This information is aimed specifically at companies requiring technical information about the theatre and it's facilities but if you have an interest in such matters please read on ...
Live Performance
The Broadway Theatre offers a 15m wide 9.6m deep thrust stage with adjustable house border two full sets of drapery in black and silver and a set of electrically operated house tabs. There is no fly tower, but 3 line shaft winches have been installed for flying lighting bars and some lightweight scenery. There are also various hanging points and a mixture of manual and electric chain hoists which enable us to fly our three ladder beams or incoming companies to fly their own trussing etc. At the front of the forestage a lift has been included, designed for raising an organ although it does offer the facility for moving equipment in to storage under the stage. Potential hirers have the option of using their own sound and lighting systems or the in house systems. There is also a range of power supplies available located stage left.
Lighting
The stage lighting system consists of a variety of Strand luminaries including SL zoom/profiles, and Cantata fresnels, and a whole bunch of Thomas Par 64 cans. Dimming is provided by 132 circuits of Strand EC90 & 72 circuits of LD90 dimmers controlled by a Strand 530I desk. The lighting deck primarily talks to the dimmers using Ethernet although there are 2 rings of DMX available for additional control or for use by touring companies. House lights, Work lights, Video projector, Screen masking, and Tab motors are controlled via touch panels operating on the AMX system. Two 1200MSR follow spots are also available.
Sound
Production sound is achieved using Tannoy T300 cabinets fixed on the lighting booms on either side of the proscenium and from a flown centre cluster which can be hoisted up in to the ceiling void when in cinema mode. The Tannoy speakers are powered by Lab Grupen amplification and all equalisation and delays are set using BSS Soundweb units.
A Soundcraft K4 mixing console with a Tannoy studio monitor is located at the rear of the stalls and is patched in to a dedicated sound box. Playback is available in the form of CD, Mini Disk, DAT, and Cassette in the attached rack. A good variety of microphones enhance our flexibility to provide reinforcement for a wide range of events.
When the building was refurbished in 2001 the acoustical consultant had to come up with a compromise between cinema which requires very dead auditorium and live performance which requires a brighter acoustic. Containment has been provided for an accoustical control system that could be added at a later date to improve the acoustics of the auditorium for classical performance.
Film
When showing a film, The Broadway Theatre boasts a gigantic 15m wide 7.5m high cinema screen which can be moved on tracks from its 'play' position in the proscenium to a 'home', position far upstage. This enables the screen to be moved quickly and easily when changing between film and live productions.
Films are projected using two strong century JJ projectors equipped with 4kw Xenon lamps, and water cooling. These machines are capable of showing both 35mm and 70mm films in all ratios and sound formats including Dolby Digital, Sony SDDS, DTS, and 4/6 track Magnetic. The projection room is packed with the latest in technology to provide trouble free film performance every time. A Digital Projections Highlite 4000 DLP video projector has also been installed and this can be fed with a variety of analogye and digital sources, at one point it was even linked to a Sony Playstation.
The Broadway Theatre prides itself on the way its films are presented, and makes use of various lighting effects including fibre optics, and tab warmers.
Backstage
When the building was refurbished, the rear of the building was extended considerably to accomodate for backstage facilities and additional space for heating & ventilation and storage. A total of four dressing rooms are available, two single rooms and two double rooms, all with toilets and showers. There is also a green room for artists, and office space for touring company/road manager use.
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