PLS are proud to have designed and installed stage curtains & masking for the Paul Bancroft Centre at Cleveland District State High School, which is a truly impressive facility.
It’s massive stage is some 20m wide and big enough to host a plethora of musicians and performers. In addition to full AV fitout over data (by our colleagues at GL Audio), the auditorium proper boasts two full sized basketball courts with sprung floors, seating for some 2000 patrons, a massive bank of motorised retractable seating for up to 1000 people, that can be brought forward for intimate performances. Quite impressive.
Stage Layout
The stage layout presented a number of challenges for masking curtain design, with the stage being annexed off the main structure and a low roof line raked towards the back of stage making rigging heights relatively low for a stage of this size.
To counter this, a two-tier over-stage grid was designed & installed by PLS, to maximise clearance and rigging points throughout the stage.
A huge cyclorama wall at the back of the stage negated the need for a traditional cyclorama cloth. Two zones of stage access were accommodated within the design, the first being traditional stairs left and right of the stage apron and the second, an equitable access via a ramp entering behind the proscenium on Opposite Prompt side.
Stage Masking
3 x sets of hard wearing, high quality black wool stage leg curtains were installed to provide traditional masking of wing areas, plus black wool borders and a valance to provide over-head masking of curtain tracks, stage lighting positions and the on-stage projector.
Motorised FOH Tabs
The final jewel in the crown … a pair of lustrous high quality Verdi Velvet Maroon Tabs to match the school’s colour scheme.
These were installed on Jands Heavy Duty JH Tracking, with motorised operation via a H100D-S Drum Winch and HC01V Controller, working together seamlessly for smooth, quiet open and close at the push of a button from either side of stage.
