Hello PPAC, My Old Friend

Hi all!

Long time, no write. . .especially since I turned this into a podcast-based blog as opposed to then writing-based blog it once was. In lieu of either a long string of Twitter posts or a billion Instagram slides (is that even the term?) I wanted to write about yesterday’s event in long form. So here we are.

On Saturday, Feb 1st, 2020, Doors Open RI hosted a free open house at our state’s largest theatre, the Providence Performing Arts Center. If you listen to the podcast or follow me on social media, you probably know that this is where my husband and I have a season subscription, where I occasionally review shows for BroadwayWorld RI, and that I have a personal connection, as a former Junior Company member with Festival Ballet of Rhode Island (now Festival Ballet Providence).  Furthermore, a good chunk of my performing arts fiction series, Front & Center, takes place in this theatre, so yeah, it’s important.

When I read about this event on Facebook, I immediately was like “we need to go.” I literally had not been on that stage, or in the backstage area of PPAC, since 1997, and here was my chance.

Not having been on-stage in forever, the first thing that struck me was how much smaller the auditorium looks from up there, as opposed to sitting in the seats.

A few rows down front got cut off, but still. Every time we sit in our front balcony row B seats, we can’t help but comment on how cavernous the place feels, so I was surprised by how much it *didn’t* feel that way.

Because so many people attended (1500+!), and only 2 hours were allotted for the event, you had to choose if you wanted to get in line to see the dressing room area, or if you wanted to go up into the projection booth. Although the projection booth would have been an entirely new experience, even for me, I was eager to see backstage in its current iteration. So, we got in a very long line, which moved slowly but steadily along.

Before the line got insanely long. Excuse the highly unflattering shadows, lol.

We headed behind the back curtain, which is where you would run across if you needed to get from one side of the stage to the next quickly, always making sure not to ripple the set, lol. The line filled up FAST, so glad we got there when we did.

Random stuff near the twisty staircase up into the rafters. The door below that exist sign goes downstairs, but unfortunately it was closed. More on that in a bit.

 

Lots o’ ropes.

It was weird being in the wings without any scenery, props, or tech crew in the way, lol. I believe they had a lighting guy on hand though, as you could see the lights being moved up and down over the stage from time to time (at least I hope it was someone who knew what they were doing!). The stage manager’s screens are below and just out of sight in the lefthand corner of the above pic.

Near what would normally be the rear wings, where I made many an entrance, once upon a time.

This gives you some sense of the depth of PPAC’s stage. Also, you can kinda see near the right side of the picture the back side of the Wurlitzer, which is famous part of the theatre that doesn’t get used very often. The organist was playing show tunes and more, and even let kids take a seat and press the keys.

As we shuffled across the stage while the line moved, I got to stand near the spot that is actually pretty sad for me, because I remember the day, during one of the Sleeping Beauty pre-show warm-up classes, when I was laying on my back and staring up into the rafters. I’d been having Achille’s tendon problems for a couple of years, and it was starting to bother me again, along with my right hip and my knee. That was when I realized that it was pretty much over for me as a dancer. On one hand, it was a bit of a relief, because I was SO busy as a high schooler and ballet had been like 90% of my life since I was about 4. Unlike a lot of people who do ballet to that level, I at least *had* other interests that leaving the company would allow me to pursue, but there was also the fact that I’d no longer be performing, which *was* what I enjoyed. So, yeah.

The one place I was hoping to visit more than anywhere else was my old dressing room, which was along the downstairs corridor. Unfortunately, the public wasn’t allowed downstairs. When I mentioned this to one of the volunteers, she explained that it was because of the staircase, but that didn’t make a whole lot of sense, because there are stairs everywhere in the theatre.

I sincerely hope if they hold this event again (and they should!) that they consider making the downstairs areas available. Not only are the large dressing rooms down there, but also the space leading up to the orchestra pit and the wardrobe room (and probably some things I’m forgetting!). I was also hoping to show my husband where I used to hide the chair I’d use for a barre during the warm-up classes, in the storage space near the stairs, lol.

One thing that IS new in the backstage area is, as you can see in the image above, copious wall art. Every tour that stops through Providence designs their own wall art, which is dated and signed by the cast members.  I performed here during the first few years after PPAC was renovated so the 3rd national cast of the Phantom of the Opera tour could come here in 1995. I don’t think they were keen on decorating the walls so soon, lol. Here are a few of the notable ones (EDITED: okay, I was wrong. . .I’ve been looking at other people’s pictures from the day and just noticed Les Mis wall art in the projection room from *1996!* I stand corrected, but had no idea this was a thing back when I was there!):

Hamilton, from summer 2019

Les Mis, in the green room – art in this space is reserved for tours that kick off in Providence

In the wing space, over the stage manager’s area

STARLIGHT EXPRESS, lol

There was only one dressing room open, in which one of the employees was talking about people who’d been through on tour, but again my recommendation to the theatre would be to have more of the rooms open. People *wanted* to hear these stories, but due to the high number of people they were trying to move in and out, they were discouraging people from staying in this area too long. We at least got a chance to peek at the back stage foyer, and I again noted some changes from the 90s. I also pointed out the exact offices/dressing rooms for the times my characters perform here, lol.

ie. Mike’s office. Literally not important unless you’ve beta read any of my writing!

The green room. Plays a big part when my characters are in Assassins, but I’ve made it a little nicer, bigger, and more comfortable of a space than this, lol.

Okay, so, every time I was in a ballet, no matter what theatre, I’d whip out my disposable camera and take a picture of the soda machine. Was pleased to see one was still in then old spot. The only thing missing was the pay phone, which used to be just past where the Newsies art is, lol.

After we toured backstage, we made our way into the auditorium and tested sitting in different areas, to see where we might like to be in future seasons.

View from the last row of the mezz, where we wouldn’t mind sitting. 😉

And that’s basically it. We were there almost the entire 2 hours, and if it had been possible to see the projection room as well, we would have stayed longer. I’m glad this event was such a big hit and again, hope that Doors Open RI and PPAC will consider doing it again in the future, with a few modifications.

If you’d like to see some of my pictures from the backstage of PPAC *before* it was renovated (we’re taking early 90s), please see my older blog entry: Write What You Know? Yes and No.