Rebuilding the Stage in Tamanend Park

*  keep watch on this site as it is *

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The Meadow Amphitheatre

is located 

in

Tamanend Park

Southampton, Pennsylvania

The sign at the entrance-way to Tamanend Park

An effort is under way 

to rebuild the stage 

out of stone
 

We have been working since 2008 

to develop an Amphitheater

in Tamanend Park

This is a summary of how the stage came to be and what our current goals are with the stage.

*The Selection of the Location*

The very beginning of an idea

When we started this idea, we thought we would place the stage here,
the second location we considered. 


This location is actually behind where the concessions stand is now.

We realized that: this in location the sunlight 
would be in the eyes of the audience and 
it was not good for audience proximity to the stage.

The  taper of the hill is down and away, to put the stage here
would have caused the audience to look upward to the stage,
a very undesirable and ultimately unsuccessful proximity to use.


This photo shows the view from where the stage would have been 
had we placed it in this location.

A wide view of a VERY HOT Mid-day in July, when we did "Midsummer"

 The first location we considered 
was to the right of the stage,
(left in this photograph)
 at the foot of the tapering slope.


That location is VERY nice 
for positioning an audience  to a stage, 
and it has an excellent proximity to the sun. 

So that location would be a good place to put an amphitheater,
should a larger stage be desired.

However, it is in the middle of the roadway,
(which could work to an advantage for various reasons)
but the sound qualities of that position are very poor
and would most certainly require electronic support.

Still, it might be worth considering 
as an alternative, or additional location,
as in upper and lower staging areas.

This might be desirable as a means to accommodate
different size and types of events.

The Beginning of Construction;

Here are some images taken by Rich Bomze
when we first started setting up the stage in 2008

The Southampton Public Works 
came over to my office, picked up the stage platforms
and delivered them to the meadow 
where we were to begin construction of a stage

As you can see the foundation of the stage is cinder blocks,
albeit a bit more securely configured than you see here.


Ratty stage technician at no extra cost.

 After it was basically positioned and leveled,
I painted it with what I thought would turn out grey,
a mixture of old paint and new paint 

provided courtesy of MAB in Southampton.

King Richard Bomze


who was instrumental in keeping the energy going early on
and who insisted that we needed a name
hence;
The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park.


He is now touring his photography around at various galleries.

*Our Present Location*

A recent view of the stage and concession counter

The location that we chose for the current stage has VERY good acoustics
requiring little or no electronic support and
works quite well, in terms of the entrance-way to the field.

We selected it over the lower field for that reason 
and also so that we could develop this stage  
out of the way of the main area, especially the roadway
thereby,  being less offensive to people who might object.

The current  position of the stage is excellent for 
early evening, spring and fall performances.

It became clear, last summer,  that mid-day  performances
can be brutal in the hot summer sun 
on both the performers and the audience.

So during the summer, 
performances should not take place 
until the evening. 


During the Spring & Fall that does not seem to be a problem.

*Cinema Under The Stars*

As a means of showing you the concession stand,