Projector possibilities

I am looking fo a projector for a theatre that wants to project the backdrops. I have advised them to not use a front projector but they do not have space behind the cyc for rear projection. Is there a projector that can fill a cyc and kinda shoot from a beam almost directly above the cyc. It is not an enormous stage. Actors do go pretty close to the cyc so as close as possible to the cyc fo no shadows. Thanks for any help.

Just toured a new HS theatre with 4 laser projectors just 5' or so behind cyc. I did not see it but apparently good. Not inexpensive.

Panasonic has an ultra short throw lens for their larger projectors, specifically designed for this application. Projector actually points toward the upstage wall and reflects the light back toward the cyc. Unless it's a pretty small screen size, you could be talking about a $25k-100k investment though depending on the size of the projection surface, type of projection surface material, how wide the viewing angles need to be, and any distribution/media server/playback requirements.

I wouldn't recommend using the existing cyc, especially if has seams. Even if it's seamless you'll have to spend more money on a brighter projector to cut through a muslin cyc than you would using a dedicated RP screen. Some of the RP surfaces like you can get from Rose Brand actually have a high rear projection gain so you do not need to pay quite as much for a high-output projector. The caveat is that the high gain screens tend to be worse at rejecting ambient light from the front.