Pa. Convention Center renames high-tech theater for Michael Nutter

Michael Nutter is "looking forward to seeing some films, maybe taking in a lecture or comedian" at a new Arch Street venue that bears his name.

What used to be a pleasant but fairly mundane meeting room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center has now been teched-up with fancy projection and sound rigs and recommissioned as the Michael A. Nutter Theatre.

Besides better serving the needs of conventioneers, the 600-seat (plus 40-ADA-handicapped-location) venue is open for rental and can "help fill a void in this neighborhood for a medium-sized theater for film festivals, movie premieres and screenings, comedy shows, spoken word performances, musical acts, and auditions," John J. McNichol, Convention Center Authority CEO, said at a dedication ceremony Wednesday night.

At the heart of the $400,000-plus transformation is a high-end Christie cinema projector, a favorite of commercial theater exhibitors, pushing content onto a 26-foot-wide, "high gain" movie screen that reflects bright and clear images even when room lights are left on.

A hefty 7.1-channel surround-sound system deploys VUE Audio Technik speakers, often spotted and cranking loud and clear at concert halls and clubs. Also, a 40-channel mixing board and closed-circuit TV monitors situated in the rear control booth are ready to take audio and video feeds from the stage zone via an efficient " 'digital snake,' so whenever shows require miking and amplification and video, we won't have to run fat cables up the aisles," explained Tom Hutchinson, Convention Center director of production services.

The team also is putting in soon a "Doremi cinema playback server, which is "what you need for showing movies in this era of digital content storage," Hutchinson said.

Used in the past for Philadelphia Chamber Music Society performances, the sloped-floor, padded-seat theater offers event producers a good stage width of 55 feet, but not much depth, 14 feet. The building's original architects didn't allow for side wing or overhead fly space, but did include a backstage green room. So while a one-set stage play or intimate concert can be presented, there's no way to put a multi-scene theatrical or big orchestra into the room.

How about outdoor signage to let folks know the venue is here? None is planned at the moment, said McNichol, though a canopy is being considered for the 13th Street doors next to the Nutter Theatre. And, events may be touted on that splashy, controversy-sparking electronic sign now approved for the Broad Street side of the Convention Center.

Popping in at a pre-dedication reception, former Gov. Ed Rendell said naming the theater for Nutter was fitting. "In fact, they could have renamed the whole Convention Center for him."

Rendell cited, as did others, Nutter's role championing the Convention Center and the city's hospitality industry during his City Council years, when Nutter took on the added job of chairman for the Convention Center's board of directors (2003-2007), helping to shepherd its $789 million expansion, and coping with complex labor issues that hurt convention bookings.

The Convention Center stayed high on his priority list as mayor, when he championed efforts to bring big happenings to Philadelphia, including the World Meeting of Families and papal visit last year and the 2016 Democratic National Convention in July. The latter will use the Convention Center as "the daytime home of the DNC for breakfasts and caucuses and the headquarters for the nonpartisan PoliticalFest," said Deirdre Childress Hopkins, Convention Center strategic communications manager.

One film premiere has already been booked into the Michael A. Nutter Theatre: Sam Katz's pair of documentaries about the preparation for and visit of Pope Francis, screening the evening of Oct. 13.

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