CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
FOREST THEATER FOUNDATION
PRE-DESIGN STUDY
MAY 7, 2007
R. F. McCANN & COMPANY ARCHITECTS
DESIGNING FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY SINCE 1976
WWW.RFMCO.NET
40 E. MONTECITO AVENUE
SIERRA MADRE / CA / 91024
626/836/1060 * F626/836/1090
SECTION 3: THEATER/MAINSTAGE/SEATING/SCHOOLTHEATER AUDIENCE & PRODUCTION ADAPTATIONS
Two prime considerations affect show quality and enjoyment at the Forest Theater, 1) audience comfort and 2) stage production capability.
o Audience Provisions
Audience accommodations that rank high even in the rustic setting of the out-of-doors are seating comfort (for 550 patrons, allowed at 21” spacings) and the ability to see and hear actors on the stage. Bench style seating must remain as part of the Forest Theater experience. Contours can be designed into bench seats and backs to ensure patron comfort. Row spacing of 3’-6” or greater is needed to safely enter and exit the bench rows in the absence of traditional self-rising seat cushions.
Further addressing seating, the decomposed granite surface currently used under the seats brings safety and maintenance concerns. Ultimately the solution will be to choose between one of the hard textured surfacing effects to “build” textured rocks or thin coat granular material impregnated into bitumen products laid over compacted earth. The hard surfaces can look like sand but in reality is a layer of course sand in fiberglass applied over concrete. The latter approach comes from street paving technology and uses light colored granular surfacing to give a “natural” effect.
To provide for safety, stepped aisles are proposed in place of continuous slope vertical aisles (refer to slope comparison on seating section). Stepped aisles require handhold rails down the center aisle. Additional rows are shown between the immediate crossover and the stage increasing the orchestra from the current 10-rows to 12-rows. The additional rows of seats are proposed toward the stage, increasing intimacy by allowing more patrons to sit close to the stage. Fire pits at the ante-proscenium corners of the seating form are to be maintained.
Rear-approach wheel chair seating (6-positions) is provided off the widened cross aisle to meet ratio of wheel chairs to overall capacity. It should be noted also while considering wheel chair seating that new pathways lead to the cross aisle and to the first orchestra row by winding through the trees at a gradient equal to or less than 1 in 12.
Due to the importance of sightlines for both seeing and hearing at the Forest Theater, the current incremental rise between the rows of bench seating should be maintained. Currently, the distance each row rises above the row immediately in front provides sightline clearances (over the heads of patrons in the row ahead) that exceed most theater venues of similar capacity and seating form. To connect the successive platforms based on the repeating platform widths, the slope ratio exceeds State of California as well as other code standards used in the USA. For accessibility (ADA regulations) as well as patron safety and owner liability, stepped aisles are being recommended on vertical aisles through the Forest Theater seating form.
Consideration of sightlines has further lead to recommending elimination of the single center aisle in favor of two vertical aisles (with steps) spaced symmetrically each side of the center at a distance that allows approximately 14 patrons to be seated on continuous benches between each new vertical aisle.
o Stage Production Provisions
Stage production is the counterpart to audience comfort and generally begins with the stage proper and then involves backstage accommodations for performers plus the delivery systems quality creative lighting effects and reinforcement and enhancement of music and speech.
Expanded “stage-level” and “below-stage” accommodations are indicated on drawings which follow this text. Note that by infilling around existing infrastructure and trees, over 20 dressing stations for chorus and principals are possible plus 2-private (star) dressing suites. Toilet and shower provisions have not been a tradition at the Forest Theater, but contract riders have become increasingly more demanding and facilities that generally follow Actors Equity regulations are recommended.
Along with dressing stations, limited crew facilities are being addressed as well. The most important single issue in planning back-stage space at the Forest Theater is the challenge of physical expansion in subtle ways that create least impact. Accordingly, it is significant that existing structure (below mainstage right) uses grade level space that is not occupied. Note that the recapture of space that currently reads as volume and mass resting on the site can, with structural upgrading, become beneficial to the small studio theater under the mainstage.
Adaptations are to include new roof enclosures over side-stage spaces at stage right and left. The roof forms are intended to recall the slope, rise and material used on new roofs over the buildings that comprise the audience center. At each side of the stage the new roof structures are intended to visually consolidate the complex of spaces of different sizes, shapes and degrees of openness into the stage. The new side-stage roofs are to further lend structural stiffness and support for each of four masts located on each side to the stage, rising a total 24-feet in height over the stage floor. Between the masts cables are intended to be suspended as needed by each show for support of scenery and lighting instruments. During periods in which the stage is not in use cables and upper portions of the masts are able to be removed and stored.
From the audience view, new sliding panels approximately 20-feet in height are to be added on stage right and left. Ability to slide the panels allows adjustment of the front portal opening thereby framing the viewing widths into the stage playing area to fit the size of each stage set. The panels are to align across the up-stage (rear) edge of the existing fire wood storage areas where wood is stock piled for use in the existing fire pits.
A modified thrust stage addition is also indicated. As part of the thrust stage concept, an orchestra pit space is intended based on additional excavation and depth in the currently unused open space fronting onto the existing stage playing area. Covering the pit is intended to acoustically contain and balance ensemble sounds for microphone pickup and electronic broadcast of vocal accompaniment via the new sound system.
o Stage Lighting
A lighting approach for the Forest Theater has been conceptualized. The approach is to provide minimal resident dimming, but to include 800amps, 3-phrase power configured into 2-company connection terminals for connecting dimmer paks or traveling company dimmers. To reduce labor and costs in setting up each show, the concept encourages using rental equipment for lighting on stage and hard wiring dimmers per circuit to lighting over the seating. A single rack of 48, 2-channel modules is completely adequate for front of house lighting positions. In addition, frontal lighting positions can also become “house-lighting” positions as needed. Dimming and transformers, plus panels and conduit matching this lighting concept require a new electrical room of approximately 500 square feet.
Lighting and electrical equipment are recommended in space shown south of the booth position on the site plan.
o Sound
Sound emanating from the shows at the Forest Theater has been a source of complaint by nearby residents. Several methods may be advocated to control sound from penetrating the boundaries of the theatre. Potential controls include the use of sound barriers and the use of special sound system components.
Barriers in the form of fence construction can be used to obstruct sound energy. The selection of materials coupled with height, mass and geometry are significant factors related barrier design effectiveness. Height will mainly respond to the geography of the neighborhood around the Theatre. Since residential sites exist above, below and at levels equal to the height of sound speakers that suspend about 15-feet above the mid-rows of the audience, the highest sound barriers should theoretically rise as much as 2-stories above the last row of theatre seats. Protection of sites equal to or below speaker suspension height must at least equal the height of the suspended speakers to effectively obstruct sound energy.
Sound barriers viewed in architectural context and comparable height compared to the height of various buildings on the Forest Theatre site, as well as the height of residential structures within the neighborhoods around the Theatre, may be overwhelming in scale and proportion. Compromising sound barrier height for architectural purposes substantially reduces the benefit of walls for sites above and equal in height to the speakers over the audience.
As mentioned above, sound system technology is another resource for limiting uncontrolled sound propagation beyond the boundaries of the Theatre. Principally, sound technology includes the use of multiple highly directional speakers suspended over the audience at heights lower than the norm for a single channel system. The use of multiple distributed speakers allows sound energy to be reduced at each speaker far below that used with traditional systems based on the proximity of speakers to seating.
A further benefit of multiple distributed speaker system design is concentrated and directed sound that is focused into the audience where it becomes absorbed instead of reflected or openly broadcast over areas outside the theatre. A final item to be recognized however, is that multiple speakers running reduced output in directional orientation causes sound quality to shift to the high side. This effect maintains intelligibility, and creates brilliance in the sound at the expense of low and mid-frequency sounds which include the base and harmonic instruments on the musical scale.
Numerous configurations of distributed directional speaker systems have been developed for outside applications and venues. The industry packages operational features that enable sophisticated speaker and processing equipment selections according to design criteria such as the need for balancing frequency loss as described above.
Mitigations recommended and briefly summarized here will achieve a level of control over unwanted sound propagation and a level of maximized sound coverage providing neighborhood residents and Forest Theatre audiences with a structured compromise with significant improvements over longstanding sound issues and problems.
PROPOSED MASSING OF MAINSTAGE ADDITIONS
UNDER-SEATING PRODUCTION SUPPORT SPACE
STAGE-LEVEL ADAPTIVE REUSE
