Flushing Town Hall Theater
Venue Specifications revision date: May 6, 2014 This document is updated frequently. Please contact Mike Riggs, Director of Production, for the latest update and for additional information including detailed drawings and lighting plot.
Flushing Town Hall Theater Venue Specifications
ADDRESS, TELEPHONE & INTERNET Flushing Town Hall 137-‐35 Northern Boulevard (two blocks east of Main Street, at the northeast corner of Linden Place) Flushing, NY 11354 718-‐463-‐7700 www.flushingtownhall.org CONTACTS AT THE VENUE Director of Operations and Rentals Director of Production Kevin Meegan Mike Riggs 718-‐463-‐0443 718-‐661-‐2722
[email protected] [email protected] DIRECTIONS Driving directions (passenger cars): Warning: you cannot follow these directions in a commercial vehicle. The roads are restricted and most trucks cannot clear the underpasses. From the Triboro Bridge or the Brooklyn-‐Queens Expressway: take the Grand Central Parkway east, past La Guardia Airport, to the Northern Blvd. exit. Keep left as you travel on the overpass, following Northern Blvd. east. Turn left at Linden Place, which is the first stoplight after you pass Main Street (the third stoplight after the overpass). Driving directions (any vehicle): Take the Van Wyck Expressway to the Northern Blvd. exit. Keep left as you travel on the overpass, following Northern Blvd. east. Turn left at Linden Place, which is the first stoplight after you pass Main Street. Driving directions (vehicles over 12 feet tall): Take the Van Wyck Expressway to the Linden Place exit. Bear left as you exit and turn left onto Linden Place. Proceed three long blocks. After you cross 35th Ave. you will see Flushing Town Hall on your left. The loading ramp is on your left, between our parking lot and the building. Parking Flushing Town Hall has a parking lot immediately behind our building, with an entrance on Linden Place. The lot is shared with various community businesses whose spaces are clearly marked. Guest artists and visitors are Print Date 5/6/14
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welcome to park in any space marked Flushing Town Hall Visitor. Availability is not guaranteed. Parking is more difficult close to the starting time of an event. Do not park in a spot that is designated for someone else unless Town Hall’s staff has made arrangements for you to do so. We have another lot half a block away where we may be able to accommodate you; ask at the reception desk. If you expect your company will arrive in more than three vehicles, please contact us a week in advance so that we can plan for your parking. If you are unloading heavy items, you may park in our loading ramp, which is between the building and the parking lot, with an entrance on Linden Place. Call ahead to ensure that the ramp gates will be open, or open them yourself (they are not kept locked). The ramp is steep. Often it is best for trucks to drive in nose-‐first, so that items don’t fall off the truck when the rear door is opened. The ramp is wide enough to roll most road cases past a parked truck. Subway directions: Take the 7 train to the end of the line (Main St – Flushing). From the subway station at Roosevelt Ave. and Main Street, walk north on Main Street for four blocks to Northern Blvd. Turn right on Northern Blvd. Flushing Town Hall is a landmark building on the opposite side of the street, two short blocks from Main Street. VENUE DESCRIPTION Flushing Town Hall Theater is a former meeting room converted to a proscenium-‐ style theater with convertible seating, built as part of a renovation of the historic Flushing Town Hall, a national landmark building. Parts of the building, including the theater floors, were renovated again in 2014. The theater can be configured with auditorium-‐style seating, including a balcony and eight boxes. Theater seating can be installed with or without modular risers. Alternately, the orchestra-‐level seats and risers can be removed, leaving the floor clear for banquet tables, cabaret tables, a dance floor, etc. In theater configuration, the theater seats between 108 and 176 people on the orchestra level (depending on how many rows of seating are installed); 56 in the box seats; and 74 in the balcony; for a total seating capacity of 238 to 306. The stage floor is 4 ft. above the auditorium floor. This higher-‐than-‐usual stage allows for no audience rake, or a very shallow one (our risers, which are not always used, are just two feet tall at the back of the house). It also means that sight lines to performers’ upper bodies and faces are excellent, with or without risers. The second-‐floor theater is ADA-‐accessible in the orchestra section and onstage. Box seats and the balcony are not wheelchair-‐accessible. The theater features complete, modern lighting and sound systems, a Steinway D concert grand piano, Print Date 5/6/14
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and a retractable 22-‐ft. wide front-‐projection movie screen. The auditorium has arched windows which can be mostly sealed using motorized opaque shades. It is not possible to achieve a total blackout, especially during the daytime. The stage is 16 ft. 6 in. deep, measured from the apron to the upstage black traveler on centerline. There is no architectural proscenium; rather, the grand drape is masked by a red valance and legs, which form a proscenium shape when the drape is opened. . This opening is 31 ft. wide by 13 ft. tall (measured to the bottom of the grand valance). The grand drape travels along the apron line of the stage, so there is no forestage area when the drape is closed. Standing onstage in front of the closed curtain is not allowed. (When an event requires the ability to address the audience from in front of a closed curtain, stage lighting can be focused to the front of the orchestra section, in front of the stage.) There is a crossover, approximately 3 feet wide, upstage of the black traveler. A white muslin backdrop, or cyclorama, 26 feet wide with a bottom pipe, is available for events that require it. This piece hangs 2’-‐9” upstage of the black traveler, which has a maximum opening of 18 feet. When the white backdrop is in place, there is no backstage crossover. Note that the white cyclorama is not normally in place; special arrangements must be made to use it. We do not own lighting equipment for this white backdrop, though there is an appropriate overhead position for cyc lights, which may be rented upon request. Front projections onto this backdrop are possible using our existing projector or other video equipment. However, please note that any performers, musical instruments, scenery, etc. will cast a shadow from the front projector. Rear projection is not possible. The stage floor is polished oak, stained black. Screws, nails and staples may not be used on the stage floor. Only cloth spike tape, cloth gaff tape, and glow tape may be used to mark the stage floor. DRESSING ROOMS & WARDROBE There are three spaces available for use as dressing rooms, each of which has natural light. The primary space is a chorus-‐sized dressing room with counter and mirror space for 12 performers. This space also features a couch and a small private restroom, and there is enough space to set up a dining table for up to six people. Three full-‐length gym-‐style lockers are provided so that artists can secure their valuables using their own padlocks. Adjacent to the primary space is a 7-‐ft. by 12-‐ft. room suitable for use as a dressing room for up to three people. This room features a large full-‐length mirror and makeup lighting, but it has no plumbing. We can provide tables and chairs for this Print Date 5/6/14
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room as requested. (This is also a suitable room for musicians to store their instruments.) These two rooms are behind a door that is lockable with a combination keypad. Directly behind the stage is an appx. 8-‐ft. by 12-‐ft. room which is normally used to store our concert grand piano. When the piano is onstage, this room is suitable as a dressing room for up to six people. When the piano is stored in the room, it’s suitable as a star dressing room (for one person). There is a private restroom in this space. Nothing may be placed on top of the piano. The piano must not be used as a tabletop surface when this room is being used as a dressing room. A water fountain is provided in the dressing room hall. A refrigerator is available in a small pantry adjacent to the dressing rooms. The dressing room and backstage areas are off-‐limits to audience members, except for those patrons who must use the elevator. The dressing rooms, entrance to backstage, and elevator open onto the same vestibule. Flushing Town Hall provides a garment steamer, an iron, an ironing board, and two garment racks (one stationary in the main dressing room, and the other on wheels). We do not have laundry facilities in the building. Guest telephone service is not available. Wi-‐fi is available throughout the building and guests are welcome to use it. See a staff member for the password. LOADING IN AND OUT There is no traditional loading dock. The best way to load-‐in most equipment is via the basement doors. Trucks can park in a loading ramp, though they will not be level for unloading and it may be unsafe to use a lift gate; or they can park on the street and equipment can be rolled down the loading ramp. Depending on what is being unloaded, it sometimes makes sense to park the truck nose-‐down in the ramp, unload equipment uphill toward the tail of the truck, and then carry or roll the cargo past the truck to the building. Vertical clearance through the basement is limited by overhead obstructions. The tallest rolling piece that can clear these overhead obstructions is 71 inches. There is a passenger elevator with internal dimensions of 76” wide, 57” deep and 83” tall. The elevator door is 40” wide and 83” tall. The elevator will fit a 4-‐ft. x 8-‐ft. platform diagonally, or an 11-‐ft. pipe or board on a compound diagonal. The elevator reaches auditorium level. Stage level is another 4 ft. up and is generally not elevator-‐ accessible. There is a handicap lift that can occasionally be used, by special arrangement, to move equipment such as road cases weighing between 100 and 400 pounds. Print Date 5/6/14
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Larger scenic pieces may be carried in the Northern Blvd. entrance and up the grand staircase, but the building won’t accommodate anything longer than 10 ft. A site visit is appropriate if large set pieces are being contemplated. No shore power is available. We seldom accommodate tour buses; contact the Event Coordinator well in advance if you will be traveling in a tour bus. Artists’ or clients’ vehicles may remain on the loading ramp for the duration of an event, provided they do not interfere with any other deliveries or pickups. Unmarked spaces in our parking lot are available to our guests, though these spaces are also used by our patrons. Parking will be difficult if you arrive within one hour of the start time of an event. On-‐site storage of empty cases is generally possible but requires advance planning with the Director of Production. GRID A fixed, permanent lighting grid exists throughout the stage and house at 20 ft. 7 in. from the orchestra floor (16 ft. 7 in. from the stage floor). Additional pipes exist overhead; see the accompanying ground plan and section for details. There are three booms on each auditorium wall. Two pairs serve as box booms, while the third pair is located for dance-‐style sidelight in the first onstage lane. Light rigging only (under 100 lbs.) can be accomplished using these positions. AUDIO & BACKLINE Console: Yamaha LS9-‐32 digital console. Amplifiers: five Crest amplifiers (L/R, center, subs, 2 monitors) Speakers: EAW left & right mains, dual center channel speakers, dual subs; all mounted near the ceiling immediately DS of the main curtain. Monitors: (4) EAW wedge monitors. No monitor desk. Existing amplifiers and amplified-‐signal lines support only two monitor mixes onstage. Additional monitor mixes are possible with additional amps and EQ’s. Playback: single CD deck playback deck, single CD record/playback deck, single cassette deck, iPod / computer audio connection via 1/8” stereo headphone plug Microphones: (8) Shure SM-‐58, (1) Shure SM-‐57, (2) AKG C1000S cardioid small diaphragm condenser mic, (2) AKG C391B condenser capsule with preamp, (1) AKG D112 kick drum mic, (2) Sennheiser MD 421 II, (4) Crown PCC floor mic; (1) EV RE20.
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Wireless microphones: (4) channels of Shure SLX4 wireless microphones. Each channel can support one handheld SM-‐58 mic or one bodypack transmitter. We have (4) wireless SM-‐58’s, (4) lapel mics, and (2) headset boom mics that are compatible with these transmitters. Direct boxes: (5) DI boxes Mic lines: (26) total tie lines between stage and booth. Six lines mounted in floor pockets along apron. Lines 1-‐2 at DSR, lines 3-‐4 at DC, lines 5-‐6 at DSL. Six lines (7-‐12) mounted in wall box on back wall SR of piano doors; six lines (13-‐18) opposite. A snake of (8) additional channels runs from the console to the grid overstage. It can be routed to where additional inputs are needed. For wireless racks, etc., the most convenient position is in the stage left wings. Mic stands: Assorted straight clutch stands (for one-‐handed height adjustment), boom stands, short boom stands, and tabletop stands. Clips are available for all microphone types. Instrument Stands: (3) black guitar stands, adjustable. Backline: Hartke Kickback 1212 bass amp; Roland Jazz Chorus 120 dual-‐driver guitar amp. Drums: Pearl five-‐piece set with 22” kick drum and Zildjian cymbals. Sticks and brushes are not provided. Optional drum riser is 6 feet square by 18 inches tall, and is equipped with casters and wagon brakes for easy transitions during performance. ORCHESTRA EQUIPMENT We have as many identical black music stands and black orchestra chairs as will fit on our stage. Stand lights are available, though time must be allotted for setup and wiring. A 3-‐foot square platform, eight inches tall, is available as a conductor’s podium (though most conductors choose not to use it for sight line reasons, due to the height of the stage). PIANOS Flushing Town Hall owns two Steinway pianos: a model D concert grand, which is stored adjacent to the stage and is only used onstage; and a model L baby grand, which is stored and generally used in the first floor gallery. Piano tuning is scheduled immediately before every event that requires a piano, and the cost of tuning is included in the piano usage fee (for rental clients). Tuning is to A-‐440 only. When the concert grand piano must be moved onto or off of the stage during the course of a performance, either (a.) an intermission must be scheduled each time
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the piano moves, so that the technician(s) working in the booth may go to the stage and move the piano; or (b.) an additional technician must be employed to move the piano during a brief pause in the performance. The only offstage place for the piano to go is the piano room upstage. Moving the piano into the wings is not allowed. In order to access this room, the rear traveler must be opened and a pair of double doors must be opened. For aesthetic reasons, most artists and clients choose to do this only when the main curtain is closed. An upright piano is provided in the dressing room for practice. VIDEO & PRESENTATIONS The theater is equipped with a projector with optics appropriate to the existing retractable screen. This projector (a Panasonic PT-‐FW300U) is a 3500-‐lumen LCD projector with a native 16:10 resolution (1280 x 800 pixels). This projector cannot be moved, and cannot be focused to any surface other than the existing retractable screen or the white cyclorama. Note that the white cyclorama is not normally in place; special arrangements must be made to use it. The projector is equipped with a blackout douser, operated via a switch in the control booth. VGA connections for laptop computers are available in the booth and at the stage. For PowerPoint presentations, it is possible to locate a laptop computer at the podium (either onstage or in the “pit” area in front of the stage) and send that computer’s audio and video signals to the house’s sound system and projector. It’s also possible to locate your laptop computer in the control booth, where both VGA and S-‐video connections are available. A DVD player in the control booth provides DVD playback through the projector. The booth’s S-‐video connection is normally used for our DVD player, so if it’s being used by a computer, the DVD player is unavailable. Flushing Town Hall assumes no responsibility for creating or editing presentation content, nor for configuring or troubleshooting computers belonging to visiting artists and/or renters. Be certain your computer has a VGA video out port, or an appropriate video adapter. A good rule of thumb is this: if you can create your presentation and play it back at home or at your office on an external monitor or projector, you’ll be able to do the same thing at Flushing Town Hall. When either the retractable video screen or the white cyclorama is in use, lighting options will be limited. Many systems in our rep plot are focused broadly; in order to fill the entire stage, they hit the black traveler. Though this is not a visual problem when the backdrop is black, these lights would wash out any video image
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or color wash on a white surface. Side lighting and specials are available for performers who are downstage of either the white cyclorama or the retractable screen. LIGHTING & ELECTRICS Dimmers: (186) Strand CD-‐80 2.4kW dimmers, wired dimmer-‐per-‐circuit and distributed throughout the theater; see accompanying drawings Console: ETC Insight 2x console. Expression operating software; 108 submaster faders; three DMX universes. Equipment: Relatively young inventory (1998 and newer). Note that unless you have made special arrangements with the theater management, you must work within the repertory lighting plot (enclosed), though we will focus a few specials for you as time and resources permit. (5) Shakespeare 50° 600W (58) Shakespeare 40° 600W (24) Shakespeare 30° 600W (5) Source Four 10° 575W (12) PAR 64 MFL 1kW (13) Source Four PAR WFL (2) Source Four PAR XWFL (7) Altman R40 Strip, 3-‐circuit (12 lamp) 300W (2) Lycian 1209 Midget followspot (25) Pin spot 40W (1) Mirror ball with motor (*) A limited number of Altman 6” Fresnel 750W units are available. These fixtures have a chronic problem with their sockets, and we are no longer repairing them. We dispose of them as they fail. House lights and other architectural lighting features such as aisle safety lights are controlled through a separate Strand architectural system with a master panel in the control booth and remote stations throughout the theater. Safety regulations require that some of these control channels remain constant throughout the show, so the function of this system is limited. Two Lycian 1209 Midget followspots are located in the control booth, at the back of the balcony. The followspot angle is very flat. Typically the followspot beam appears on the backdrop behind the perfomer. Audience members in the balcony will block followspot beams if they stand up. The two followspots are about 30’ apart, splitting centerline. Followspots are normally operated by Flushing Town Hall staff. Print Date 5/6/14
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Flushing Town Hall Theater Venue Specifications
Pin spots are distributed throughout the grid above the audience area, in such a way that it’s possible to provide a highlight for the centerpiece on each table in any banquet configuration. The lighting console is permanently installed in an enclosure in the booth and may not be relocated during tech unless advance arrangements have been made. The house system runs within one universe of DMX control. Two additional universes are available in the console to support additional equipment such as moving lights and color scrollers. Two DMX tie lines running from the booth to the stage are permanently installed in the grid.
DRAWINGS Plan and section views of the theater, with dimensions, are included on the following two pages. ¼” scale prints of these drawings, repertory light plot, and plans showing other seating options are available from the Director of Production.
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