Disney Concert Hall's hidden artistic achievements.

For all the praise being offered by the exterior of the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, what has the pocket protector crowd really agog is what's behind the walls.

Surrounding the audience on every side, top and bottom, are some of the latest innovations in theater technology.

From lighting to acoustical controls, the technology employed at the $274 million concert hall "is absolutely world-leading," according to Bob Watson, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Protech Theatrical Services Inc.

"Protech, based in North Las Vegas, Nev., was one of the firms that designed the technological centerpiece of the main hall's stage--cutting-edge platform risers than can lift the orchestra and chorus.

The orchestra platform is comprised of 13 separate semi-circular sections radiating from the conductor's stand, allowing the height of the orchestra to be staggered. Each section has a dedicated motorized lift under the stage that controls its height. In a minute, each section can be raised a maximum of four feet, depending on the needs of the performance.

The choral seats, comprised of several rows, can be raised 11 feet above the orchestra platform.

"It gives the orchestra more flexibility as far as spacing, and there's labor savings as well," said David Rosenburg, senior project manager for Theatre Projects Consultants Inc., the South Norwalk, Conn.-based consultancy hired by the Music Center to oversee the lighting and stage systems at the hall.

The system is controlled from the backstage stage manager's booth, which houses a touchscreen computer panel running a software program that automates the process.

When a key is pressed to move a stage section, motorized chains pull or push the lifts. The stage manager can move any orchestra section up and down using the systems control panel or an 8-by-10 inch wireless remote device. For safety reasons, the sections are not lifted with the orchestra on it.

Protech has provided lift systems and operational software for dozens of theaters in Europe and North America, only one of which has the same remote control functionality as Disney Hall.

The company first worked for the Music Center two years ago, when it was contracted to install risers at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the old home of the philharmonic, due to mechanical problems with its older hydraulic system.

The Chandler had risers installed for three sections, a project that paled in comparison to the 13 sections with individual risers--all controlled by a wireless remote device--required in the new concert hall, which enables instrument rows to be adjusted while orchestra members walk on stage.

Protech designed the lift system with Sterling Heights, Mich.-based Serapid USA Inc.

The difference between the riser systems at Disney Hall and Dorothy Chandler's nonmechanical platforms was apparent at the new venue's second gala event on Oct. 24.

During an intermission to John Adam's "The Dharma at Big Sur," several heavy percussion instruments were brought down using a lift and quickly wheeled off stage. At Dorothy Chandler, a stage crew would have labored for hours to bring the instruments down from the platforms.

There are also acoustical advantages to the riser system.

"Because it's able to elevate different elements of the symphony, it has an impact on how they hear each other and then impacts how it sounds because of that," said Watson.

Lighting controls

The lighting system at Disney Hall also has advanced capabilities. Each light along the ceiling works as part of a computer network that can be controlled from terminals at the stage manager's booth, the sound booth directly behind the audience, and the lighting booth one floor above the sound booth.

Key to the system is simplicity. "It's not rocket science. One person can do it. If you are a stage hand and understand how to operate a light board, you can do this," said Rosenburg.

Theatre Project Consultants, which designed the fighting system, also made a laptop-sized console that can be plugged into ports within the audience seating section. The console was designed to give technicians the ability to make lighting adjustments during rehearsals from the perspective of the audience.

In many ways, delays in the construction of Disney Hall led to implementation of a more sophisticated lighting system.

Originally conceived in the early 1990s but delayed by lack of funding, the hall was revived just at the point where computers were able to communicate with light fixtures via networking equipment like the routers and hubs used in standard office Ethernet systems. Before, theaters used slower, less adaptable proprietary systems to automate lighting that could not be used with portable computer equipment, said Rosenburg.

The light fixtures in the main hall, too, are more technically advanced than those of older theaters. Since the late 1990s, dichroic cold metal has replaced aluminum as the material used in lighting fixtures. The new material is better at deflecting heat, keeping the performers and audience cooler and lessening the wear on the hall's materials.

Subterranean alternative

Tucked beneath the main concert hall is the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, known as Redcat, a complex that is technologically advanced in both its operations and construction.

A key concern in building Redcat was buffering it from the massive sound vibrations coming above from the concert hall and the adjacent parking garage. To absorb the vibrations, its foundation sits on two huge slivers of concrete sandwiching 72 rubber pads.

Redcat is geared for performances that blend video and music with live performances. To accommodate the diverse demands of various media, it has combined high-speed data communications using fiber optic cables with a system that allows the automated adjustment of the angles of the walls and adjustment of its seating.

"We'll have video, art, dance, theater and light packages all on stage at one time. It's hard to put them up if you don't have the infrastructure," said Lorrie Snyder, technical director at Redcat.

Everything in the theater, including the seats, walls, sound lighting and video, is centrally controlled from the projector room behind the seats.

There, the angle of the wails can be adjusted to suit the sounds of different performances. The seats can be lifted up or pushed forward by an underlying hydraulic system. There are three film projectors, a digital video projector and an amplifier system custom designed for film and video sound by El Segundo-based Edwards Technologies Inc.

Also part of Redcat is a 3,000-square-foot art gallery tethered to the fiber optic network and the projection room. The gallery, set to open later this year, can pipe in audio and video content from the theater.

The Redcat system may be ultra fast, but its control center's lighting, audio, digital video and film functions are not interconnected through software yet.

"Within three or four years I should be able to run the house from a laptop," said Snyder.