Matthew Timoszyk, the Technical Supervisor of the Historic Oroville State Theatre in Oroville, CA, recently tagged us in some photos on Facebook that showed how he prepped his stage deck for the coming season with Rosco Tough Prime Black. In the post, he said "it's the perfect choice for theater floors." Whether it's because of Tough Prime’s semi-gloss finish, which makes it easy to mop (and to light!), or its ability to stick to just about any substrate - technical directors all around the world have been using Tough Prime Black on their stage floors for years. We asked Matthew to share his thoughts on why he chose Tough Prime for his space - below is his response.
Over the summer I was tasked to paint the stage floor of the Oroville State Theatre. The decision was made to change it from a medium grey to black – both for lighting and other practical/technical reasons, and due to feedback from some of our larger clients. Now it was time to decide what type of paint to use.
At different points in my career, I’ve not only had the opportunity to use a number of Rosco products – but I’ve also worked with customers to consult and sell Rosco products as well. With that expertise under my belt, I only had one black paint choice in mind for the current season – Rosco Tough Prime Black. I knew that it was formulated perfectly to seal stage floors and that it would (as the name implied) be tough enough for the vigorous activities the deck of our road house would experience. Plus, we’d get the benefit of a very low sheen, which was a major bonus to the in-house lighting designer (me!).
The Oroville State Theatre is a 1928 vaudeville theatre that has a 40’ wide proscenium, a 28’ deep stage with an 18’ apron and 15’ wings. It’s a decent sized stage, which meant that cost and time were a factor on this project. The cost of the Rosco Tough Prime was comparable to the industrial grey paint that the theatre had been using before, so the cost difference was very minimal. The prep and application of the Tough Prime was quite simple as it rolled on very easily and covered the medium grey base coat very well. In a matter of three days, two of us had prepped the space and rolled out two coats to cover the stage, apron and wings – using just under 4 gallons of the Rosco Tough Prime Black.
The Tough Prime Black Floor after several weeks of intense activity at the Oroville State Theatre
The Historic Oroville State Theatre opened their 2016-2017 season at the end of September and I am very pleased to say that the stage floor at the Oroville State Theatre, with its freshly painted Rosco Tough Prime Black floor, is holding up very well.
Matthew is also the owner of Garage Studio Production Services, which provides professional lighting, audio and technical services in the greater Sacramento area. Check out the Garage Studio Production Services Facebook page to learn more. Visit the Tough Prime web page to discover how this efficient paint can easily provide the perfect black stage floor surface.
Joel Svendsen November 01, 2016 Questions?
Marketing Director: Joel's Rosco career began in Rosco's Hollywood office in 1999 – first in sales covering the Western US and the Los Angeles Film & Television market, and then as Product Manager for Rosco's Film & Television Products. Joel's knowledge about Rosco's products and how they're used in each of our different marketplaces makes him well suited for bringing the stories in Spectrum to life.