Central Hall is the largest venue on campus. It is home to many events, such as the Pantomime and Fusion. Often referred to as a flying saucer or space ship, although the reasons for this are unclear.
The auditorium seats over 1000 people, although when used by the G&S society as well as many other performance groups blocks 1 & 5 are retracted, giving access to the side balconies. G&S will usually have an audience of 150 max (upto 200 with a popular show that has been advertised properly) so the reduction is not an issue.
Equipment and Facilities
Central Hall is a fully equiped auditorium. Although not lending itself well to performances (due to the lack of flying set provision, curtain and a permanent sound system) it is the best venue on campus for this. The green room can be contacted via microphone set up backstage for cast calls from the Stage Manager. There are four dressing rooms, which although reasonably sized, not enough for individual principles, no matter how massive the ego, to get their own. There are toilets on the top floor for cast and crew and the largest ones on campus in the foyer. Although there is a bar, Central Hall is not liscenced.
The lighting rig is permanent and can be customised by AV technicians during Show Week, the only thing that needs to be ordered in are Follow Spots. The box of light switches backstage is possibly the most complex array of switches ever devised by man. Therefore, it is easiest during a performance to keep all of these lights off and use on the 'house lights' provided for on the lighting desk.
Legends
The tiles on the ceiling are soundproofing and accoustic tiles. However, they were put on backwards. Therefore, nothing inside can be heard from the outside, but everything outside can be heard inside and greatly amplified, such as the Tap-Dancing Ducks.
Central Hall is sinking into the lake.
The Boomtown Rats once played there and were the reason that the auditorium is no longer liscenced for standing audiences during live music.
Room Booking Info Link
http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/estates/roombookings/index_F.htm