Construction Update the Third!

The construction team is just clicking right along. We have the frame for the new stage and the risers up.

The stage is the object to the right, the seat risers to the left. There will be some seats on ground level. Most of the seats are removable so we can reconfigure if we want to. We'll also have a few tall cabaret tables in case we want to do something a little bit different.

Then the work to make it a safe and functional stage started.

The upper level is getting all built out.

And the latest is the staircase to the upper level. We had to have the steel frame custom made but it's up and ready for some actual stairs!

Exciting! It's starting to feel like an actual theatre!

Construction Update

We broke ground at our new facility on Broadway in downtown Redwood City a few weeks ago and our contractor, Louis, is just building like crazy and it's starting to look like, you know, a theatre!

We started like this, at the July Sneak Peek event:

The staircase is on the left, there's a half balcony with office space, and under the stairs are offices. There's HVAC piping all over the place for the heating and cooling systems.

Then demolition happened. First the carpeting was pulled up.

 Then the HVAC piping came down.

Then walls started coming down.

The offices under the stairs are basically where the backstage will be.

Looking to the front from the back of the building. That open space on the right WAS office space. 

And the side staircase came out and the framing for the walls went up.

Louis conferring with our architects from Chiu Lao Architecture Design.

The mezzanine walls were gutted because we're expanding it. We'll have an office, a classroom, the tech booth, and a small balcony upstairs when we're done.

All of the walls are getting framed out so the shape of the theatre is becoming more clear.

This is the view from the current front door. 

This is the view of the new lobby.

The framing for the upstairs.

This is the back wall of the theatre where the fixed seats will go.

Not bad for only a few weeks work! We're making great progress on our fundraising efforts but still have a ways to go. If you can help us with a gift, please visit our fundraising page for details on how you can help build the next generation of the Dragon Theatre in downtown Redwood City!

Enter the Dragon!

We've not been shy about telling everyone that this will be our last season in our current home at 535 Alma Street in downtown Palo Alto. As much as we love love LOVE our current home, we're actually outgrowing it. Last season we had regular sell outs. We rent the space out as often as we can to other groups needing a theatre for a magic show, a work shop, a one-woman show,  and off-site company meeting, or whatever. And the fact of the matter is, we've flat out hit capacity. We've had to start turning some rentals away because we just don't have the room. With rent going up and our revenue stream basically maxed out, we realized it was time to think about something bigger. Not a ton bigger, we like that we're small. We're proud to do what we do up close and personal. But we do need room to grow. We have some ideas for the future and 42 seats just isn't enough any more.

So... for about 10 months or so our Executive Artistic Director, Meredith, has been working with a realtor to find the home of Dragon 3.0. See, Dragon 1.0 was an itinerant company searching for a permanent home. Dragon 2.0 landed in Palo Alto. And now in the middle of our 7th year in Palo Alto, we're on the move with Dragon 3.0. And we're moving to the "theatre district" in downtown Redwood City.

It was important to us to find a new space with the following requirements:
1. ample, easy, and cheap parking
2. in an area where we can be a part of a community
3. in an area where you can grab dinner or drinks and walk around safely before or after the show.
4. more space for a price that we can reach and sustain. A space that is still an intimate space, but that gets us more seats, a backstage, better storage, private office space, a classroom, and a studio for rehearsals or smaller events.

We think that our new location at 2120 Broadway Street in downtown Redwood City hits all of these requirements.

Meredith recently sat down with Rebecca Wallace at the Palo Alto Weekly to fill her in on the move -  check out the article here for full details on the new space, including some pictures of the theatre and a draft of the new facility's blueprints!

So yes, we're leaving Palo Alto, but we're not going far. It's just a stop or two up the Caltrain route and is really easy to get to in your car with has lots of parking nearby. We're in the final stages of permit approval and lease negotiation and all that necessary legal stuff, but hope to start construction this summer. We'll be posting updates and photos as we go along so you can see how it's going.

We will be opening our 2013 season at this new space so we've only got 2 more shows in Palo Alto.

In the meantime, we will be needing a lot of support this summer as moving is never fun or easy. We'll need volunteers to help us pack, move, paint, install things, clean up the old space, and likely a million other things that we haven't even thought about yet. If you've got some time to spare in the second half of the year, please contact our Company Manger, Jason, at jason@dragonproductions.net as he's starting a list of people to call on when we need all hands on deck later this year.

We're also ramping up the biggest fundraising effort in Dragon history. If you would like to make a special gift to Dragon this year, please contact me, Kim, at kim@dragonproductions.net and we can talk about how you can pitch in to help the Dragon Theatre 3.0 become a reality in Redwood City!

Save some time on the evening of July 7th for a party at the new space in Redwood City. We'll be letting you, our loyal Dragon family, in for a full 2013 Sneak Peek - you can come tour the new space, take a closer look at the latest renderings from the architects, and nibble on some desserts while we unveil scenes from our 2013 season. We'll be sending out an email at the end of this week with all the details so watch your inbox!

Thanks so much for reading this big old thing. We are SO EXCITED about this next phase in the life of Dragon Productions Theatre Company and hope that you are too!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at info@dragonproductions.net or me directly at kim@dragonproductions.net !

See you at the theatre!

--Kimberly Wadycki
Marketing & Development Manager
Dragon Productions Theatre Company