TSB Theatre Showplace

The TSB Showplace is a spectacular venue centrally located on New Plymouth’s main street offering three venues within one complex – the TSB Theatre, the Theatre Royal providing an intimate setting with seats on a modern rollaway system and the Alexandra Room with its excellent conference and exhibition facilities. The venue also features three bars, foyer areas, a ticketing office, in-house catering and technical services.

The TSB Showplace is on Devon St in New Plymouth’s CBD.

Technical services
In-house technical support for sound, lighting, audio visual and event themeing can be provided. Under arrangement, hirers can provide their own sound and lighting or add to what is already in the venue.

Catering: The TSB Showplace has resident contract caterers, MacFarlanes Catering, who must be used for all food and beverage requirements.

Theatre history
The theatre was originally built in 1883 and known as the Alexander Hall. It was enlarged in 1904 and sold to the New Plymouth Theatre Company and renamed the Theatre Royal. It was then destroyed by fire in 1916.

After being rebuilt it opened in 1925 as the New Plymouth Opera House. It continued mainly as picture theatre until 1969 when it fell into disuse. Support from New Plymouth District Council and TSB Bank finally saw a refurbished theatre open in 1999.

Previous TSB Showplace events include John Cleese; Taranaki Arts Festival; Vienna Boys Choir; local Operatic Society shows including Les Miserable, Joseph, Annie and 42nd Street; Chamber of Commerce Awards; Western Institute of Technology in Taranaki graduation; Dairy Institute Association of New Zealand conference and tradeshow; Spotswood College ball;
Imperial Russian Ballet.

Alexandra Room
The Alexandra Room is a versatile venue with superb acoustics and street level access. The venue is available in various configurations and is suitable for a variety of events including conferences, presentations, exhibitions, weddings, dinners, etc.

Capacity: The flat floor area seats up to 200 in a variety of configurations.

Theatre RoyalThe Theatre Royal is a black box-style, multi-purpose theatre ideal for smaller musical and drama productions and choral performances. Retractable seating allows for various configurations including dinners, dances, balls, catwalk shows, graduation ceremonies, presentations, media events, exhibitions and conferences.

Seating: Theatre seating 410, dining 230.

Dimensions: Theatre width 16.9m, length 22m and ceiling height 5m.
Public areas: Adjacent bar and foyer, with entrance foyer and ticketing at street level.
Disabled access: Via public lift from street level foyer.

Stage access: Service lift backstage from loading dock at street level above. Lift 3.6m x 2.6m x 2.6m high. Width through lift doors 2.29m.

Stage dimensions: Stage extends through open backstage area to rear wall 19m. Stage height 0.5m

Dressing rooms: Opening direct to backstage, plus small green room and toilets. Access to TSB Theatre dressing rooms and facilities (located under the TSB Theatre stage) is also available.

Lighting: Pipe lighting grid over audience and stage. Including:

Lx control: 48 way Theatrelight Cuemaster.
Dimmers: Four Theatrelight 12-packs.
Luminaries: 12 1.2k Selecon fresnels, six 1.2k Selecon pcs.
Other lighting units are available from other theatres in the TSB Showplace depending on show requirements.Return to top

TSB Theatre Previously known as the New Plymouth Opera House, the TSB Theatre is an original three-tier theatre (stalls, circle and gallery) with great acoustics.

Seating: Traditional proscenium theatre seating 963 to 455 in the stalls, 218 in the circle and 290 in the gallery (including four boxes, seating four).

Backstage access: The backstage area opens into an adjacent building that houses the foyer and ticketing area and another theatre.

Stage access: Through loading dock backstage stage right, 2.42m wide by 5.6m high

Public areas: Foyer and ticketing area directly off street.

Disabled access: Via public lift from foyer.
Dressing rooms: Ten, of various sizes, located off the central green room under stage with full laundry facilities, dishwasher and fridge.

Stage manager controls: House light control (also rear stalls, lx control).

Other facilities: Steinway 12 foot grand piano, 6'6" Yamaha grand piano and Petrov upright piano.

Stage description

Rake 1:64 (from setting line back).
Proscenium width 8.914m, height 7.191m.
Forestage to setting line 1.680m.
Setting line to rear wall 11.420m.
Stage width 17.859m (lock-handles of counterweights to opposite wall pillar) - maximum width from lock-handles of counterweights through stage right opening 26.569m.
Distance between fly floors 13.912m.
Height under fly floors - downstage 6.996m, upstage 6.824m, height to bottom chord of downstage principal 13.691m, height to bottom chord of upstage principal 13.626m, minimum height to underside of grid 16.343m.
Lighting

Lx control: 48 way Theatrelight Cuemaster Plus with softpatch.
Dimmers: Three Theatrelight Mk1 10 packs, two Theatrelight Mk1 5k five packs (stage right wall opposite side to theatre), two Theatrelight 12 packs (stage right fly floor). These are able to be moved.
Luminaires: 22 Selecon 1.2k Fresnels.
Four by four-unit Selecon cyc lights.
Nineteen Sun floods 0.5k.
Fourteen 1k medium zoom spots.
One Selecon Performer MSR Followspot.Return to top
Designer's tips: The front-of-house lighting bar around the gallery front and extending down to each box (visible in the panorama above), while in a useful position, is too close to the gallery front and plasterwork for profiles to be easily focused.
The centre of the battens is not the centre of the stage (about 0.100m to stage right) because of the diameter of the pulley in the grid block.

The batten centres up and downstage do not coincide with the lock-handle centres up and downstage for their lines because the lines splay out in the grid. However, the actual measurements of each batten centre upstage of the setting line are written beside the lock handles (see hanging plot below).

The lock handles for the first five lines are in the stage left fly floor because of the door at stage level stage left.