# grand/main/house curtain



## NHStech (Mar 23, 2010)

1) What do YOU call it? Is there a generally understood "technical" term?
2) Is there a rhyme or reason as to why some venues fly versus open (assuming it has the capability to do both)?


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## BDS0111 (Mar 23, 2010)

I call it the "main curtain" "main rag" or just the "main." I usually perfer it to fly in and out guillotine style depending on the production but that is usually decideded by the artistic/design staff (designers and directors). Guillotine is a much cleaner look in my opinion, and allows for faster operation. Sometimes I might like it to traverse if I need a little more masking at plaster line.


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## sk8rsdad (Mar 23, 2010)

You may find Rose Brand's interactive curtain tutorial educational. You can see by the way they open that different styles lend themselves to different uses.

The main curtain has a lot of names, the common bit being the word "main". In most places I have worked they call it the main tab even though it wasn't ever actually rigged as a tab curtain. Drapes get selected for lots of reasons, aesthetics and physical limitations of the venue being the 2 that spring to mind. 

In my theatre we don't have a main drape. If we did, it would likely be a braille or venetian because we would not want to sacrifice the wing space at the proscenium required by a traveller, or any other drape that gathers into the wings. We lack the height for a full fly tower so that limits the our ability to fly out a guillotine without getting into some sort of tripping arrangement that starts to encroach on the LX1 position.

Some venues change out their main drape to suit the show that's on stage. It must be nice to have that kind of money.


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## LekoBoy (Mar 23, 2010)

sk8rsdad said:


> You may find Rose Brand's interactive curtain tutorial educational. You can see by the way they open that different styles lend themselves to different uses.


Austrian, Braille, and Venetian all look the same to me. What's the difference?


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## sk8rsdad (Mar 23, 2010)

LekoBoy said:


> Austrian, Braille, and Venetian all look the same to me. What's the difference?


It appears to me that Austrians are pleated with zero fullness, Brailles have no pleats and zero fullness, and Venetians are not pleated with some fullness.


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## epimetheus (Mar 23, 2010)

Generally called the "Gil" at the last venue I worked at that had a main curtain.


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## Sony (Mar 24, 2010)

I usually call it the main or main rag.


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## MarshallPope (Mar 24, 2010)

I always call it the grand drape. I know that that usually implies more than one curtain is present, but I don't know. It seems right to me. 

We usually use ours as a transverse, mainly because we need the masking that it provides. For our production of Gianni Schicchi last semester we flew it out, and had to hang additional blacks from the valance batten to mask backstage, which meant that there were two black rectangles in front of the drape pre/post-show.


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## CrisCole (Mar 24, 2010)

We simply call it the main blacks. It is by parting. 

We bi part it for the start of a show, so the audience can asorb the set as it opens, and for intermission we fly it back in place, and bi-part it after intermission, and fly it back at the end of the show.


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## zuixro (Mar 24, 2010)

We call it the "Grand" or the "Main". We have a full length valance downstage of it, so we usually use that, and go guillotine style. Right now the track on the grand is broken or something, so all we have is the valance. The only time we use it, though, is when we have an event that just uses the apron. (our apron is huge and half the stage is used for storage right now)


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## DaveySimps (Mar 24, 2010)

We call it "the main" "the main curtain". That is the nomenclature that has been used in all of the places I have worked over the years. Each have had a traditional counterweight system where the curtain is of velour with fullness that guillotines in and out (some also have a traveling option).

~Dave


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## Tex (Apr 5, 2010)

I was taught Grand Drape, and it stuck...


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## cprted (Apr 5, 2010)

I use "Main," "Main Rag," and "Reds" interchangeably. Some local groups have taken to calling it the "Tabs" which I believe is a UK thing. For me, the "Grand" refers to the Grand Border.

Ours can guillotine (fly) or travel. This is usually determined by budget, as I don't let untrained people touch the fly rail. Thus if they aren't trained and don't want to pay for a second technician, the only option is to travel it.


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## Anvilx (Apr 5, 2010)

Usually we just call it The Curtain, because it is most often the only curtain.


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## dramatech (Apr 6, 2010)

"Main" and "Grand" get used interchangably at our theatre. It flys, but is split in the middle for entrance through the center when it is "in". Frequently our designers replace it with some sort of hard surface or even a scrim. It is only used if the set allows it. Many of our shows are desined to flow through the proscenium, and yes we always make sure that the fire pocket is not blocked.


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## Ryan5443 (Jan 13, 2011)

We usually just refer to it as the house curtain, or the Red's, but I guess as long as I understand what the other person is trying to communicate I really don't care what they call it.

All the Best,
RCF


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## TheGuruat12 (Jan 13, 2011)

We refer to ours as the grand drape. We do have more than one traveler, so those work for wing masking. I prefer to fly it out, because the look is cleaner, it moves more smoothly, and simply looks "grander" than parting it, which is much harder to maintain the same speed, and gives a slightly bowed look as the bottom drags on the stage.


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## rochem (Jan 14, 2011)

I've heard all of them used interchangeably at multiple venues, but Main Rag is probably the most common here when referring to a grand drape with fullness. The term "House Curtain" gets used a lot at roadhouses to distinguish between the Main Rag owned by the house and a Show Scrim or Show Curtain brought in by the tour, which are often hung right next to eachother.


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