Less than one month to go...

Last week, someone asked me what would happen to the acoustics in the auditorium by building up into the dome. Those ‘in the know’ often preferred to sit in old rows M backwards – particularly for musicals – because the sound would travel to the back wall and bounce back off the dome. Well, again, it’s hard to be certain until the auditorium is full of seats and people, but it appears that the acoustics are just as good and possibly better. The guys had the radio playing from the stage yesterday and couldn’t believe how loud it sounded halfway up the new raking because of the bouncing effect.

So what’s happened since Friday? Both sound and lighting booths now have plasterboard walls and the electricians have obviously been around as there are suddenly lots of recesses appearing for plug sockets. The second tier of steps has been built and fixed into position, enabling a gentler ascent of the raking, which is now completely finished right up to the very back.

There are also two small walls built at either end of row F – this is because row E is shorter than row F by two seats and there is effectively no seat in front of F1 and F13 to break a fall onto the floor! I have the feeling these two seats may end up being referred to as ‘the boxes’. One wall of the front of house corridor has been built and you can now appreciate that the height of the raking not only allows the creation of said corridor but also greatly improves head height down in much of the furniture store (the pool).

What you probably most want to see is the view from the top. So here it is – although this was taken at standing head height, not sitting head height, during our get-in and morning cuppa at 7.30 today. Scott is very kindly standing on the stage to give an idea of scale. I’m not sure how well this shot really comes over, as all that wood has the effect of blending together rather than clearly outlining the steps. I suspect once the seats are installed it will have more impact.