Photo by Greg Mooney of the newly renovated Coca-Cola Stage.
Here at TCG, we were thrilled to learn that Alliance Theatre's newly renovated Coca-Cola Stage is ready to open! We've been tracking their progress through
American Theatre articles like
Here, There, and Everywhere: The Alliance Theatre’s Season On the Road, and I'm so happy that Teresa Eyring will be repping TCG at the opening tomorrow. But for those of us on the TCG staff who can't make the trip to Atlanta, we wanted to give a big shout-out to our Alliance friends on their accomplishment.
As Alliance's managing director Mike Schleifer shared:
“It’s incredible to see all our planning and hard work come to fruition. The upgrades to the Coca-Cola Stage and audience chamber will dramatically improve our patrons’ experience and comfort, as well as advance our technology and infrastructure. I’m proud to work in a community that has supported live theater and the Alliance for the past 50 years. The quality of the work we do here is evidenced by a legacy of 116 world premieres, including 9 that have transferred to Broadway, and new works by and for every age and background. It’s an incredible milestone, and there is more great work ahead that we are so excited to begin in our new space.”
Speaking of the Alliance/Broadway connection, I was excited that the first production on the Coca-Cola Stage will be Ever After, a musical by the songwriting team Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler based on the hit film. Directed by Alliance artistic director Susan V. Booth, and with a cast of 28 featuring Broadway icons Sierra Boggess and Rachel York, it sounds like the perfect play to test those amazing new acoustics and kick-off the Coca-Cola stage.
So, from all of us at TCG, congratulations to artistic director Susan, Mike, and the whole Alliance Theatre team! Read below for a press release with more information.
Susan V. Booth and the cast of the Alliance Theatre’s 2018/19 production of Ever After. Photo by A’riel Tinter.
ATLANTA’S ALLIANCE THEATRE RENOVATION PROJECT IS THE PERFECT BLEND OF ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND CUTTING-EDGE, STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY
Designed by Trahan Architects in collaboration with artist Matthias Pliessnig, expert fabricators CW Keller + Associates, and digital imagers FARO Technologies
When the Alliance Theatre set out to redesign its main performance space they had several items on their wish list. The new space had to be acoustically perfect for spoken word and musicals, with state-of-the-art technology used in live theater. The new space needed to provide an intimate seating chamber for audience members that removed all separation from audience and performers, as well as from other audience members, to create a truly shared experience. It needed to have good interior flow (the orchestra and balcony levels were completely separated in the old Alliance main stage, which opened in 1968). And it needed to be beautiful.
The Alliance found everything it was looking for in the design from Trahan Architects, led by founder Victor F. “Trey” Trahan and partners Leigh Breslau and Brad McWhirter, including the touch of an artist. The interior of the Alliance Theatre chamber will be wrapped with beautiful, steam-bent oak, in the style of celebrated furniture and design artist Matthias Pliessnig. Pliessnig’s pieces can be seen in permanent collections at the Museum of Art and Design in New York, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C., and the James A. Michener Art Museum.
Pliessnig worked closely with Trahan to design the woodwork in the Alliance’s new space. The complexity and scale of Pliessnig’s designs quickly necessitated the investigation of 3D projection and modeling for creation and installation, which until now had only been used to calibrate manufacturing processes. Two companies stood out that could deliver this kind of work – CW Keller + Associates, expert fabricators for creating all the steam-bent wood elements for the space, and FARO Technologies, who uses industry-leading projector and scan data technology for precision installation. While this technology has been used in aerospace for years, the integration of the projector with scan data (as FARO has done, relevant for build and site install) was not available until very recently.
The walls and ceiling of the chamber and lobby are lined in solid stock wood. Each 1/2” x 1/2” rift sawn oak strand is sourced from fallen trees. This system creates very little waste and beckons patrons to engage directly with each element in a physical way. Over time the wood will patina and age by dynamic use and human touch. Finished in hand rubbed dye and fire proof finishing, the surfaces of the project are works of art in and of themselves. By achieving a high level of precision, this modeling interface enables the true artistry and craft of each element to translate into the final installation.
Not only is the bent wood beautiful, it produces acoustically tuned forms that amplify the artistry performed on the stage. The acoustician on the Alliance project is Richard “Rick” Talaske, president and principal acoustics consultant for the firm TALASKE | sound thinking. Architect, Acoustician and Artist combine precise digital modeling with the craftsmanship of steam bending oak. Deep exploration into steam bending techniques produced balcony and side terraces which perform acoustically, with whisper-sensitive precision, and ergonomically. The final material system is a marriage of contemporary digital technology and time tested hand craft.
Completing the Alliance’s wish list, Trahan delivered a design that reduced the size of the orchestra pit and moved the audience as much as 15 feet closer to the stage. This, combined with reducing seat count from 770 to 650 and curving the seating bowl and balcony, has created a more intimate room where audience members can better connect with the actors and each other. Two interior staircases provide access to the balcony level from inside the theater, and interior ramps allow ADA seating at three levels of the theatre – lower orchestra, orchestra, and balcony.
Outside of the Coca-Cola Stage, the Alliance renovation also includes additional artist support spaces, including two new rehearsal halls, new dressing rooms and green room spaces, and a new costume shop.
“As a result of this transformation, the Alliance is going to be able to offer our patrons, our artists, and the city of Atlanta with an iconic and defining space in which to experience and make theater,” said Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director. “Our patrons have become accustomed to transformative theater on our stage, and now through the exceptional quality of this design, our architecture will match and enhance that artistry.”
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