LA Propoint is California’s First Choice

(Sun Valley, Calif.) July 8, 2008 – LA ProPoint, a national leader in the design, engineering, fabrication, and installation of stage and show systems, is pleased to announce that it is wrapping work on yet another round of high-profile theater projects in California. During the past two years, LA ProPoint has played a role in the remodel of the East County Performing Arts Center in San Diego, installed the theatrical rigging for the Downey Theatre, and performed work in front of the house and behind the scenes at the Granada Theatre. Finally, this summer, the LA ProPoint team will take on the remodel of the Culver Center for the Arts in Riverside and put the finishing touches on the New Centre Theatre in Fontana.

“Our California theater projects are very different from each other. Clients call upon us for everything from testing and safety improvements to in-depth renovations and the creation of new theatre spaces from the ground up,” explained Mark Riddlesperger, founder and president of LAProPoint.

“What all our theater clients share, however, is their need for highly customized systems,” added Harvey Sweet, LA ProPoint’s vice president. “LA ProPoint combines the latest in state-of-the-art technology and innovative design with a commitment to safety, and proven, hands-on experience. We are committed to providing our clients with individualized, user-friendly stage systems, and reliable maintenance services.”

LA ProPoint has established a reputation as the go-to team of highly skilled and experienced technicians, fabricators and craftsmen. Since the company was founded in 2002, LA ProPoint has worked on theatres throughout California, in cities including San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Davis, Fresno and Los Angeles. Some of the company’s most notable theatre commissions include the REDCAT, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Kirk Douglas Theatre, El Rey Theatre, Nokia Theatre and the Hollywood Bowl.

The LA ProPoint team was proud to play a major role in the multi-million-dollar renovation of the Hollywood Bowl in 2004. The company designed, fabricated and installed the motorized rigging, acoustic panel actuation and control systems of the acoustic canopy, and is entrusted to perform the maintenance of this equipment for the next 10 years.

“The Hollywood Bowl is a legendary theatre, beloved to Angelenos and known to people worldwide, so there were a lot of expectations when it came to the renovation,” explained Mark Ferber, Production Supervisor and Special Events Manager for the Hollywood Bowl. “Our theatre was in exceptional hands with the LA ProPoint team. They took every precaution to respect the historic structure, and gave back to us a theatre that performs better than ever before. There was no question about giving LA ProPoint the maintenance contract for the Hollywood Bowl.”

Again and again, LA ProPoint’s successfully completed commissions like the one at the Hollywood Bowl result in new clients as well as repeat visits to former job sites. A few years ago, LA ProPoint won the bid to replace the theatrical rigging at the Downey Theatre. This month, the team is back in Downey, contracted to provide a rear theater curtain, redrape the theater’s green room, and replace the drapes on a portable stage.

At the Granada Theater, LA ProPoint recently constructed and installed a false proscenium valance as well as fall protection in the attic above the audience. The company’s work on the East County Performing Arts Center, a 1960s structure in San Diego, is another example of its expertise in the area of theatre remodeling. LA ProPoint performed a safety check, then repaired or replaced cables, operating lines and arbor guides.

The company also rebuilt a complex motorized system for the theater’s Venetian-style main curtain, and modified and repaired the theater’s house lighting pipes and acoustical panel linesets. In addition, LA ProPoint has just entered the design phase of a remodel of yet another existing facility, the Culver Center for the Arts in Riverside, where the team will provide a light grid and a double cyclorama track.

At the New Center Theatre in Fontana, LA ProPoint soon will be finishing work on a complex semicircular Austrian lift curtain that fits into the attic of the theatre.

“It was definitely a challenge fitting the curtain system into the building, but it is beautiful,” said Chris Collis, head of the LA ProPoint installation team.

In addition to the curtain lift system, LA ProPoint is providing an innovative computer-controlled soft LED curtain as well as drapery for the theater entrance, stage right and stage left, rear of house service area, lobby, kitchen, and dressing room.

“LA ProPoint has proved a wonderful collaborator in transforming our traditional theatre space into a glamorous Vegas-style showroom,” said Walter Orth, President of Orth Design Corporation, the company that commissioned LA ProPoint for the New Center Theatre project. “It is gratifying to know that the City of Fontana received the same quality attention to detail that has been bestowed by LA ProPoint on some of California’s most prestigious theaters.”