Fisher Theatre Self-Guided Backstage Tour Stop 9
The final stop on our backstage tour is THE STAGE!
This is truly where the theatrical magic happens. If you look out into the house (which can hold up to 2,058 audience members), you can imagine what it feels like to be a performer looking out into the audience.
Some things you might notice:
Look straight out to the back of the main floor. See the sign we put up. This is where the show’s sound and light board operators will be. Why in the house? For sound, it is possible to hear all of the sound for a production through headphones, but that doesn’t allow the technician to know what is actually happening in the space. Sound and Light Board technicians can best trouble shoot and adjust to surprises of live theatre when they are in the house hearing and seeing exactly what we are.
Some things to notice on the stage... Stage directions (Stage Left / Stage Right) are based on the actor's point of view looking into the theatre. Most of the Stage Management work takes place on Stage Left. The chair in the photo below is typically where a stage manager will sit to "call" the show.
As we mentioned at the start of this tour, as a touring house we have very little equipment in house, so most shows travel with their own call board station where the stage managers are set up to see / run the equipment from their own travelling set up.
You'll notice that our stage floor is very simple, black painted wood. Almost all Broadway shows and many touring concerts bring their own flooring with them to lay down on our stage floor. The photos below are from the 2024 Tour of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Look all the way up the back of the balcony. See the windows up there along the back wall? This is the Spot Booth. This is where the spotlights are operated. Just like the actors will sign the mirrors in dressing rooms, the technicians have their own similar tradition. Many shows will decorate a small part of the walls up in the Spot Booth to memorialize their visit here.
Another very unique part of the spot booth, it is one of the few places in the building where someone can see the original mosaic flooring that used to line the floors of the whole theatre before the remodel in 1961!
