Benedum Center stage gets major upgrade

For the first time in over two decades, Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center has a new stage floor.

The Benedum Center is one of the busiest theaters in the world, so the old 7,000-plus-square-foot stage had a lot of wear and tear from the past 20 years.

According to the trade publication Pollstar, in 2019, the Benedum Center ranked 115th among the world’s top 200 theaters based on ticket sales and attendance. That’s a lot of shows and the old floor — one-inch tongue and groove Douglas Fir — had deteriorated to the point where something had to be done.

If not for the pandemic, which had prevented yearly maintenance such as cleaning the chandeliers and changing light bulbs in the 2,800-seat theater until this year, the problem likely would have been addressed sooner. Instead, beginning on Aug. 15, 14 stagehands spent more than 700 hours combined over 11 days replacing the old floor.

The performance space now features stronger marine-grade plywood, while the backstage loading area and wings are using a manufactured and laminated wood product specifically designed to withstand the constant movement of heavy machinery and set pieces.

“It can sustain weight more evenly as well as supporting all of the magic that comes with modern productions, whether that’s turntables or flying mechanics, tracks that bring sets on and off and all of the road boxes and road cases that (contain) all of the equipment brought into the Benedum Center,” said Scott Shiller, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust senior vice president of artistic planning and venues.

Shiller said some 10,000 productions have come through the Benedum over the last 20 years.

“It is time to upgrade using modern materials and take advantage of where construction technology has come so that we could invest in a new deck for the stage that will not only support the productions of today but hopefully support the productions of tomorrow,” said Shiller.

Not only did the Benedum staff have to find time on the calendar to get the work done, but also, due to supply-chain issues, it had to begin buying the decking material months in advance.

Benedum Center house carpenter Adolf Hundertmark said it was challenging work.

“We had to pull up thousands and thousands of staples that were about two inches long, go through by hand sitting on a cart and pull those staples up,” Hundertmark said. “We had to change 27 sheets of plywood because they were that full of holes from years and years. But having the right people and the time, it worked out perfectly.”

The plywood has been placed over a sprung wood dance floor which will make it easier to do productions that are physically taxing on actors and dancers.

“The sprung wood floor is the gold standard of what local performers and touring performers are looking for in a first-class road house. By having that sprung wood floor we get to have less wear and tear on the actors’ knees, ankles and feet so that they have a great base on which to perform,” Shiller said.