Automation Solution

When we were contacted by Michael Crisci of Stewart Film Screen, about a challenging design/build project, we jumped on the opportunity. Michael put us in touch with Pete Cosmos of Acme Professionals who specialize in audio and video system design and integration.

It seemed that The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, in Philadelphia PA, needed a solution for an Automated Screen Surround. The challenge was getting a design to work within the Kimmel Center’s space restrictions.

After a few rounds of the creative process the final decision was made to envelope a large Stewart Screen with an iWeiss Custom Automated Top Header and Side Masking Legs. Project Manager Nicholas Belton and Automation Manager Paul Kelm went into the design phase: their task was to make all of the above equipment function within the 12” between line sets. Upon final approval, fabrication of all components, and testing were completed in our facilities in Fairview, NJ

Included in the design is an iWeiss ViaControl Station to control the custom 42’-0” Line Shaft winch.

Client Testimonial:

“iWeiss provides excellent custom theatrical staging products for Theatre. With complete design and in-house fabrication, iWeiss creates quality theatre projects delivering a turn-key solution, through the commissioning phase.” Pete Cosmos, ACME

Project Spotlight – Riverside Chruch

We have enjoyed a long history with The Riverside Church in New York City. One of the largest Neo-Gothic style cathedrals in the United States, it contains three performance spaces – all of which we have worked in.

The first- The Riverside Theatre- hosts numerous dance and arts festivals and its stage is a traditional proscenium equipped with counter weight rigging. While we were on an annual rigging inspection of this venue, the Church staff asked us to take a look at the rigging in both the Assembly Hall and the South Hall, the other two performance venues. Both were found to be in rather bad, even dangerous condition. We quickly went to work with the staff to determine the use and needs of each space as well as their budgets. iWeiss was able to come up with 2 very different solutions to meet the requirements and needs of this large facility to make each venue efficient and marketable.

For the smaller gothic style Assembly Hall, we simply removed the existing rigging and re-installed dead hung pipes to current safety codes. A dead hung batten system allowed the space to continue its function as a thrust theatre and new curtains provided a warm backdrop and acoustic dampening for the vast stone pillar filled hall.

For the South Hall (62’w x 86’ with a proscenium stage at one end) there was great opportunity for rental income if the operation of the rigging could be simply and safely automated within a reasonable budget framework. iWeiss, in conjunction with our structural engineer, designed a system employing 15 of our motorized ViaWinches mounted where the old wire guided arbor system had once resided on the stage. As the staff wanted to restrict the movement of line sets as to only to operate only one at a time, a power and control raceway was built enabling all 15 motors to have a soft start and stop while being controlled from single wall mounted ViaControl MAX station. The controller senses the load on each lineset as well as the total load on the rigging steel to prevent over loading the system and structure.

With the cooperation and help from Riverside’s General Manager, Cristin Downs, two successful installations were completed bringing the performance spaces up to current standards.

15 ViaWinches after install

ViaWinches Completly Installed

Current Happenings

With just days away from the close of the 2013 Tony Award deadline, iWeiss would like to ask–how many of these productions have YOU seen?

Time sure does fly and, after 30 years of iWeiss business, our bloggers took a look at the current Broadway productions in order to offer a few historical facts that you may find interesting the next time a cynical colleague tells you that theatre is a dying art form.

…Go ahead…iWeiss has your back!

The longest running musical on Broadway, The Phantom of the Opera, opened in 1988 with an average ticket price of $38.55. It has since gone on to win 7 Tony Awards and has clocked over 10,500 performances in its 25 year run while The Lion King, another NYC staple, has had over 20 major productions worldwide. Lion King’s NYC production, hitting over 6,400 performances, is the fifth longest-running musical and had a top ticket price of $80 in 1997! Has that kind of inflation hit your personal wallet yet? If so…do you need any drapes?

Still not a believer that audiences still crave the “jukebox musicals?” Tell that to Rock of Ages still running at a minimal 90% house capacity each week, or to Jersey Boys and Mamma Mia, rounding out the three longest running jukebox shows in history. Will this season’s Motown give them a run for their money?

And just when you thought that Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark was going to have its last laugh, the production continues to outlive and surpass our joke repertoire, even if it took them 182 preview performances–the longest in history.

Each season we always see a number of revivals, and it’s always refreshing to see the good ones come back. Pippin was one of the first of what many academics call “concept musicals.” What’s exciting is that this new production, 40 years after the original’s premier, still proves to be refreshing and new. And 65 Years after The Big Knife’s original production (1949), we still continue to find a connection with the characters on stage.

Is it possible that the trend of “dysfunctional family” plays are on their way out? This year’s The Assembled Parties, which opened to great critical reviews across the board, shows there’s still a long way to go. Will your family be next?

Yeah, yeah, yeah…movie-to-stage adaptations seem like they’re overdone and finished, right? Not if you look at the most current theatre lineup! Last year, we had Newsies and Once face off as the two most probably Best Musical candidates. Gossipers also say that the 2013 season’s best musical category will also include Kinky Boots, another film adaptation and Big Fish having opened in Chicago just last month, is bound for Broadway this Fall.

We also have two more exciting new productions on this season’s agenda, I’ll Eat You Last (Bette Midler’s return to Broadway, last seen in 1980) and Matilda which seems to be taking the Broadway naysayers by storm…check them out before they sell out!

And as if this season couldn’t be any more varied, we have Annie and Macbeth playing within one avenue of one another…let us know which one you think may be scarier.

Have a great time this season. Remember, iWeiss was there, and we look forward to working alongside you in the next 30 years to come!

Written by our very own Chris Layton

Project Spotlight

Yeshivah of Flatbush - Joel Braverman High School was built in 1962 and was lucky enough this year to receive a much needed facelift to their auditorium which doubles as their sanctuary. Working with Dattner Architects and Fisher Dachs Associates, iWeiss was able to transform a small multipurpose space into a fully functional performance and worship venue.

The stage is now equipped with 4 hand crank winches to operate the 3 electrics and 1 general purpose batten along with brand new stage drapery to polish off the new theatrical look of the venue. In the front of house light location an iWeiss ViaLift was installed to allow lights to come to a working height eliminating ladder climbing for students.

The auditorium also serves as the Sanctuary. Customized bi-parting curtains were installed on the upstage wall to allow for the Ark to be exposed during services without revealing the back wall. These curtains also act as a rear backdrop for theatrical performances.

The synergy of the space was taken into consideration with every choice; lighting positions and battens being able to move out of sight lines, and a drapery package that adds subtle masking to the architecture of the stage house.

iWeiss Rebrands, Expands, Partners Up

150x125-images-stories-13-03-current-co411-iweiss Sure, you know iWeiss.

Or do you?

Don’t confuse it with I. Weiss, the century-old supplier of soft goods to Broadway productions. Building on that legacy, the company continues to embrace that market while expanding into others. This includes putting their rigging expertise to work on different projects, and their foray into products like the ViaWinch.

“We felt that ‘I. Weiss’ did not fully express all we do today, or the idea that we look forward to applying our expertise to custom work that requires especially creative solutions,” says president David Rosenberg on their 2011 name change to iWeiss Theatrical Solutions. “We want to apply what we’ve learned through our extensive theater work to other areas. For example, when a museum asks if we can rig an 80-foot whale skeleton, we don’t hesitate to say yes.”

View the complete article at Project, Lights and Staging News.

Ode to the Tabbing Curtain

They open to reveal the stage,

and close again for the scenery change.

They come with pleats and tassels and fringe,

and many other fancy things.

We sew them up and when we’re done,

we rig them up and make them run.

No great theater is really complete,

without a tab curtain-they’re just so neat.

by: Misha Sturtevant