Theatre of the Arts Technical Specs

Fire Regulations:  Exit signs must be illuminated and visible to the general public at all times.  Fire pull stations must be unobstructed and visible or their location clearly indicated via signage and accessible to all staff members and the public at all times.

Open flame is not permitted in the space. Requests for open flame must be made 2 months in advance to secure a permit from the Fire Marshall.

Any fabric, drapery, or textiles used onstage must meet Ontario’s Fire Code Regulations & Fire Protection and Prevention Act Subsection 2.3.2.1. Flame resistance of textiles.  This means that these items must have a fire-resistance rating of not less than 1 hour. If the client cannot producer a certificate of flame retardant, then the Theatre personnel will test a portion of the item to ensure that the material will pass the match flame test as stated in NFPA 705.

Licenses:  The theatre has a SOCAN license for all preshow and post-show music in the theatre and in the lobby.  Should you wish to serve alcohol in the lobby you must obtain a liquor license through our Catering Department.

Personnel: Crew is made up of qualified students and local technicians.

You are required to have 2 technicians present whenever you are working in the space.  One will operate the lights and the other will operate sound.  If you require further technical support they Theatre will engage addition technicians on your behalf or, with the approval of the technical coordinator, you may be permitted to supplement by providing your own technicians. Ie: to run video, act as ASMs backstage, etc

For performances, you are required to have 1 Front of House Manager and a minimum of ushers. 

• The Front of House Manager must be present 1 hour 15 minutes prior to curtain until 30 minutes following the show. 
• The ushers present 1 hour prior to curtain until 30 minutes following the show. 

Safety requirements:  Steel-toed shoes must be worn by all persons present in the theatre during load-in / set-up / technical work calls / painting. 

Hard hats are required by all persons present in the theatre up to and including the lighting hang.  The use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) shall be enforced.  PPE is the responsibility of the Renter and their workers. Additional safety measures may be enforced at the discretion of the technical coordinator. 

Please note that only the staff of the theatre may work at heights.  If a renter has a current “Working at Heights” certification then they may also be approved to work on ladders or in the catwalk at discretion of the technical coordinator.

Scheduling notes: Labour charges billed will be based on actual time worked by staff.

Each call shall be a minimum of

• four (4) hours for technicians
• three (3) hours for Front of House staff
• Staff are entitled to a paid fifteen (15) minute coffee break after two (2) hours worked
• Staff will receive a sixty (60) minute meal break after five (5) hours work.  If you infringe upon the meal break you will be charged $50 per staff person
• After 8 hrs of work personnel are billed out at one and one-half (1-1/2) times the contracted rate
• Any work past midnight and before 6:00 am will be billed at one and one-half (1-1/2) times the contracted rate
• The overnight turnaround time for staff is 11 hours. If you infringe upon the overnight turnaround you will be charged $50 per staff person. 
• based on the Ontario Ministry of Labour Employment Standards. 
• For work after midnight, staff will be paid for transportation home by taxi and the renter will be billed accordingly.

Ticketing:  Events can either be general admission or reserved seating. Ticketing must be handled by the Theatres at UWaterloo Box Office.

Dressing Rooms: Dressing rooms available approximately 40’ to stage (ML130 & 130A). The dressing rooms are located under the House left audience.  Access to both sides of the stage are possible (5 steps to climb) and access to VOM entrance which has a 16’ long ramp with a 10 degree incline.

• ML 130 (large) has a capacity for 10 people
• ML 130A (small) has a capacity for 5 people
• Both have sinks, mirrors, make-up lights, clothing racks & running water

Washrooms are down the hall and separate from the audience. Note that when toilets/urinals are flushed in these washrooms the sound can be heard in the theatre. Accessible washrooms for patrons with mobility issues can be found in the main hallway and are shared with the audience.  

Classrooms can be booked within the building to act as larger holding areas for large group events, i.e., dance recitals.

Entrances:  Performers can enter the space from the first-floor doors to the building, near the driveway. 

Once onstage there are 3 entrances – stage right, stage left and the VOM, located downstage centre.  There is a run-around hallway that connects all 3 entrances.

Audience will enter from the 2^nd floor main doors off the Arts Quad.

Loading Doors:  There is a loading dock on right hand side of building at same level as stage.  Loading doors open onto the stage right side.

Loading access is double doors 5’7” wide x 6’9” high. 2’ inside the doors the stage elevates to 18”.  Largest truck that can be accommodated – 26’ straight.

Parking:  There is no parking available in the loading dock. For the purpose of load-in and delivery, provisions are allowed for a vehicle near the loading access for a limit of 30 minutes.  Should you require more time, a parking permit must be acquired from Parking Services prior to loading.

Seating Capacity: Total capacity = 397

There are 4 aisles that lead from the lobby to the stage level.

There are 4 wheelchair accessible seats in the back row of the audience, either side of the tech booth. These seats are not included in the total capacity of 397.

Two additional wheelchair seating places can be created in the front row of sections 3 & 4 by removing 2 house seats.  These seats are ideal for participants in the event.  Please let the Theatre Manager know 2 weeks in advance should you require use of these spaces for participants in your event.​

PDF of Seating Map

Set Installation:

• Scenery may be fastened to the floor at the discretion of the Technical Coordinator. Please confirm the appropriate methods for affixing scenery with the Technical Coordinator.
• No scenery shall be attached/fastened to the building walls.

Stage Dimensions:  Thrust stage made of plywood & Masonite on 1 x 3 sleepers.  Stage surface is Masonite painted black & glazed.

• 19’1” deep x 33’6” wide (See floor plan for specifications)
• Height of grid is 16’ from deck
• Proscenium opening = 16’ wide x 14’ high
• Depth of apron = 5’6” 
• Depth upstage of proscenium to cyc = 14’6” 

Wing Space:  From outside edge of proscenium:  SR 9’ / SL 9’

Obstructions include:

• 3 step entrance from side entrance to backstage
• 2 major posts
• Small mote in front of loading dock doors.
• Elevated Storage shelf covering 2/3 of backstage wall (6’ deep with vertical support posts)

Control:  

• ETC ION - 1024 channels (uses USB for memory)
• 2 x 10” monitor permanently installed in booth
• 1 macbook laptop that can be used as a designer’s monitor in the house (subject to availability)

Dimming:
Strand CD80 dimmer: 

• 132 x 2.4kW
• 42 x 1.2kW

Circuit distribution (All connections are L5-20A twist lock):

Canopy = 42
Catwalk 1 = 57
Catwalk 2 = 25
Upstage of Proscenium = 19 
Ground Level Downstage of Proscenium = 6 
Ground Level Upstage of Proscenium = 17

House lights: House lights can be controlled on a separately controlled wall panel or by the lighting console. They are individually programmable from the lighting console.

Grid: There are multiple lighting positions throughout the space. See plot for placement.  *PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A FLY HOUSE.*

Upstage of the proscenium:

• OS LX 1 – 3
• SL Boom
• SR boom

Downstage of the proscenium:

• US truss
• LX 1- 10
• DS truss
• FOH 1 (catwalk)
• FOH 2

House Plot:
The theatre has a permanent house plot that consists of the following concepts: 

• Cool and warm front light (Source 4s)
• LED toplight (Elation Sixpar 300)
• Top / Front specials on SR & SL doorways and Vom
• Gobo front wash (Source 4s)
• Gobo top specials downstage (Source 4s)
• Upper and lower cyc wash (Chroma Q Colour Force)
• 2 Vari-Lite moving lights
• 2 Elation Fuze Profile moving lights
• 2 ICues and DMX irises installed in 2 Source 4s

These lights must remain in place. You are welcome to add additional lights for specials or concepts. You may re-colour but not re-focus the house plot without 2 months prior approval of the Technical Coordinator.

Luminaries Inventory: The following is a list of spare lamps available to add to the plot subject to availability, please confirmed desired plot additions with the technical coordinator: 

20 x Source 4 lamps 

• 2 x (90 deg barrel)  
• 4 x (50 deg barrel)
• 9 x (36 deg barrel)  
• 1 x (26 deg barrel)
• 4 x (19 deg barrel)

32 x 6” 1k Fresnelites 

10 x Par 64 

1 x Elation Six Par 300 

4 x 3” Fresnels 

7 x Par 16 Birdies 

No colour gel inventory.

CABLES: Subject to availability please confirm your cabling needs with the technical coordinator 

• Various lengths of 20A Twistlock from 2’ to 50 ‘ 
• Various lengths of 5-pin DMX and 3-pin DMX 

Booth Location: Centre back of the space. There are 3 booths in total. Entrance through lobby. Lighting booth is on the left with space for stage management. Video projection is in the centre.  These two booths are soundproof.  The sound booth is on the right with a roll up widow for sound mixing.

Various:                                    
2 x boom bases
Various lengths of schedule 40 pipe (3’ long to 21’ long)
2 x Radiance hazer
1 x Radience G 3000 Fog Machine
24 x Rosco Gobo Rotators 

Operation:  House right booth with roll up window

Control and Processing:  Behringer X32 Digital Mixer

Speakers:  

There are 4 house speakers placed around outside edges of canopy in a  

symmetrical fashion.  (Electro-Voice EVC-1122-VI) 

There are an additional 8 speakers placed around back wall of theatre in a  

symmetrical fashion.  (Electro-Voice EVid 4.2) 

There are 4 Speakers at the far ends of the gallery/lobby space for installations (Electro-Voice EVid 4.2) 

Subwoofer located backstage behind the cyc (Crest Performance LQ15PSW 1000watts) *available upon request* 

2 Pairs of passive monitors can be installed upon request. Additional powered speakers can be made available upon request subject to availability

Playback Devices:  

• Mac Mini with QLab, Spotify, tec. (Additional playback methods (ie CD Drive) may be made available upon request.)

Communication:  

8 x wireless headsets with belt packs

Additional wired Com stations may be available upon request.

Please note that there is no paging system available but there is program sound to back hallway.

Cables:                                                

Various lengths of XLR from 2’ to 50 ‘ 

Various lengths ¼” Mono Instrument Cable 

Various ¼” TRS to XLR

Various legnths of SpeakOn 

Various adaptors (RCA, ⅛”, ¼”, XLR) 

*confirm cabling needs with the technical coordinator* 

Mics & stands:                                 

• 4 x SM 58 
• 2 x SM 57 
• 2 x AKG 535 
• 2 x Sennheiser e609 
• 2 x Sennheiser e614 
• 2 x Sennheiser e865 
• 10 x wireless shure belt pack (ULX J1) 
• 1 x Wireless Beta 58A 
• 5 x Wireless SM 58 
• 4 x Behringer C2 condenser mic 
• 2 x Crown PCC 160 Boundary Mic 
• 2 x Audio Technica Pro 44 Boundary Mic 
• 8 x K&M Tall Mic Stand 
• 4 x K&M Short Mic Stand 
• 4 x Apex Tall Mic Stand 
• 2 x Various short Mic Stand 

All microphones subject to availability and upon request* 

Extras:                                                 

• 4 x music stand
• Yamaha Electric Piano P-200 with damper pedals *available upon request subject to availability
• 10 x Williams Sound Hearing Assist

Projectors:  

• LX 700 Christie Digital (7,000 lumens)

• 1024 x 768 XGA resolution
• Zoom lens
• Hung in the house and framed for roll down projection screen in proscenium 

Also available:

• 2 x Christie DS 750+ DLP 1400x1050 with standard zoom lens (7500 Lumens) *subject to availability upon request*
• 2 x Epson Powerlite 905 XGA 3LCD Projector (3000 Lumens) *subject to availability upon request*
• Samsung 43” 4K UHD TV for use as Confidence Monitor for Ted Talk style presentations

Cables: Various Lengths of VGA, DVI, HDMI, Coax, BNC, Cat5e (please confirm availability with technical coordinator) 

Other Equipment: (available upon request):

• 1 x LG Blu-Ray Disc player 
• 2 x HD Flow Wireless Video Transmitters (HDS100) 
• 2 x Ceiling mounts for Christie projectors 
• 3 x Set of Gefen 4K Ultra HD HDBaseT Extender (GTB-UHD-HBTL) 

*** Please note that you must supply your own computer for PowerPoint presentations or video content that is not provided to the technical coordinator at least one week in advance of your event. We may be able to accommodate last minute content provided on a USB on a case by case basis.  If you bring an Apple computer please bring the required adapter for HDMI.

Soft goods: All measurements are H x W

CYCLORAMA: 

• 16’ x 32’ PVC cream cyclorama 

SCRIM: *available upon request* 

• 1 x 16’ x 32’ Black sharktooth scrim with pipe pocket in bottom (hung DS of cyc) 
• 1 x 16’ x 16’ black sharktooth scrim that can be velcro’d to inside of proscenium opening 

TRAVELLERS (soft black velour):

Midstage traveler

• Operated from SR
• 2 @ 19’2” x  5’10”

LEGS (soft black velour):

• 2 @ 16’ x 6’ (hung)

BORDERS (soft black velour):

• 1 @ 3’10” x 34’ (hung to mask cyc lights)

*various extra legs and borders appropriate for the space may be made available subject to availability* 

Ladders:                                

• 17’ A-frame 
• 8’ A-frame 
• 17’ Adjustable A-frame 
• Rolling scaffolding 

Projection: 

• 1 @ 12’ x 16’ roll down white projection screen
• 1 grey rear projection screen that fits in proscenium opening                                                           

Various Goo:

• 17 x blond wooden armless chairs
• 1 x black wooden armless chairs
• 4 x blond wooden stools
• 8 x black wooden stools
• 7 x wooden table with black laminate tops (2’6”d x 5’w)
• 11 x black acting cubes
• 1 x rolling double-sided whiteboard    

Greenroom: There is a lounge area with leather couches available to use. This space doubles as the student lounge for the Department during the day. There is access to a microwave, kettle, coffee maker and fridge with freezer.

Wardrobe: There is a washer and dryer in the large dressing room that you are welcome to use. High-efficiency soap only.

There is an iron and ironing board along with an industrial steamer.

Lobby: There is a large lobby that will hold up to 146 people attached to the theatre. The lobby includes: 

• 7 x tables (blond wood with black laminate tops)
• 2 x large bulletin boards (67” wide x 44” high)  
• Various Black table cloths
• 3 x table easels
• 5 x AC power outlets
• 4 x Sandwich Boards

Nothing is to be hung on the walls using tape or pins. Stick’um in the only approved method of attaching pictures or signage to the walls.

First Aid: The Front of House Manager is trained in first aid as are the technicians. There is a first aid kit in the Front of House Manager’s office in case of emergency.

The theatre is also equipped with an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). The Front of House Manager is trained in its usage.

Food & Drink: You are welcome to sell refreshments in the lobby at intermission, though only plastic bottled water will be allowed back inside the theatre. All other refreshments must be consumed prior to re-entering the theatre.

If you wish to serve alcoholic beverages it is your responsibility to acquire a liquor license at least 4 weeks prior to the event. 

It is the responsibility of the client to provide the cash float and the people to work the refreshment tables. The Theatre of Arts can provide these people at an additional cost but this must be arranged at least 4 weeks in advance of the event.

Merchandise: You are welcome to sell merchandise in the lobby during your event.  It is the responsibility of the client to provide the cash float and the people to work the merchandise tables. The Theatre of Arts can provide these people at an additional cost but this must be arranged at least 4 weeks in advance of the event.