Stage Surface Questions

[BillConnerFASTC]

When I worked on Willow Creek, the 1/4" mdf was their choice because they could always get it at the 24 hour Home Depot. It can buckle just like hardboard. Nothing cheap and easy to get won't. I specify plyron because it won't buckle and requires very few fasteners. 24" on centers but thinking of trying 24*32 next project.

 

[Moonthink]

When I worked on Willow Creek, the 1/4" mdf was their choice because they could always get it at the 24 hour Home Depot. It can buckle just like hardboard. Nothing cheap and easy to get won't. I specify plyron because it won't buckle and requires very few fasteners. 24" on centers but thinking of trying 24*32 next project.

I like 24", gives a quick point of reference for rough layout. The Plyron seems like it would be good for certain spaces, but the thickness would be problematic for our space. Our floor gets painted a lot, and a good amount of abuse, so ideally something relatively cheap and readily available is what we need. Then we just flip or replace when a piece gets too bad.

 

[JHAYTER]

Thanks Allana for all your detailed notes!

Happy to report that our Stagelam install started this week. Demo of the maso went fairly smooth, and thankfully our sub-floor was still in great shape which is making the install nice and fast.

Stagelam was delivered on time and packaged nicely on 4x8 skids piled 30 sheets high. The sheets came stacked with cardboard between them to prevent damage during shipping. So far all the sheets seem to be nice and square and they did a nice job on the countersinking and pre-drilling.

First impression is that this stuff is going to look really great, and will be a lot less work to maintain. I can see what some people are saying about the colour, it can look a bit patchy, but seems to depend on what angle you look at it. Doesn't feel slippery to me at all, and we have some wet boots on it right now because of some rain.

I'll post some more pics when its all finished up! Excited to see the finished product!

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

interesting to see the long dimension up and down stage. I've never done it that way.

 

[Dionysus]

interesting to see the long dimension up and down stage. I've never done it that way.

One of my venues actually has the masonite sheets alternating directions. Actually makes sense given that its a black box in the shape of an octagon I guess.

 

[Ancient Engineer]

The Black Octagon... waidaminit... The Octagon is where Chuck Norris fights (and I think Lee Van Cleef).

Great venue, Dionysus!

 

[Dionysus]

The Black Octagon... waidaminit... The Octagon is where Chuck Norris fights (and I think Lee Van Cleef).

Great venue, Dionysus!

Thanks yeah it's the smallest venue I work at (also one of my two main gigs; I'm the Head House Tech), its the "studio" theatre at the Grand Theatre (London). In "standard" configuration its has 147 seats (144 sold) tiered in 8 rows with 1' per row rake. So yeah, tiny, however, it is my FAVORITE venue in the city. I get a good mix of professional and amateur theatre. Have done everything from Evil Dead the Musical (currently doing The Wedding Singer), to Hard Dramas (did The Boy in the Moon last fall; which was AMAZING), to fringe theatre. ALMOST all the lighting positions are on catwalks that you don't have to lean WAY down on to hang/focus, the room has an a-typical shape (octagon), great acoustics, well equipped. However backstage is very small which can cause some interesting issues with some of the bigger shows.
The best part is since its a black box we regularly re-configure it to In the Round, Cabaret, Thrust, regular tiered, etc.

And yes the floor surface is masonite and each row alternates between going 8' side in line with the standard setting line or the opposite. Thankfully it was installed so that there is a nice line down the centreline of the theatre (however off by a half inch).
I say they don't make hardboard/masonite like they used to because this stuff has held up well, even though some minor floods and has god knows how many layers of paint on it.
We've talked about replacing it for the last few years as the structure of the floor (sleepers and plywood over concrete) has warped a little, however is generally in great shape even though it's older than I am.

I know there was talk in another thread about floor pockets. Well this theatre has 5, however only 2 of them are currently hooked up (rest were disconnected when they took out the slide patch panel and replaced the dimmers like 8 years ago). NEVER had ANY issue with them. The covers are THICK and heavy, and actually UNDER the main layer of masonite. When not in use we put a masonite cutout on top, they fit tight so they won't just pop out. Certainly not like the flimsy ones you typically see these days.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

its the "studio" theatre at the Grand Theatre (London)

Very nice!