As part of Leeds City Council's Phase 1 £20.7m upgrade of the Grand and the creation of a permanent home for Opera North, the equipment installed has modernised procedures and proved indispensable in getting the company's current season out on the road for its autumn tour.
Replacing the old, manual double-purchase counterweights, the first full power flying system ever installed outside of London, has been enthusiastically welcomed by the technical crew and production teams alike. Not only do the various functions greatly simplify and speed-up the get-ins/get-outs for the wide range of events touring to the Grand, the technology also enhances the smooth-running of shows during performance.
Overall, the fly tower roof has been raised by some six metres and a new steel grid installed at 21.4 metres above the stage floor (the stage's 1 in 24 rake remains untouched). This accommodates the new 64 bar flying system driven by electric motors, mounted on each side of the tower.
The bars - which can travel at up to a maximum of 1.8 metres per second carrying 500 kg - have the capability of lifting heavier loads of up to 800 kg at a speed of up to 0.9 metres per second. Hoist control is by a Waagner-Biro computer system (as recently installed in the Copenhagen Opera), which has two CAT 180 master controllers, three wireless CAT 100Rs and two CAT 60s and a separate, dedicated hoist with control for the house curtain.
The grid is formed of a steel grille that Theatreplan has found provides a more acceptable surface for many technicians, and, offers extreme positional flexibility for point and chain hoists. The roof steelwork extends the possibility of installing rolling beams to carry diverter pulleys, mobile point hoists or chain hoists, thus keeping the grid clear and taking the loads directly back to the structure.
Also in use was the innovative lorry lift, supplied by specialist company Lödige of Germany, to Theatreplan specifications.
To improve get-ins/outs at the Grand, which previously used a single winch to transfer goods between the street and stage - a differential of seven metres - the consultants designed a major hydraulic scissor lift capable of raising and lowering 40 tonnes worth of tractor and trailer vehicles the height disparity, in just over a minute.
At stage elevation, the truck lift positions the tailboards of any vehicle to give level access onto the scenery bridge, allowing the contents to be directly off-loaded to either the Grand or, via the walkway, into Opera North's two new rehearsal rooms in Harrison Street. At street level, the drive on/off is fitted with automated, vertically moving gates, as well as all-round protection. This essential addition to the theatre resulted in four lorry-loads clearing the building around 2.30am Sunday morning, from show-down on Saturday evening.
The final area of technical improvements by Theatreplan to achieve extra efficiency at the Grand is the super-quick 30-minute orchestra pit.
The new pit substantially increases player space. The bespoke seating wagons with their own integral powered pit-rail, provide three different sized layouts, that can be configured in about 30-minutes - a substantial reduction on the previous cumbersome design.
For Theatreplan, Centre Stage Engineering Ltd carried out the installation of the orchestra pit elevator, the six seating wagons and the rising balustrades, whilst Gala Systems Canada supplied the single, Spiralift driven elevator, on which the seating units can be moved on low-pressure air
