Sorry, misspoke. Thinking
flat deck that’s both
stage area and audience and going back to the classic
gymatorium. Of them I have seen two types, secondary lunch room presentation
hall with a shorter height
stage and stairs to it and a true like 3' high
stage off of the gym.
Taking it for granted the latter part in my opinion that’s too high of a
stage height for such a
stage. Rip it out. Such a
stage height is designed so the audience on folding chairs in front of the
stage can see their little darlings (for the most part) only and not conducive to real theater. Once you start to make this into a theater you should give up this concept completely. This by way of audience sections on risers and
stage lower to the
ground.
Save the decking and perhaps add it to platforms and or better yet resale it for cash to finance the upgrade. Such a no doubt well polished
gymatorium stage deck would be worth a lot of money even in a recession. Structurally and the architect and consultant would tell for sure, such a rip out of the back
stage deck won’t structurally alter the building at all.
After this, a set of at times adjustable height platforms you
build or buy that are in projecting out 25' from the original
proscenium that’s more in the range of 24" would be much better for a
platform height. That also gets you another
foot.
Still, I would keep with the black box concept as a first concept for the space still. Don’t make a new
proscenium wall that’s permanent or fixed. Some designer or show will come along that would wish for a in the round, flipping the
stage around, deeper
thrust if not just
thrust to what you think now and those concepts would be perfectly valid to have given the blank slate you have now. Perhaps other than making plans for the
thrust stage if not even
runway stage now, I wouldn’t persay make overt plans for a true black box, more a short
thrust stage, but still I also wouldn’t make plaster walls. Place aint’ a 1920's
opera house with sloped floors anyway, no reason to attempt to make it that way either.
Again with the adjustable height and even width procenium even supplemented by a vailiance to help
trim the height down further where needed. Get artistic with such a concept.... don’t have to be say something greek say, make it for design a part of what the space is even if black. Sliding tormenters to also help frame in the
stage also would be useful.
So you would now have something like a 40' deep
stage, that’s cool and really useful. Light grey verses light blue than become a really good question. Stretched
cyc on pipes is good as with other ideas presented on low
trim height scenery. Agreed about less the rigging on the
roll drop, more the problems of stretching and a long enough self supporting pipe that won’t sag. Perhaps a Sch. 120 2" or 3" pipe would work in guessing but in the past studying such concepts. Perhaps a 8" triangular
truss could span such a
stage also in turning it into a
roll drop. Also with the =- only so much you can paint it until you can replace it. Certainly such a
drop will also dictate what types of paint you can use on it in not being as cheap to have. Good
cyc upstage and
cover it between shows and that would be a primary thing I think. After that some trees perhaps that can move on and off
stage perhaps. Plus perhaps a upstage walk way would be a good start, than after that some
tracking legs and adjustable height teasers and
call it a day for now. Treat the new
proscenium the same way perhaps for now if not making it more hard or soft
flat members.
What I might go for is a 48" on center
Unistrut grid mounted directly to the ceiling. After that you can hang what you want where you want it by way of cross members and things hung below that.
If you want a real procenium, perhaps frame out a 24" wall and ceiling in some three dimensional
molding and do the hard or soft flats hung behind that so they can totally recess or
drop down to almost the 48"
level given
reveal spacing. Than after that drapery that further can
drop or move in to mask and frame the
stage.
Platforms say on 6" progressively higher levels for the audience, need a professional to design such stuff for fire
escape purposes of course.
Ah’ a theater of your own to design about you.
Another idea I would have is to design a lot of shows given the blueprint for the space. No not for production but more in reading the script and theorizing on how you would design the show but not knowing until you try to convey idea and
image to paper what is needed to be designed into the space. The more shows and wider variety of shows the better that you can pre-design into the space. Where the follow spots are needed, given audience how high their platforms. Lots of stuff, where is the scenery stored when off
stage - perhaps while constructing you need to expand out a doorway leading to the old backstage a
bit more? Stuff like that.
Again the horizontal rigging also. If say you have an upstage walkway for the actors, perhaps above that you have your horizontal clue
block fly space that allows rigging points anywhere on the
grid and an off
stage pin rail. Again the Marriott Lincolnshire that was rigged by Chicago Scenic Studios, though the concept of doing so almost any rigging company would understand. That above
Unistrut above
grid would really help also with this ability to fly stuff in getting hard points all over the place.