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Recent updates include a new sound system, lighting bridge and improvements for the performers

BY ANNE STRAUB
Brevard Technical Journal

By nature of the definition, that description doesn’t apply for long, and so Brevard County’s premier entertainment venue spent the past summer undergoing a renovation to improve its sound system and views from the balcony.

Technical Operations Manager, Tim Freese stands outside the newly renovated Maxwell C. King Center

“It’s killer in there now,” Technical Operations Manager Tim Freese said of the sound system after $200,000 in improvements. The changes added new speakers, amplifiers and processing equipment with digital components.

One new feature will mean a lot to anyone who has every tried to adjust sound in a large space. By using a computerized tablet, a technician can adjust levels and equalization from any point in the 2,000-seat theater. Instead of running back to the sound board or giving instructions to a sound engineer at the board, the person deciding the sounds to tweak can do it remotely.

Those who have viewed performances from the balcony, which the King Center calls its grand tier, will appreciate another change. A lighting bridge that previously hung down well into the field of vision of ticket holders now is tucked well into the ceiling. The improvement involved raising the ceiling almost 10 feet to make room.

In its previous location, the lighting bridge didn’t obscure the view of the stage. However, it contributed to a sense of watching a performance from far away, as if with the constraints of a letterbox picture on a television set.

“You felt like you were in a different room,” Freese said of the rear part of the grand tier before the change. “There was an imaginary boundary people wouldn’t buy tickets behind. Honestly, we didn’t blame them.”

Freese noticed the difference in audience reaction to shows. He made a habit of checking the production quality on the main floor by the sound board, and then upstairs in the grand tier. The mood upstairs would be more subdued.

“Now, when you sit up there, you really feel part of what’s going on,” Freese said. In addition to raising the bridge, workers added ceiling tiles in a checkerboard pattern, matching the ceiling above the orchestra level seating. He sees the improvement in the balcony when he checks out audience reaction during shows. “There’s a lot more audience participation – which is ultimately what this is all about,” he said.
He expects artists who have previously performed at the King Center to notice the changes, as well. The renovation added more dressing rooms and a more convenient entrance for performers. “That doesn’t mean as much to the people sitting out front, but for us, that’s huge,” Freese said.

The improvements will make an already popular venue more attractive. “Artists tend to remember the King Center and rate it highly when planning future tours,” Freese said. He credits the appreciative reception. “Artists tend to spend longer on stage here than they say they’re going to, and I think it’s because of the audience,” he said.

Freese, who holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from Oral Roberts University, previously worked for a 12,000-seat arena in Tulsa, Okla. He’s been at the King Center since it opened, so he’s been through his share of technical updating.

A major renovation came in 1995, when the King Center replaced its fly system, the series of pipes that cross the stage high in the air and hold anything that’s suspended, such as backdrops. The first system was motorized and was thought to be the next generation in fly systems. But because of the motorization, there was room for only 35 pipes, and the automation moved slowly. The renovation replaced that system with 63 pipes operated manually, so they can be moved as quickly or slowly as desired.

That change brought the King Center into a new category of offerings – the big Broadway production. Before 1995, “Les Mis would not have come here,” Freese said of the Tony award-winning sensation, “Now, it’s been here twice.”

The King Center’s current schedule includes performances by Glen Campbell, Andy Williams and Clay Aiken, as well as productions of “Oklahoma!” and “Chicago, The Musical.”

The venue qualifies Brevard as a stop in the schedule for many traveling productions that previously had nowhere to perform in the county. “There was no venue to house the big shows. The King Center is the place,” said Kay Burk, president and CEO of the Brevard Cultural Alliance.

She compliments the King Center leadership on its responsible management, but wishes Brevard offered the financial backing for the arts that she sees in other Florida communities. “We keep having to scramble to catch up to state of the art here,” she said. “Our community has always been very frugal in its support of the arts.”

While she’s grateful to the corporate and individual donors who made the $1.3 million upgrade possible, she’d like to see more funding. “The only way you’re going to have the best is to invest in the best,” Burk said. “It’s wonderful that we’re able to keep upgrading, but it will always be running fast to catch up.”