Stage and Technical Aspects of Your Event
Whitaker Center makes available to you an experienced and professional technical staff. They will help you make all arrangements concerning load-in, load-out, lighting/sound requirements and stage set-up. It is imperative they know your technical needs well in advance in order to provide the proper personnel and equipment. Please contact the Production Manager to review with you and your artist’s technical rider or discuss other technical requirements at least one month in advance of your event.
Production Manager 717/221-8201 ext 1130 fax 717/214-2792
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Backstage regulations For the protection of both performers and the crew, the following rules are strictly enforced to ensure smooth backstage operations and to provide a clean and safe working environment.
1. The Center is technically a “road house,” which means that all shows should be totally self-contained. We provide general area lighting, a sound system, and flying of existing drapes as part of our service. Any technical requirements beyond these standard set-ups must be pre-arranged with the Center production Manager a minimum of one (1) month before the day of your event.
2. There is a midnight curfew for all load-ins and rehearsals. Stage areas and technical crews must be completely clear by midnight. The only exceptions are post-show strikes and occasional load-ins delayed by a prior event. An eight (8) hour break is required before continuing labor that has not been concluded by midnight.
3. Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts is a smoke free facility.
4. The auditorium and the stage area are off limits to food and drinking. The Center reserves the right to designate procedures in the event food and beverages are required on the premises for cast and/or crew members. Alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited in any auditorium and backstage area.
5. No animals, (except ADA registered or employed in performances), will be brought to or kept on the Center premises. Performance animals can not be housed on premises overnight.
6. All Center crews have a four (4) hour minimum call. Minimum load-in is four (4) hours and minimum load-out is four (4) hours.
7. The Center requires a one (1) hour meal break after four (4) hours of work. A fifteen (15) minute break is required every two (2) hours working. Please plan your rehearsals and load-ins with this in mind.
8. Only Whitaker Center stagehands are allowed to operate the light board, follow spots, sound console, fly rail and loading bridges. Any exceptions to this rule must be approved by the Center Production Manager.
9. Any event that occurs within the Sunoco Performance Theatre requires a three (3) stage hand minimum.
10. If there is a question about weather conditions affecting the cancellation of a rental performance, Center management will consult with the licensee and a decision will be made by 10:00 am on the morning the performance, (or sooner if possible). If the performance is not held, the licensee will be encouraged to reschedule. Any deposits will be applied to the future rental.
11. The Center requests that you limit the number of people in charge of your event. A script, cue sheet or program clearly marked with lighting, sound, scene changes and fly cues is required to make your event run smoothly. For technically complex shows, a stage manager may be required as well as separate clearly marked scripts or cue sheets for his/her use and for each department head (lighting, sound, fly rail).
12 Safety is very critical on stage. If there is any doubt about the safety of scenic elements (e.g. Special lighting fixtures, stairs, ramps, elevated platforms, scenery rigged to fly, etc.) Please clear these issues with the Center Production Manager two (2) weeks before your event.
A. If scenic or other technical elements arrive at the facility and are deemed by the Center Production Manager or any of his/her staff to be unsafe, they must be repaired or replaced or they will not be used.
B. Open flames, firearms, live explosives, flash pots, lasers and hand-held candles are not permitted in the facility without the expressed written consent of Center management.
C. Fire codes require there will be no cables, tripods, equipment or obstructions of any kind in the audience seating area, aisles, exit doors and hallways.
D. Licensee is responsible for all permits or licenses that are required by local authorities regarding the use of open flames, firearms, live explosives, flash pots, lasers and hand-held candles.
12. Dancer’s rosin is not permitted.
13. Gaffer’s tape is the only tape allowed to be used on the stage floor. Any glow tape, duct tape, or any other tape is not to be used without the consent of the Production Manager or any of his/her staff. Glow tape applied to gaffer’s tape on top on the floor is acceptable.
14. You agree to abide by the discretion of the Center’s House Manager concerning your employees’ or volunteer’s conduct in all public areas.
15. Photographers for your event must be cleared by the Center.
16. Please keep children under close supervision at all times. Three (3) or more children associated with a production must have an adult supervisor assigned. Supervisors should check in with the appropriate Sunoco Theatre staff member.
17. The following equipment may not be moved from their permanent positions; all FOH lighting instruments and equipment, all over stage electrics, the main curtain and valance, midstage traveler, 7 black panels, cyclorama, scrim and black out curtain. Any changes to in the house stage and/or lighting plot must be restored to its original position before final load out. Again, the space shall be left in the same manner in which it is found.
18. Storage space is NOT available before or after your event. Please consult the center’s production Manager if you have specific storage questions or problems well in advance of your event.
19. Any damage to the facility or its equipment will be charged to your event.
20. Whitaker Center is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. All public and performance areas of Whitaker Center are accessible to all members of the community and the Center encourages all licensees to alert patrons to these services. Please ask the patrons to mention any special needs to our Box office personnel when purchasing tickets.
Our knowledgeable staff is dedicated to providing and your organization with informed solutions, timely execution of duties and the ultimate in cooperation to give you the finest results in presenting your event to your audience.
