"Due to the historic nature of the Allen Theatre, the recent transformation entailed building a shell inside the existing building, while still maintaining the original architecture," says Raymond Kent, CTS LEED AP director of the Innovative Technology Design Group at Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL), an associate principal with WRL and the lead audiovisual systems designer for the project.
Home to CPH, America's first regional theatre company and Cleveland State University's Department of Theatre and Dance, Playhouse Square is second to only New York's Lincoln Centre in size. The last of the five historic theatres in Playhouse Square to complete its restoration, the Allen Theatre is part of The Power of Three: The Allen Theatre Project, a capital campaign undertaken in partnership between Cleveland State University (CSU), Playhouse Square and CPH, to build three new state-of-the-art theatres in Playhouse Square. This fall, it opened its doors with CPH's production of The Life of Galileo - a contemporary take on the epic story of Galileo.
When it came to redesigning the audio system within the Allen Theatre, Kent selected the Pro64 Audio Network and the AllFrame Multi-Modular I/O System from Aviom in particular because of the advantages it offered over a traditional analog system as well as other digital audio networks.
"When we were designing the system, we had to ensure it had the full capabilities of a professional theatre but also the flexibility and ease of use for academic theatre students," says Kent. "The AllFrame was the perfect digital solution that could be incorporated without tearing into the plaster or having four-inch conduits coming out all over the place. The AllFrame requires only one piece of Cat-6 cable to connect the various locations set up throughout the theatre - completely cutting out all the time required to cable and solder panels and test and verify. It's literally a quick connection."
The Aviom Pro64 system is the centre of the theatre's audio network, connecting the DiGiCo SD9 digital console in the control booth to locations around the theatre. Throughout the theatre, there are currently three AllFrames installed at specific points, including the orchestra pit and stage, and two that can be placed anywhere that they are needed for a particular production.
(Jim Evans)
