To view the Operating Manual, Part I, click here.
To view the Operating Manual, Part II, click here.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
JOURNAL OF HOUSING ARTICLE (1980)
This article compares the Ohio, Atlanta Fox, and the Ocean State theatres. Bob Freeman was the mind behind the resurgence of downtown Providence.
From the Joe Patten collection.
August, 2017.
August, 2017.
PHOTOS OF OSPAC (1978)
The Loew's State - Providence (Rapp & Rapp, 3232 seats) opened in October, 1928 and reopened legit as the Ocean State Performing Arts Center (OSPAC) fifty years later. Since 1983, under the direction of Mr. Lynn Singleton, this very successful theatre has been known as the Providence Performing Arts Center. The cover of the 1978 program book:
During my tenure as head of production, operations, and capital projects commencing in August, 1978, we were continually under renovation but never closed down, not even for a day. Starting with the basics like a working stage, we opened with Ethel Merman and never looked back.
Here are some pictures and clippings, as well as a manual of operation for the facility that runs 300 pages. For the site index, click here.
These photos were taken by "Phantom of the Fox" Joe Patten, who along with OSPAC General Manager Ted Stevens had re-opened the Atlanta Fox in 1975. For his visit up to the OSPAC opening, Joe brought along the Fox walkie-talkies, but at curtain time they failed, so unable to reach Ted from backstage, I started the [very long] show without his OK. Ted was in the Main Foyer with the Rhode Island Governor Garrahy and Providence Mayor Cianci who were to speak as soon as the marching band hit the stage, and hearing the band play, the two officials rushed out the side door and up Page Street to the stage door where my ever-faithful doorman Ray Oakley refused them entry because he did not know them.
The spider-like fire escape over the alley which separated the house right side of the theatre from the Richmond Street stores:
The Main Foyer.
The Musician's Gallery.
Main Foyer, following Dario renovation 1976.
The house right organ box with new Rosco "Glame" installed by our excellent drapery volunteer and chief procurer of missing chandelier prisms, Dick Peterson.
That empty organ loft behind the Glame had been used as an office (and powder room?) by owner's son and manager Ronnie Dario when OSPAC was a rock house known as "The Palace" from 1972 until 1975. To see a list of all the music acts which have ever played this building, click here.
To counteract the dreadful flat Dario paint job, I used flame tint lamps in all the chandeliers to give the lobbies and auditorium a warm glow, as opposed to stark white normal light bulbs.
The seats which had been re-covered by the Dario's in beige Naugahyde played havoc with the acoustics. Dario's crew had removed all the wine-color mohair seats backs and bottoms and piled them on the stage, not knowing they were of varying sizes. Upon re-installation by force, none of the 3232 chairs worked properly.
The inactive "live front" DC panel in the booth. The marquee was controlled by a similar Frankenstein panel in a room off the Foyer, but with a difference-- it was ALIVE!
The Hall & Connolly follow spot.
Being a single-minded man, Joe Patten's favorite part of the theatre were the plaster attic catwalks. All the "fabulous" Fox had were wooden planks!
A scary job was relamping the dome cove. The cove lighting had been converted to blue neon which we removed and restored the amber-red-blue scheme, the blue circuited to a non-dim "Picture House" always-on circuit. The amber proved too dim, so we settled for R-W-B.
Here are some photos contributed by volunteer Liz Fields. To read her excellent published account of those early days, click here. Here am I standing at the door to Liza Minelli's dressing room, known briefly as "the Ethel Merman room." The temp Liza sign and all the permanent gold on black art deco door legends were lettered and painted by seventeen-year-old volunteer John McDermott.
The marquee is set for The Wiz (1979), a Tom Mallow bus & truck, the first legit show to play OSPAC.
The Richmond Street stores. We had to move the optician one shop over to free up his store for the new Ladies restroom.
Brian Jones (and his All Tap Revue), the opening act of the Ethel Merman show in October 1978. They rose on the pit elevator that Bob Foster slaved over for months to get working just for that fleeting moment!
Joe in the trenches, the steam tunnel beneath the stores, replacing one of the two hundred steam traps in the place. Heat at last!
Lucky the Cat.
Unknown, Joe Heelon, concessions head (volunteer) Marilyn "Lynn" Middlebrook.
Me and Liz Fields.
IA stagehand extraordinaire Mike Guy, also the OSPAC audio man. Other IA hands included the great Joe Rafferty, Roger Brett, and Tony Tauber.
The space most frequented by the volunteers: the slop room.
My Dad came to visit in May, 1979 and took these pictures. A few of the house:
The restored rosette in the auditorium dome, a quarter of which had failed and fallen in August 1978. To have it removed, repaired and replaced was a top priority. To read more, click here to see "My Own Rhode Island Ghost Story."
The rosette as seen from the dome trap door.
The fascia of the orchestra pit elevator, repainted in Dario Oxline "gold leaf" paint, available only at one hardware store on Federal Hill.
The pit pit, where Bob Foster and I spent two months. We repaired the organ and pit elevators (not operable since the 1954 hurricane), but eliminated the act lift and its motor room, to create a wide opening into the substage for wardrobe cases.
The stage, with fire curtain half-way in. The upstage door led to a quick change room and to the substage stair, the upstage door to the prop room and to the retail store alley. The up left loading door to the street is past the bank of radiators, not seen in this shot. To view the 1978 stage specifications, click here.
View facing the stage, Joe Heelon and me at the new preset board and stage switchgear which replaced the 1928 Hub board, so massive it took two days and nights to demolish. That board's basement contactor panel had been destroyed by water.
The Peter Clark lift controls had been removed (for pit and organ) and had to be replaced. The pilot lights indicate lighting contactor position (see below), and the switch hanging from a cable was the house/stage selector.
The patch panel (for new box booms and rail circuits, as well as for the borderlights) and the contactors (not shown here) which switched the 12-7.2 TTI dimmer load from houselight to stage light.
The drawing for above. To see a larger version, click here.
Endless audio problems resulted in the installation of separate audio power.
In May, 1979, Joe and I got the upstage stage elevator to function.
Looking stage right, toward the Peter Clark locking rail.
There were two contiguous stage lifts, added during construction in 1928. They could rise seven feet, but sink only to deck level.
In the trap room, looking upstage and showing the steel frame work which supported the drive trains and motors.
A major renovation of the substage was under way, and HV Collins was the fine General Contractor. From beneath the lift steel, looking toward the new opening and ramp. A tour was given and the signs were hung to reassure members of our resident orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonia, that there would be dressing rooms for the start of the 1979-80 season. By that fall, an acoustical shell had been built and installed as well, designed by Vince Piacentini of Bolt Beranek and Newman and installed by Hoffend & Sons.
The substage which had been destroyed by the resultant flooding from Hurricane Carol of 1954 had no working lights, electricity that could not be shut off, and floors covered with groundwater, constantly flowing.
A dressing room showing an upstage window opening (at ladder), long ago cemented shut.
The water meter pit, always submerged.
The first step in the renovation was to cut trenches for french drains running the width of the building, with a permanent sump pump installed at the each end. (The next year we similarly trenched and pumped the flooded mechanical rooms beneath the Foyer).
The organ blower, which had to be tossed.
The substage had originally contained a tiny screening room and booth, the latter demo'd to make room for wardrobe.
Looking toward the stage right pump, where the Hub Board contactor panel had been. The far space would become my office.
Me at the stage door house phone in 1981, illustrating the shiny new paint job which was carried through the substage. The painting was by skilled volunteers under the direction of house manager Cait Calvo.
Right is cheerful Charlie Vieira, HV Collins man on the job, and center is Arthur Gianfrancesco, the genial plumbing and heating contractor. I am on the right, and Dennis is putting on covers.
The electrical contractor's crew at the new substage panels: Dennis, foreman; Paul Stupello, crew chief; and the excellent C&K owner Dave Kelman. Far right is unknown.
Paul (right). His sister was Westerly actress Niki Bruno, with whom I had worked at Matunuck.
General Manager Ted Stevens:
Atlanta Constitution, June 3, 1978.
The staff listings, from the first two gala program books. Merman re-opened the house in 1978, and for the 1979 gala, Dianne Warwick was a sad comedown. However, the after-party was held at the newly-opened Biltmore Hotel, and that's where I met Dean Martineau.
Lou DiMario.
Bob Tevyaw's parody of the house newsletter, placing me next to Merman.
Before I left Providence in early 1981, I put together a manual of operation for the house, which contained a history of renovations to date, which can be seen here. I continued to consult on projects such as the new house curtain, stage floor, and new damask wall fabrics.
The installation of new damask throughout, which exactly replicated the missing fabric, removed in the Dario renovation to the great detriment of auditorium acoustics. The pattern is of MGM's Leo the Lion.
Restored by Country Roads, the original seats after reinstallation.
Country Roads boy at work, 1983.
During my tenure as head of production, operations, and capital projects commencing in August, 1978, we were continually under renovation but never closed down, not even for a day. Starting with the basics like a working stage, we opened with Ethel Merman and never looked back.
Here are some pictures and clippings, as well as a manual of operation for the facility that runs 300 pages. For the site index, click here.
These photos were taken by "Phantom of the Fox" Joe Patten, who along with OSPAC General Manager Ted Stevens had re-opened the Atlanta Fox in 1975. For his visit up to the OSPAC opening, Joe brought along the Fox walkie-talkies, but at curtain time they failed, so unable to reach Ted from backstage, I started the [very long] show without his OK. Ted was in the Main Foyer with the Rhode Island Governor Garrahy and Providence Mayor Cianci who were to speak as soon as the marching band hit the stage, and hearing the band play, the two officials rushed out the side door and up Page Street to the stage door where my ever-faithful doorman Ray Oakley refused them entry because he did not know them.
The spider-like fire escape over the alley which separated the house right side of the theatre from the Richmond Street stores:
The Main Foyer.
The Musician's Gallery.
Main Foyer, following Dario renovation 1976.
The house right organ box with new Rosco "Glame" installed by our excellent drapery volunteer and chief procurer of missing chandelier prisms, Dick Peterson.
That empty organ loft behind the Glame had been used as an office (and powder room?) by owner's son and manager Ronnie Dario when OSPAC was a rock house known as "The Palace" from 1972 until 1975. To see a list of all the music acts which have ever played this building, click here.
To counteract the dreadful flat Dario paint job, I used flame tint lamps in all the chandeliers to give the lobbies and auditorium a warm glow, as opposed to stark white normal light bulbs.
The seats which had been re-covered by the Dario's in beige Naugahyde played havoc with the acoustics. Dario's crew had removed all the wine-color mohair seats backs and bottoms and piled them on the stage, not knowing they were of varying sizes. Upon re-installation by force, none of the 3232 chairs worked properly.
The inactive "live front" DC panel in the booth. The marquee was controlled by a similar Frankenstein panel in a room off the Foyer, but with a difference-- it was ALIVE!
The Hall & Connolly follow spot.
Being a single-minded man, Joe Patten's favorite part of the theatre were the plaster attic catwalks. All the "fabulous" Fox had were wooden planks!
A scary job was relamping the dome cove. The cove lighting had been converted to blue neon which we removed and restored the amber-red-blue scheme, the blue circuited to a non-dim "Picture House" always-on circuit. The amber proved too dim, so we settled for R-W-B.
Here are some photos contributed by volunteer Liz Fields. To read her excellent published account of those early days, click here. Here am I standing at the door to Liza Minelli's dressing room, known briefly as "the Ethel Merman room." The temp Liza sign and all the permanent gold on black art deco door legends were lettered and painted by seventeen-year-old volunteer John McDermott.
The marquee is set for The Wiz (1979), a Tom Mallow bus & truck, the first legit show to play OSPAC.
The Richmond Street stores. We had to move the optician one shop over to free up his store for the new Ladies restroom.
Brian Jones (and his All Tap Revue), the opening act of the Ethel Merman show in October 1978. They rose on the pit elevator that Bob Foster slaved over for months to get working just for that fleeting moment!
Me and my trusted assistant Joe Heelon.
Joe in the trenches, the steam tunnel beneath the stores, replacing one of the two hundred steam traps in the place. Heat at last!
Lucky the Cat.
Unknown, Joe Heelon, concessions head (volunteer) Marilyn "Lynn" Middlebrook.
Me and Liz Fields.
IA stagehand extraordinaire Mike Guy, also the OSPAC audio man. Other IA hands included the great Joe Rafferty, Roger Brett, and Tony Tauber.
The space most frequented by the volunteers: the slop room.
My Dad came to visit in May, 1979 and took these pictures. A few of the house:
The restored rosette in the auditorium dome, a quarter of which had failed and fallen in August 1978. To have it removed, repaired and replaced was a top priority. To read more, click here to see "My Own Rhode Island Ghost Story."
The rosette as seen from the dome trap door.
The fascia of the orchestra pit elevator, repainted in Dario Oxline "gold leaf" paint, available only at one hardware store on Federal Hill.
The pit pit, where Bob Foster and I spent two months. We repaired the organ and pit elevators (not operable since the 1954 hurricane), but eliminated the act lift and its motor room, to create a wide opening into the substage for wardrobe cases.
The stage, with fire curtain half-way in. The upstage door led to a quick change room and to the substage stair, the upstage door to the prop room and to the retail store alley. The up left loading door to the street is past the bank of radiators, not seen in this shot. To view the 1978 stage specifications, click here.
The Peter Clark lift controls had been removed (for pit and organ) and had to be replaced. The pilot lights indicate lighting contactor position (see below), and the switch hanging from a cable was the house/stage selector.
The patch panel (for new box booms and rail circuits, as well as for the borderlights) and the contactors (not shown here) which switched the 12-7.2 TTI dimmer load from houselight to stage light.
The drawing for above. To see a larger version, click here.
Endless audio problems resulted in the installation of separate audio power.
In May, 1979, Joe and I got the upstage stage elevator to function.
Looking stage right, toward the Peter Clark locking rail.
There were two contiguous stage lifts, added during construction in 1928. They could rise seven feet, but sink only to deck level.
In the trap room, looking upstage and showing the steel frame work which supported the drive trains and motors.
A major renovation of the substage was under way, and HV Collins was the fine General Contractor. From beneath the lift steel, looking toward the new opening and ramp. A tour was given and the signs were hung to reassure members of our resident orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonia, that there would be dressing rooms for the start of the 1979-80 season. By that fall, an acoustical shell had been built and installed as well, designed by Vince Piacentini of Bolt Beranek and Newman and installed by Hoffend & Sons.
The substage which had been destroyed by the resultant flooding from Hurricane Carol of 1954 had no working lights, electricity that could not be shut off, and floors covered with groundwater, constantly flowing.
A dressing room showing an upstage window opening (at ladder), long ago cemented shut.
The water meter pit, always submerged.
The first step in the renovation was to cut trenches for french drains running the width of the building, with a permanent sump pump installed at the each end. (The next year we similarly trenched and pumped the flooded mechanical rooms beneath the Foyer).
The organ blower, which had to be tossed.
The substage had originally contained a tiny screening room and booth, the latter demo'd to make room for wardrobe.
Looking toward the stage right pump, where the Hub Board contactor panel had been. The far space would become my office.
Me at the stage door house phone in 1981, illustrating the shiny new paint job which was carried through the substage. The painting was by skilled volunteers under the direction of house manager Cait Calvo.
Right is cheerful Charlie Vieira, HV Collins man on the job, and center is Arthur Gianfrancesco, the genial plumbing and heating contractor. I am on the right, and Dennis is putting on covers.
The electrical contractor's crew at the new substage panels: Dennis, foreman; Paul Stupello, crew chief; and the excellent C&K owner Dave Kelman. Far right is unknown.
Paul (right). His sister was Westerly actress Niki Bruno, with whom I had worked at Matunuck.
General Manager Ted Stevens:
Atlanta Constitution, June 3, 1978.
The staff listings, from the first two gala program books. Merman re-opened the house in 1978, and for the 1979 gala, Dianne Warwick was a sad comedown. However, the after-party was held at the newly-opened Biltmore Hotel, and that's where I met Dean Martineau.
Lou DiMario.
Bob Tevyaw's parody of the house newsletter, placing me next to Merman.
Before I left Providence in early 1981, I put together a manual of operation for the house, which contained a history of renovations to date, which can be seen here. I continued to consult on projects such as the new house curtain, stage floor, and new damask wall fabrics.
The installation of new damask throughout, which exactly replicated the missing fabric, removed in the Dario renovation to the great detriment of auditorium acoustics. The pattern is of MGM's Leo the Lion.
Restored by Country Roads, the original seats after reinstallation.
Country Roads boy at work, 1983.
Ted Stevens also spearheaded the installation of a new theatre organ. (Photos courtesy Theatre Organ 2011.) Ted and Georgette Arnold at the new console.
Georgette Arnold at the loading door marked "Scenery," lettered (like many other doors) in gold deco. Georgette had been brought in by Board Chairman (and later Governor) Bruce Sundlin to oversee the books.
Providence Journal articles from 1978 and 1979.
April 2, 1983
Since 1983, Lynn Singleton has served as head of OSPAC, renamed the Providence Performing Arts Center that same year. (Photo 2012, Providence Business News.)
To go to the site index, click here.
Georgette Arnold at the loading door marked "Scenery," lettered (like many other doors) in gold deco. Georgette had been brought in by Board Chairman (and later Governor) Bruce Sundlin to oversee the books.
Providence Journal articles from 1978 and 1979.
July 7, 1982
April 2, 1983
Since 1983, Lynn Singleton has served as head of OSPAC, renamed the Providence Performing Arts Center that same year. (Photo 2012, Providence Business News.)
To go to the site index, click here.
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