State Opera House, Wellington, New Zealand

THE STATE OPERA HOUSE

This Venue

Designer's Tips

The State Opera House: 111 - 113 Manners Street, Wellington, New Zealand.
P.O. Box 9132 Wellington. Phone (04) 802 4060. Fax (04) 802 4030.
www.stjames.co.nz

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View from circle

The State Opera House 1914 (originally the Grand Opera House)

Designed by Melbourne Architect William Pitt and supervised by Albert Liddy for J.C. Williamson theatre management. Its construction is of 2 feet thick brick walls with jarrah floors. The circle and gallery are supported by columns (6 in the stalls area). It has a large domed auditorium, full orchestra pit and 2 tiered boxes. At the time of its construction it was one of the largest proscenium arch theatres of its kind in Australasia.. The large stage (350m2) has a 22m fly tower with a 49 line counterweight system with extra hand lines.

The classical style of the building is somewhat truncated as it stops short on the right hand side leaving an asymmetrical facade. This however makes way for an access alley to backstage where sets and other equipment may be loaded through the dock way door leading directly onto the stage. The circle foyer area leads onto an external balcony on the street facade.

The theatre has not changed much over the years except for refurbishments. It is said to be the home of the ghost of William Pitt who was found hanging in one of the boxes after the opening performance when he discovered the sight lines were not perfect! *

In 1977 State Insurance Ltd. purchased the theatre from J.C. Williamson Ltd. Under CEO Neville Ainsworth the company had already purchased the Trinity church adjacent to its Christchurch office building, and converted it into a theatre. Also two new office buildings under construction (in New Plymouth and Invercargill) had theatres on their ground floors - these opened in 1978.

The company upgraded and strengthened the theatre against earthquakes and renamed it the State Opera House - a name that still sticks to this day, and perhaps vindicates Ainsworth's view that "although the theatres might not have represented the most lucrative of investments in the financial sense, the return in public good will and continuous low-key advertising is considerable"

The Opera House has an Historic Places classification, and is now administered by the management of the St James.

* a good story, but William Pitt died in Melbourne in May 1918, aged 63. The Opera House is possibly the last theatre he designed.

Auditorium from stage

Stage from Circle

Original Balcony

Designer's Tips

If you are a lighting or set designer who has worked in this venue and have something to contribute: venues@venueweb.co.nz

There are extensive sightline problems especially from the stalls because the circle above cuts off the proscenium, because of the six pillars holding up the upper floors, and because the proscenium is too narrow with respect to the auditorium.
Also the boxes intrude too far into the auditorium and cause sightline problems for seats at the extreme left and right of the stalls and circle, although recent seating upgrades have minimised this.

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PLAN DOWNLOADS - revision date 10/05

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Opera House, Wellington

Seating Plan - Stalls

Seating Plan - Circle

Seating Plan - Gods

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	Opera House - ALL - Scale 1:100 @ A1
	Seating plans - A4 - NTS
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ohouse.dwg (370K)

The State Opera House- Revision date 10/05

Company

Venue Name

The State Opera House

Street address:

111 - 113 Manners Street, Wellington, New Zealand.

Postal address:

P.O. Box 9132 Wellington

Web Site:

http://www.stjames.co.nz/

E-mail:

theatre@stjames.co.nz

Telephones:

Phone (04) 8024060. Fax (04) 8024030

Physical Venue Description:

Traditional Proscenium Arch Theatre built 1914. Original condition - refurbished and earthquake strengthened in 1977. Historic Places "A" grade classification.

Operating Structure:

venue for hire

Key Personnel:

see St James website above

Public Areas:

Circle grand foyer / Bar / Balcony (available for receptions & functions) ; + ground foyer

Catering:

by own arrangement

Ticketing:

Wellington region agency for Ticketek NZ Ltd. 7 day general bookings for events nation-wide.
At counter: Monday - Thursday 9.00am - 5.30pm, Friday till 8.00pm, Saturday/Sunday 10.00am - 4.00pm. On performance days untill half hour after curtain up.
By Phone: Monday - Friday 9.00am - 8.00pm; Saturday/Sunday 10.00am - 4.00pm

Disabled access:

Please notify when booking of your requirements. Wheelchair spaces in auditorium available.

History:

See above

Other:

Technical

Auditorium Description:

Traditional Proscenium theatre, 4 boxes each side proscenium; orchestra pit capacity 90 + can use adjoining boxes. Can be raised / lowered; Audience: Stalls (559), and two tiers seating - circle (290) and upper circle (531). Total capacity 1380 + 8 wheelchairs in stalls

Stage:

Raked wooden stage, 22 metre fly tower, 49 counterweighted lines. Tall sliding door centre rear wall (2.370 by 7.280) allows access to a further 6.000m depth; Proscenium width: 9.400m; Proscenium height: 7.920m; Setting line (i.e. - rear of fire curtain) to rear wall: 17.665m; setting line to apron edge: 1.050m; stage width: 22.980m; Clear between fly floors: 17.700m; Height to underside of grid (us): 16.900m; height to underside of fly floors: ds 7.350m, us 7.400m.

Hanging Plot:

See end of table

Getin:

Covered side alley - Counterweighted door slides up in stage right wall - max opening 3.000m wide by 3.430m high.

Dressing Rooms:

4 on ground floor, 5 on first floor, three on second floor. Greenroom in basement.

Stage manager:

tannoy to all areas. 5 head sets available.

Misc

1 x 9 foot Bluthner Grand Piano; 1 x upright piano . Wardrobe on second floor - 1 x washing machine, 2 x dryers.

Other:

Drapes: 1 pair black legs 27ft x 12 ft; 4 pair black legs 27ft x 15ft; 1 pair black tabs 27ft x 24ft; 1 pair black tabs 24ft x 24ft; 5 black borders 8ft x 50ft; 1 x cyc 24ft x 46ft.

Lighting

Lx Control:

Theatrelight 120 way cuemaster

Dimmers:

Theatrelight Mk1 - 100 x 2kw; 20 x 5kw

Luminaires:

Mostly older Strand Luminaires as follows:

31

Strand 23 mk1 (no shutters) 500w profile

16

Strand 23N mk1 (no shutters) 500w narrow profile

3

Strand 263 1000w profile

10

Strand 264 1000w profile

2

Strand 763 1000w narrow profile

22

Strand 123 500w fresnel

66

Strand 223 1000w fresnel

12

Strand 243 2000w fresnel

2

Strand 765 follow spots

6

Furse mpk 264 (wide) 1000w profile

4

Furse mpk 123 500w fresnel

11

Furse mpk 223 1000w fresnel

4

Ianiro Iris 4

6

Ianiro Pallas 4

7

Ianiro Pallas 1

26

Selecon Pacific 12/28

30

Selecon Pacific 23/50

2

Lycian super Star 1.2 followspot

Sound

n/a

Effects Units

n/a

Hanging Plot:

73 counter weighted lines: (upstage from setting line) revision date 10/05

iron	0150	26	6325 midstage tab
curtain	0360 House Curtain	27	6505
Pelmet Border	0600	28	6685
01	1110 LX_01	29	6865
02	1450	30	7045 Border #3
03	1630	31	7225 Leg #3
04	1810	32	7405
05	1990	33	7585
06	2170	34	7765 LX_04
07	2350 Border #1	35	7945
08	2530 Leg #1	36	8125
09	2710	37	8305
10	2890	38	8485
11	3070 LX_02	39	8665
12	3250	40	9455 Border #4
13	3430	41	9635 Leg #4
14	3610	42	9815
15	3790	43	9995 LX_05
16	3970	44	10175
17	4705 Border #2	45	10355
18	4885 Leg #2	46	10535
19	5065	47	10715
20	4245	48	10895
21	5425 LX_03	49	11075
22	5605	50	11255
23	5785	51	11435
24	5965	52	11615
25	6145	53	11795
		54	11975
		55	12155
		56	12335
		57	12515 cyclorama
		58	12695 backing blacks
		59	12875 Border #5
		60	13055 Leg #5
		61	13870
		62	14050
		63	14230
		64	14410
		65	14590
		66	14770
		67	14950
		68	15130
		69	15310
		70	15490
		71	15670
		72	15850
		73	16030

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This page last updated Monday, October 3, 2005