The Market Centre Building
If you have seen the Historical Perspectives page, you will know that there is a lot of history to be told about the Market Center Building. Construction was begun on this building in July 1895. 102 years later, in the summer of 1997, the Woodstock Little Theatre began its first summer season with Nunsense. The tradition of the building that brought people together to do their weekly shopping, now still brings people together to listen to good concerts and be entertained by good theatre.
Here we see the east end of the Market Building which is the front door to the theatre. The outside box office (not in view) is to the left side of the building. Step through the front doors and you will see another box office window.
But in order to transform the Market Building into a modern theatre many renovations had to take place. As you enter the front door to your right is the inside box office window and immediately you would see this stairway up to the theatre. If you were to go downstairs to the left you would walk down to a great multi-purpose room, the washrooms, the kitchen, the green room, and large change rooms for our performers. It is all quite a wonderful change from our old theatre.
At intermission time, this is where patrons chat and have a drink. This room can also be used for lectures, mini-conferences and a very comfortable meeting room.
This full service kitchen is wonderful. From here theatre staff can serve drinks (both hot and cold) to theatre patrons. And if the room is used for mini-conferences, small buffet meals could be served from this kitchen.
The Green Room is traditionally the rehearsal space for all performances. At any one time racks of clothes for the next show can be seen lining the walls, and drawing or artist sketches of sets cover tables scattered about the room. Here we see the lounge area with posters of all the past shows and awards won by WLT. If you've ever done a show with the WLT, your name or picture just might be up on these walls. Office space and carpentry shops are also found near this room.
Rarely seen by the general public this is the one room every actor finds "home" during a shows' run; the change room. Our new modern change rooms boasts long full length mirrors, counters, lots of good lighting, and even showers. This is a drastic change from our other theatre space.
Let's Go Upstairs
This is a view of the theatre from the back looking at the stage. The theatre comfortablely seats 250 people. The floor is "raked", which means everyone can see the stage without having to look between the heads of those in front. Sound levels are also excellent. In the picture below, you can see some of the speakers for the multi-media presentations. On stage we have a reverse screen and a big screen video projector for mini-conference or lecture presentations.
This is a look at the "house" from the stage. Overhead is a part of the lighting grid, and along the far end wall, the windows of the stage manager's booth. Notice the overhead natural lighting. Special covers automatically move into position during day-time performances in order to give the necessary blackouts.
This is a look at the inside of the booth. From here the stage manager directs the performance. The lighting, the sound and stage directions all come from this sound proof booth.
Pictures thanks to Jason Ransom
