Stage Rigging and Curtains from the Mackinaw
Theater Installed
 |
| August 2008:
Soo Theatre stage with the set of South Pacific.
Donated equipment in this picture include: the
front-of-house sound board, theatre seats, black legs
(curtains) at the sides of the stage, teaser at the top
of the stage (bottom of main curtain), painted panels on
Emile's house, orchestra lights. Not seen:
lighting instruments, spotlights, battens on which
curtains, rented drops, and lights are hanging. |
Summer 2008: With the
installation of additional stage rigging and curtains in March 2008, we are
finally using all of the types of equipment
donated by Jim Wehr when he closed the Mackinaw Theater
in November 2006.
The new rigging allows us to fly
curtains for the first time since the Soo Theatre Project took
over the theatre in 2003. It also lets us hang a main
curtain and side curtains called legs, as well as additional
lighting equipment. "Now it looks like a real
theatre," commented a happy Taylor Brugman, board member
and Technical Director for the Soo Theatre Project.
An unprecedented windfall
for the Soo Theatre, Jim Wehr's gift included complete lighting and sound
systems; stage curtains and drops; theatre seats; sets,
costumes, and props; and stage rigging.
The incorporation of this huge
donation has taken time, but with the help of our incredibly
dedicated volunteers, as well as the services of professional
stage architects and riggers, we are now using all of the
following parts of the donation:
- Lighting equipment (some in
summer 2007, more this year on the new rigging)
- Sound equipment (installed in
summer 2007, the front-of house sound board is protected by
a new booth this year)
- The main stage curtain, legs,
and scrim (installed this spring on the new rigging, and the
main curtain and one other curtain can fly)
- Theatre seats (installed last
year in time for the summer 2007 season)
- Sets, costumes, and props
(Emile's house for South Pacific, for example, used
panels that came from the Mackinaw Theater)
- Stage rigging (installed in
March 2008 allowed us to fly curtains for the first time
this season)
Here are a few pictures that show
the donated equipment in use:
 |
| August 2008:
Soo Theatre stage with set of South Pacific from stage
left. Donated equipment in this picture include: black
leg curtains at the sides of the stage, lights, battens
holding lights and rented drops. |
 |
| August 2008:
Soo Theatre stage with set of South Pacific from stage
right. Donated equipment in this picture include: black
leg curtains at the sides of the stage, lights, battens
holding lights and rented drops. |
 |
| March 2008:
Soo Theatre pin rail with newly installed stage rigging:
lock rail, rope locks (red handles), and rope. Not
shown: head and loft blocks, counterweight arbors,
wire-rope lift lines, and battens. |
For installation photos, see:
|
