in case you are interested, they set up a facebook
page tracking the
build of the PQ exhibit located
here