Personally, I'd love for all theaters to have a full
counterweight fly
system, with a
grid at 2.5x the
proscenium height, and a staff of fully qualified riggers... but that's not going to happen.
Here are my thoughts, given the requirements...
- No matter what, motorize the electrics (unless they are accessable by a
catwalk.) Make sure the controls can be locked.
- Graduation/Assemblies - doesn't need anything special
- Childrens/Theater & Dance. Now is where a fly
system can be beneficial... having scrims/drops/hard set pieces can do a lot to liven up a performance, even dance.
-
Wing Space. If you don't put in the fly space, do you have enough
wing space for large set pieces? If you are limited in
wing space, then putting in the fly
system gives you some more flexibility in what you can do. If there's no wings, and no fly, then you are really limiting the space to Graduation/Assembly activities.
- If it's new, from the ground-up space, it's probably not mich expense to add the
fly tower/
grid, even if
nut fully equipped (as others have suggested)
- Automation vs.
Counterweight. If there is a permanent Facilities/Tech Director, who can properly instruct and oversee the "volunteers" at
all times, then
counterweight may be OK. Otherwise, I'm still a strong beliver in the fully automated (Hoffend/
Clancy) type systems.