I guess I kind of thought that the community connections that sprang up immediately following the fire would wane a bit during our year of remodeling, but in fact what has happened is that they are strengthening and deepening. Working with Clearwing Productions in particular (lighting and rigging refit) has been very rewarding. Truth be told, I’ve been impressed several times in recent years by their work from a performer’s perspective – having been onstage as a musician several times at venues where they provide the sound system. Their engineers are always thoughtful, collaborative and dedicated to providing the best experience possible for the audience. The best on-stage sound (monitor systems for the musicians to hear what they are doing) I’ve ever experienced was at this past Summerfest.
So, yeah, I was a fan before the fire – but now from the backstage perspective it’s more than evident that these folks really understand what producing live events (and educating students interested in creating compelling live events) is all about. The level of support, listening, concern and creative thinking they have displayed has been critical for the Theatre Dept. during this process. I personally would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart and look forward to the things we might do together after this extraordinary circumstance – both in my freelance and research life and in developing new storytellers at UWM.
Clearwing recently published a lovely article about their process in rebuilding the Theatre Department’s infrastructure. I was honored to participate. The article can be found at Clearwing Helps UWM Rebuild The Peck School of the Arts Mainstage Theatre after Devastating Fire.
Their work is almost now completed. The last item was the replacement fire curtain (a special fire resistant piece of fabric that automatically separates the stage from the audience in the event of a fire). It’s rare to see one on the ground and that made for a great curricular experience for the students.
With the holidays came a few manufacturing delays. As anyone who has been involved with construction knows, missing one item can slow down the entire chain of events. We had a few items that were a little stuck in the pipeline and progress slowed through the end of December and beginning of January. But right around two weeks ago, the floodgates opened and now the place is different every day.
The changes are really tangible – not just heating systems or electrical wires inside walls, but really forward facing things. The first big one was the installation of the “upper decks”. These areas expand the footprint of the highest point in the seating bowl and were specifically designed for two purposes.
The first is to make our space more accessible for disabled patrons. The Mainstage has seen many changes over the years to try to address the difficulty it had with these accommodations and while strides were made, we never really got to a place where we were comfortable. These decks are spacious and, in my opinion, will be some of the best seats in the house. They also create a really nice feeling of intimacy in the space. When the theatre was designed, they needed it to also be a lecture hall. Now any remnant of an 1960’s style auditorium classroom is gone. At nearly 300 seats, we still have plenty of room for the space to have multipurpose applications but now it feels…well, cozy.
The second was to create a space for the audio mix engineers to properly hear what the audience hears. The old audio position was above the catwalks and behind a glass wall. The mix engineers had to basically make good guesses about what the audience was hearing – believe me, we set up all kinds of elaborates systems and protocols to make this happen successfully. While this was a good technical exercise for the students, it didn’t allow them to focus on the most important part of operating an audio system – listening.
We’ll also use this area for sound and lighting designers to work from during rehearsals. There is plenty of room for patrons of all kinds to join us on the deck. I might be a little biased, but I enjoy being near the audio console during shows for a bunch of reasons and I know there are others who do too.
Along with the interior of the center deck (and it’s multiple electrical outlets – Yay!) the second photo shows the beginning of the installation of the new audience railings. There have never been railings of any kind in the theatre prior to this and with the 15″ drop offs and irregular aisle stairs it has always been a point of contention. Not only are they a critical part of the safety infrastructure, they are also quite handsome. The crews installing the railings are amazingly speedy and quickly paving the way for carpeting. If you look closely you can see the carpet nosing on each step, and the electrical boxes that feed the safety lights on each aisle seat. And hey look at that – the new stage flooring is being painted with two coats of a high durability, yet paintable, black sealer. That’s probably the first real “finishing touch” to happen.
Speaking of aisle lighting, I should mention that all of the new lighting and electrical systems, including much of the stage lighting system are extremely energy efficient. The systems they are replacing date back decades and the technological advancements in the last few years of energy efficient products is astounding. Just operating this space is going to be significantly greener and cheaper than it has been in the past. This has real implications for the future viability of maintaining this space, increasing its frequency of use and diversifying access to it.
That’s a win/win.
In other news, I received word this week that our last bit of major equipment for the scenic studio is on the truck, making its way across the states. The CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling machine will soon enter its new home and is the final piece of the puzzle to having modernized equipment for our students that matches what they will find out in the field (and at other University theatre departments). Since CNC started to become common in light fabrication about 20 years ago I’ve made quite a few attempts to bring this technology to the Theatre Department – appealing to many funding sources and University committees without success. We’ve been able to work with other schools and departments occasionally to use their CNC machines, but their applications are different enough that the equipment wasn’t really compatible with what we do. It has been a long time coming.
Next week I’ll begin installing the sound system components. This is the thing I’ve really been looking forward to since the refit began. It’s another example of getting to really wipe the slate from what’s been drawn on over and over for 50 years and create something truly current and flexible. It’s going to be awesome. Let me know if you’d like to come and bask in the sound waves with me…
Chris