Air Con & punters
Mon, 26 Oct 2009, 02:49 pmJoeMc18 posts in thread
Air Con & punters
Mon, 26 Oct 2009, 02:49 pmJust a thought, as the weather is warming up at day time Matinée, especialy if it has not been used for a while. A good idea is to run the system for while prior to opening the house, this allows the air return system filter to clean up the air. Especialy in very old buildings with open frame roof viod structures.
I went along to Garrick for the Sunday Matinée of Hotel Sorento, when I took my seat in the back row the ceiling fans were on, but as the show started they switch from fans to the ducted air con. Good idea as the bcollected heat of the punters started to rise, as most were from the blue rinse set it started to become cooler. Then about 10 minutes into the show the coughs & weezes started, brought on by the dust in the air & became like a mexican wave for a lot of the first half. By the end of the act the air return filters had caught up & scrubbed up the air & the coughs abated.
It's something to think about as we come into summer, especialy when considering our punters in preference to economy.
One thing which I though was quite specky was the blue light spill from the FOH bar lights. It was a great effect on the back of the heads of the front row punters. It realy set off the rinse in thier hair do's.
Also the ambient light coming from under the eaves of the roof into the auditorium, assisted the odd punters going to the loo & helped the warm props moving around the set in the blue outs.
I only seen the first half, I enjoyed It & the set worked well!
Climate control in venues
Tue, 27 Oct 2009, 08:59 amClimate control in venues can be a pain especialy when it is generaly left to the lighting techie to monitor, they are usualy far too busy & remote from the punters to be concerned. I believe this is within the domain of the HOH Manger, as SM's have usualy got enough to do with the stage. The problem is the FM's tend to treat the matter on a set 'n forget basis, yet who is better placed to ensure constant control, as thier staff are in & about of the auditorium all the time.
Which brings me to another question of why there is this a tendancy creaping in, of locking out the punters from the theatre foyer untill a set time of around 30 minutes before show time? I can understand the need to restrict entrance to the auditorium to 30 minutes before, but surely not the foyer - that's what it's there for! Also one more important thing as most venues have an operating bar, why they only tend to serve coffee/tea at interval? This seems to be an area where extra revenue can be generated to allow the punters to mingle. When they front up & as soon as the FOH staff get there, be it an hour or more before, acomodate the punters & if they prefer a tea to grog - supply it!
Don't have them milling about outside in all weathers trying to find shelter or sitting in thier cars, untill it's the apionted time - Welcome them in, afford the time for them to find out & show them 'What we are about'. Give them an enjoyable experiance of comeatre & take the wheight off thier purses. Which is a far better time to push the PR barrow, rather than just rely on interval when there is more importance placed on a cuppa, loo & smokeo time!
You will never know when the theatre could miss out on that elusive tourist who donates a $6 Million cheque. - Which aparently happened at the vperth Maj a few years ago because the foyer was open & he wondered into to look around & the Foh staff welcomed him in!