The Rental Roster and the Removed Seats
The Hollis, a 900-seat 1927 historic theatre, rents to a corporate client for a four-day product launch. The client wants to remove 12 row-A seats for a runway, add a 20-foot stage extension, and hang a 400-pound LED wall from the existing fly system. Load-in is Monday 8:00 a.m.; tech Tuesday; event Wednesday; load-out must end Thursday by 6:00 p.m. A symphony concert loads in Friday at 7:30 a.m. with a 7:30 p.m. call. The theatre has 14 wheelchair spaces; four are in row A. The fire marshal's posted capacity is 900. The rental contract carries a $2,500 damage deposit and requires a certificate of insurance. The client wants to sell tickets on its own platform and use its own ushers. The venue has one certified rigger on call, but she is booked until Tuesday. The client's production schedule has no float.
1. Evaluate the three technical requests. Which can be approved, which must be modified, and which must be denied as proposed?
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The runway and seat removal cannot be approved as proposed because four of the theatre's 14 wheelchair spaces are in row A. Removing 12 row-A seats would reduce accessible seating below the required number and likely eliminate companion seating. Offer to create the runway by removing seats from a non-accessible row or by using a temporary runway that preserves the row-A accessible spaces and egress paths. The stage extension can be approved only after checking sightlines, fire lanes, and aisle widths; it must not block exits or reduce the posted capacity.
The 400-pound LED wall should not be hung from the existing fly system without a structural engineer's letter, load calculations, and a certified rigger's approval. The fly system is not a generic point-load grid, and the venue's rigger is unavailable until Tuesday, which conflicts with the Monday load-in. Approve a ground-supported truss instead, or move the hang to Tuesday night with the certified rigger and a revised schedule. Do not let the client's no-float schedule pressure the venue into an unengineered hang.
2. How should the venue handle the client's ticketing platform, ushers, and accessible ticket sales?
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The client may sell tickets on its own platform only if the venue retains control of the house inventory and the accessible-seat inventory. The venue should require a written allocation, a shared seating chart, and compliance with the venue's accessible ticketing line and refund policy. The client's platform must not hide or delay accessible seats, and it must collect the same accessibility requests the venue would. The venue also needs a reconciliation process for will-call and comps, because the client's counts cannot be allowed to exceed the fire-marshal capacity of 900.
Client ushers can be used for customer service, but they must be trained and supervised by the venue house manager, and venue ushers must remain responsible for evacuation, safety, and accessibility. The client's ushers should not control the accessible entrance or make seating decisions without the house manager. Put these conditions in the rental agreement and require the client to staff the accessible ticketing line. If the client cannot meet them, the venue should sell the tickets itself.
3. What schedule, insurance, and deposit conditions should be attached before approving the rental?
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The schedule is the biggest operational risk. Load-out ends Thursday at 6:00 p.m., and the symphony loads in Friday at 7:30 a.m.; that leaves little time for restoration, cleaning, and a changeover. Require a venue walkthrough at 4:00 p.m. Thursday with a signed restoration checklist, and build a two-hour buffer before the symphony load-in. If the client's no-float schedule cannot accommodate that, require the client to pay for venue crew standby and a pre-approved overtime plan.
Require a certificate of insurance naming the venue as additional insured, with limits appropriate to the rigging and audience load. Hold the $2,500 damage deposit and clarify that it does not cap the client's liability for structural or seat damage. Require the fire marshal's approval for the runway, stage extension, and any capacity change. Approve the rental only with these conditions written into the contract; do not rely on verbal assurances from the client's production manager.