Mainstage Theatrical Supply - Extreme Theater

ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Editionä recently completed a four-day renovation of a Hurricane Rita damaged school auditorium in Sabine Pass, TX. The Pensacola Office of Mainstage Theatrical Supply, Inc. implemented the design and installation of the lighting and curtain systems for this 300-seat theater. Several leading theatrical manufacturers came through with equipment contributions to make this renovation worthy of the Extreme Makeover Home Editionä reputation. The episode is currently scheduled to air Friday, April 14th as part of a special series of hurricane repairs throughout the Gulf Coast by Extreme Makeover: Home Editionä .

Dean A. Sternke, Vice President of Mainstage, provided the overall design of the stage space including new dimming, lighting and curtain systems. The equipment and design needed to incorporate a condensed installation time of four days instead of the normal seven for this segment. To achieve the upgrade from 24 original dimmers to 106 dimmers, we limited installation time; an Electronic Theater Controls Inc. (ETC) Smart Solutions package was selected. Fourteen 6 channel and two 2 channel SmartBarsä provide the overhead stage dimming, three wall mounted SmartPacksä power the remaining stage and house lighting circuits. This concept required only 96 wires compared to the 212 wires (not including ground wires) for the 106 new dimmers. This eliminated over half of the electrician's work and a significant quantity of wire and conduit. ETC also provided the Outlet Boxes containing a three-phase plug for the SmartBarsä and a single phase for moving lights. Eleven ETC Net2 Nodes are spaced throughout the facility for the DMX distribution network. SmartLinkä stations drive the house dimmers with an Expressä 250 console having overall control of the dimming and effects.

ETC also donated 32 Source Fourä Ellipsoidals and 32 PARNels for the bulk of the traditional lighting layout. Strong Electric was generous through the provision of two Canto 1200 Spotlights; these HMI followspots provide bright yet quiet operation which is critical since they are located within the intimate seating area. Clay Paky America added the special effect lighting with four Stage Color 300 Washes and two Stage Color 300 Spots. Lighting and Electronics (L&E) contributed four 4 Cell Runtä cyc lighting fixtures to complete the basic stage lighting.

Rosebrand contributed the tasseled front curtain setting and the fabric for the remainder of the curtains, which Mainstage manufactured, including borders, legs, rear curtain, cyc, sharkstooth scrim and two muslin drops for the school to paint and use as scenery. H&H Specialties contributed multiple 200 Series to complete the operation of the draw and walk-along curtains.

Rosco Laboratories contributed an Alpha 900 Fog Machine with fluid, Roscolux color media, and their line of design video tapes. Kryolan supplied a custom theatrical make up kit and instruction booklets. Ben Nye provided a Makeup Gift Certificate and Fastenal donated the necessary chain and hanging hardware for the installation of the curtains and pipes.

A Mainstage crew of seven demolished, prepped and installed all the lighting and curtains systems over a four day period that included many late nights and various stops and starts for camera crews, electricians and flooring contractors. Working collectively the International theater community pulled together to take a hurricane-damaged theater with an original 24 dimmers, 20 lights and incomplete curtain layout to the Extreme. For more details about this project, visit http://www.mainstage.com

For More Information Contact:

Sherri Sternke
ssternke@mainstage.com
http://www.mainstage.com

Disclaimer: ABC and Extreme Makeove: Home Editionä is not affiliated with Mainstage Theatrical Supply, Inc.

This release was published on openPR.