Stagedoor Manor Alumni Theater

TYPOLOGY: Performing Arts

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CLIENT: Stagedoor Manor

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LOCATION: Loch Sheldrake, New York

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SIZE: 5,000sf

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COLLABORATORS:  Theater Design Inc., Acoustic Distinctions, Derive Engineers, Proper & O’Leary Engineering

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STATUS: Fundraising

 

SERVICES: Programming, Concept Design, Schematic Design 

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DESCRIPTION: 

Founded in 1975, the Stagedoor Manor is a performing arts summer camp with a rich history fostering the careers of many successful actors and performers, including Natalie Portman, Robert Downey Jr., Mandy Moore, Zach Braff. They called on DBA for programming and design of a new, 5,000-square foot black box theater.

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Their goal was to create a highly flexible space to support maximal creativity, which is essential for education in a performing arts learning environment such as this. The theater will be used for a multitude of performance types, along with rehearsals and classes.

 

While the first floor of the building is designed to house the theater with front- and back-of-house spaces, a lower level is reserved for storage, mechanical, and workshop spaces.

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Crossover space and access to an outdoor performance deck plus dressing rooms and bathrooms are accessed through an open-air breezeway, which was designed to reduce enclosure and construction costs. This takes advantage of a program operated exclusively during the summertime.

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The acoustics of the theatre are designed to support un-amplified voices with sound control to balance amplified instruments and sound effects. 

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The building’s structural system design combines concrete foundations with a hybrid steel, heavy timber construction above ground. To keep the interior space as flexible as possible, the building is designed as a long span system to prevent obstruction within the space.