Bob Sandon, technical director for The Colosseum said: "Tait was the natural choice for this project. Their long term relationships with artists combined with their technical expertise provided the synergy we required to make this new stage exactly what it needed to be. Their smart design makes better use of the space and has added much needed additional seating to the venue."
Tait Towers engineers worked with Bette Midler and her design team to transform The Colosseum to suit the singer/actress/comedienne's desire to perform in a traditional, technologically subtle, theatre setting.
Tait Towers built the newly formatted generic stage floor with artist-specific thrusts designed so that the performance area is quickly interchangeable in order to accommodate the planned rotation of artists.
Specifically for The Showgirl Must Go On, Tait engineers designed and installed mechanical components including a striking 12'6" (4m) centre revolve - atop the existing centre-stage elevator - which doubles as a lift and is surrounded by a 20' (6m) rotating annulus. The annulus can travel an additional 12" up to give it a little extra height when needed and will serve to showcase not only Midler, but her dance troupe as well.
Tait president, James Fairorth says: "From the architectural side, the most challenging aspect of this particular project was the need to design a generic stage area that would have the flexibility to service three diverse acts, and any future productions the theater would choose to mount. From a musically creative perspective, we wanted to make certain the new stage would be sophisticated and magical with the technology subtle and understated. The extraordinary Vegas-style bells and whistles could not detract from the classic proscenium environment the artists were looking for."
(Jim Evans)
