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Parke Players, Inc |
Ritz Theater Restoration The Ritz Theater auditorium has retained its original configuration with only a few modifications over the last nine decades. Originally the theater had a seating capacity of six hundred arranged in the same three sections in use today. Just like all opera houses of the day, there was an orchestra pit at the foot of the stage that survives but is covered over by the apron extension built in the 1970's. While a substantial bit of construction, the apron can be removed to reveal the pit basically untouched. There has been talk of making the apron removable so that the orchestra pit can be used in special circumstances. The principal difference in the room's design since its construction is the inner lobby structure at the back of the room. This new lobby area was built in1937 as a noise and light buffer between the outer lobby and the auditorium. The inner lobby also allowed more organized access to each of the four aisles through its new decorative medieval archways. Two of which also led to the theater's two primitive restrooms described in detail in the restroom renovation page of this renovation section. In 1937, the auditorium was modified with massive amounts of acoustic treatment to better facilitate the electronic sound equipment required to exhibit the new "talkies". (Motion pictures with sound) Silent motion pictures were presented periodically throughout the twenties using portable 35mm projectors but were not shown on a regular basis until 1929 when projection equipment was permanently installed. Rockville was no different than most other small towns in that movie sound technology was slow to make its way into the theaters and silent films were common during the 1930's. The new acoustic treatment created an almost acoustically "flat" (perfect) room, a fairly rare and much sought after attribute in auditoriums that employ electronic audio enhancement. Large baffles were constructed over the upper house walls to soften the sound reflections of the angular room. The baffles were made of eight foot long strips of soft fiber board mounted on a frame made of 1x4'' lumber. These baffles curved out over the auditorium and no doubt looked "modern" at the time. They served well over the years until their soft light brown surface became worn and laden with dust . By the time they were removed in 2003, they were actually beginning to fall off of the framework. During the 1937 remodeling, new fangled "indirect lighting" was mounted on the upper lateral supports of the baffle structure and offered soft and even house lighting for the center section but left the east and west sections somewhat in the dark. Each baffle supported twenty eight incandescent lamp sockets wired in two separate circuits. There were two 14 inch circular fixtures with opaque globes on the center ceiling but they quit working in the sixties. They probably just burned out and being thirty five feet off of the floor, no one was likely to go up and change the bulbs The Ritz was originally built as the New Rockville Opera House in 1912 and the original design offered excellent acoustics for the presentation of the living entertainment that traveled the land in those days. The plaster walls and ceiling served to enhance a live sound unaided by any sort of electronic amplification. The decor within the auditorium of the original opera house was typical of the period and included magnificent murals that were centered on each of the "upper house" walls. One on the east wall of the upper house and the other on the west. The murals were identical in their design with the exception of the graphic within an oval frame at the center of each. At each side of these centerpieces were Greek youths of unspecified sex blowing double belled horns and facing opposite directions. The mural's bottom bands extended the length of the walls. We hope to learn more about this classic Edwardian art and offer several photos of what remained for us to find. The west mural was in such bad shape with falling plaster, it could not have been saved. The east mural was not in such bad shape that it could not have been preserved but poor communication and questionable management during the recent renovation allowed it to be destroyed when it could have been covered over and saved for future restoration. Both murals were extensively measured and photographed so that they can be recreated in the near future. The original 1912 seats were made of wood with no cushioning. Many had wire hat racks on the underside of the fold down seat. Modern observers almost always remark about the narrow width of these early seats and this aspect of their design played a major part in the significant difference in the seating capacity. Six hundred in 1912 and five hundred after the remodeling in 1937. The inner lobby construction was also instrumental in the reduced seating capacity. Some of the original wooden seats remained in the east front two rows until the 1937 seats were removed in 1997. The Chamber Of Commerce owned the theater in 1997 and raised money enough to replace the second generation of seating after a 1978 attempt to restore them failed to hold up. Some used seats from an auditorium in Ohio were purchased to fill the immediate need because the cost of new seats was cost prohibitive. In the future, Parke Players hopes to replace the plastic backed seats of an unfortunate color with some new or reconditioned seating that is more appropriate for our restored theater. Since the 1930's the seating capacity dropped from five hundred to four fifty and then with the 1997 seat replacement, to four hundred and five. During the 2003 renovation a new stage technical booth was built in the back of the room to replace the crude six foot by eight foot "fold down" nest built in 1997 when the seating was replaced. The new booth is fourteen by eight and is totally designed to house all of the stage technical systems for the theater. The architects designed the booth to allow for a second story location from which to operate the stage lighting. Complete Ethernet and monitor wiring have been installed to facilitate the current Strand lighting system
THE 2003 RENOVATION
THE RENOVATED AUDITORIUM
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