SHARPSVILLE, Pa. – Area Community Theatre of Sharpsville, better known as ACTS, has become the first theater in the region to install a permanent high-definition video backdrop screen on its stage to show scenery and locations during performances.
But it won’t be the last.
The $45,000 device at the theater in downtown Sharon, Pa., will get its first use in October, when ACTS presents “The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy.”
The backdrop screens represent a sea change in the theater industry. No longer will the theater have to build sets – a process that takes up time, resources and a lot of precious space.
The screens have been embraced by Broadway and touring productions in recent years because they vastly reduce the number of tractor-trailers needed to transport a set from city to city.
While the technology is in the early stages of filtering down to the community theater level, its advantages cannot be ignored.
Some local companies have switched to projections to portray a location – including Opera Western Reserve and Easy Street Productions – but they have used stationary scenes with low-definition.
The 16-foot by 16-foot wall of circuitry that has been installed on the rear wall of the ACTS stage produces eye-popping visuals that are stunningly clear and bright. The scenery can be put in motion like a video, adding to the realism of a show.
The screen has 1.6 million LEDs that produce a level of clarity that exceeds high definition, according to Tom Perman, president of the ACTS board of directors and a co-founder of the theater.
The backdrop scenery moves like a film, adding fluidity or creating a specific mood.
Many musicals now come with optional digital scenery software that theaters can purchase and use in performances, according to Susan Piccirilli, vice president of the ACTS board and a co-founder of the theater. ACTS has purchased the digital package for its production of “The Addams Family.”
EXPENSIVE TECHNOLOGY
Funding for the video wall came in the form of a $20,000 grant from Visit Mercer County, the tourism bureau; a $20,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio; and $5,000 raised by the theater.
The technology will also be used in nontheatrical productions. It was used in a recent Taylor Swift-themed fundraiser event and will also be incorporated into a new series of tribute band concerts this season, Piccirilli says.
The theater can also create its own digital backdrops, and it will do just that for its holiday season show, “A Rat Pack Christmas.”
While it will vastly streamline the set building aspect of mounting a show, ACTS will continue to use smaller set pieces and props in its shows, Piccirilli says.
ACTS was founded 15 years ago at the Pierce Opera House in Sharpsville, Pa. It moved into its new home, a former church at the intersection of West State and Irvine streets in downtown Sharon during the 2022-23 season. ACTS purchased the former Sacred Heart Catholic Church building in 2021 and renovated it into a theater, with a smaller cabaret space in the basement.
Perman describes the new high-definition video wall as “a milestone for this organization that will propel us into the future.”
Indeed, the purchase puts ACTS among the vanguard of early adopters of a technology that is destined to become an essential for all community theaters.
John Cox, president of The Youngstown Playhouse, says the technology has been brought up at his theater. But nothing definitive has come of it. “It does save money in the long run, though,” Cox says.
Perman says the video wall will bring about subtle changes in how the director and actors prepare and rehearse a show.
“Blocking will change now that we have this,” he says. “It’s definitely a transformation.”
Blocking is a theater term that refers to the location of actors on stage during scenes and their movements.
MULTIPLE ADVANTAGES
Perman and Piccirilli had seen the high-def video walls in touring Broadway productions in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. They knew it would be a great enhancement to ACTS because of the theater’s smallish stage and lack of wing space.
It will also make rehearsals easier.
“Eight weeks before a show, there would be set pieces everywhere,” Perman says. “This is a cleaner approach.”
The wall could also help generate revenue.
The construction and dismantling of sets has forced ACTS to decline rental inquiries in the past. “We’ve turned them down because we had a set on stage and couldn’t move it,” Piccirilli says.
The high-def screen will vastly reduce the theater’s downtime before and after shows, giving ACTS a larger window to schedule outside bookings.
Ultimately, the greatest benefit will go to the audience.
“One of our original directors always said, ‘Theater is an illusion that we have to create,’” Perman says. “That didn’t make a lot of sense to me personally at the time, until I started building a set piece.”
The LED wall will make it easier for the theater to create an illusion – and for audiences to be swept up in it.
Tickets for ACTS 2024-25 season are on sale at ActSharpsville.org or by phone at 724 815 4388. Performances start at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays, unless otherwise noted.
Here is the 2024-25 season:
- “ACTS Miscast,” a revue of Broadway songs, Sept. 27-29.
- “Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy,” Oct. 11-13, 18-20.
- “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Oct. 26 at 9 p.m.
- “A Rat Pack Christmas,” Dec. 6-8.
- “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” March 28-30, April 4-6 and 11-12.
- “And then There Were None,” May 9-11, 16-18.
- “ACTS Sings! A ’70s Summer,” June 6-8.
Here is the tribute concert series:
- Silver Springs, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band concert, Nov. 9.
- Doug Church: The True Voice of Elvis, Nov. 23.
- Face 2 Face: The Music of Elton John and Billy Joel, April 25.
Pictured at top: Tom Perman unveils the new high-definition video backdrop at ACTS Theater in Sharon, Pa. Perman was speaking to media and invited guests at an unveiling event Sept. 4.