I have found a small treasure trove of VHS/Beta tapes of former Kings Production Broadway Style Shows from the Mid-1980's. Now, that being said, these were filmed at Carowinds NOT at Kings Dominion.
But, ALL the shows that are linked here did play at Kings Dominion at one time and the show outline is pretty much identical (music/lyrics/costumes).
I will say that the Carowinds theater, in which the Broadway-style shows ran, is smaller than the former Mason-Dixon Music Hall at KD (Now the Kings Dominion theater). The theater stage at KD is about 8-10 feet wider; about 4-6 feet greater in depth (front to back); and about 2-4 feet higher from stage floor to stage surround (proscenium arch).
Therefore, there appears to be less set pieces used in the shows at Carowinds than when the show ran at KD. I would say that Carowinds uses about 80%-85% percent of the set pieces that were used when the shows were performed at Kings Dominion.
The sets did have small differences based on where the show was performed. At Carowinds, one set piece shows their Sky Tower in the background. When the show was at Kings Dominion, it was the Eiffel Tower
Also, due to the smaller stage at Carowinds, the cast size appears to be 12 folks on average (maybe 14 in one production). Where as at KD, the cast size was 16 performers for the last 10 years of Kings Production shows (1982-1992).
In any case, I feel that the parks built from scratch, KD, KI, and Canada's Wonderland; did have the identical stage dimensions for their indoor theaters. My guess it that the other 2 parks, that Family Leisure/Taft/KECO took over, Carowinds and California's Great America, already had indoor theaters with different stage dimensions. Kings Productions simply adjusted the show sets to fit them. The major stage pieces were probably modular anyway and they dropped or added set pieces as needed.
(Example, for the "Gotta Dance" show you will see 2 light towers, one either side of the stage at Carowinds; when the show played at KD, there were 4 towers on the stage, two on either side. These tower pieces rotated during the show sets (3-sided | one side with the lights | one side with a fake brick masonry look | and the 3rd side had a dark mirror facade).
The shows are listed by the year they were performed at Carowinds. They played at Kings Dominion within 2 years of the Carowinds production dates (before or after). Keep in mind that the tapes are not HD and the film quality is not perfect; but, these are the ONLY videos that I have found of King Production shows from the mid-late 1980's. If you watched Bill's video of the Entertainment History at Kings Dominion, you will recognized the soundtrack from the show "Celebration".
Enjoy!
"Celebration" - 1984 -Carowinds (1985 video version as well)
http://youtu.be/EVhRzywj-EU
"Gotta Dance" - 1986 - Carowinds
http://youtu.be/aEaxE6xxb-Y
"Facinating Rhythm" - 1989 - Carowinds
http://youtu.be/6-8DSR2FbcY
But, ALL the shows that are linked here did play at Kings Dominion at one time and the show outline is pretty much identical (music/lyrics/costumes).
I will say that the Carowinds theater, in which the Broadway-style shows ran, is smaller than the former Mason-Dixon Music Hall at KD (Now the Kings Dominion theater). The theater stage at KD is about 8-10 feet wider; about 4-6 feet greater in depth (front to back); and about 2-4 feet higher from stage floor to stage surround (proscenium arch).
Therefore, there appears to be less set pieces used in the shows at Carowinds than when the show ran at KD. I would say that Carowinds uses about 80%-85% percent of the set pieces that were used when the shows were performed at Kings Dominion.
The sets did have small differences based on where the show was performed. At Carowinds, one set piece shows their Sky Tower in the background. When the show was at Kings Dominion, it was the Eiffel Tower
Also, due to the smaller stage at Carowinds, the cast size appears to be 12 folks on average (maybe 14 in one production). Where as at KD, the cast size was 16 performers for the last 10 years of Kings Production shows (1982-1992).
In any case, I feel that the parks built from scratch, KD, KI, and Canada's Wonderland; did have the identical stage dimensions for their indoor theaters. My guess it that the other 2 parks, that Family Leisure/Taft/KECO took over, Carowinds and California's Great America, already had indoor theaters with different stage dimensions. Kings Productions simply adjusted the show sets to fit them. The major stage pieces were probably modular anyway and they dropped or added set pieces as needed.
(Example, for the "Gotta Dance" show you will see 2 light towers, one either side of the stage at Carowinds; when the show played at KD, there were 4 towers on the stage, two on either side. These tower pieces rotated during the show sets (3-sided | one side with the lights | one side with a fake brick masonry look | and the 3rd side had a dark mirror facade).
The shows are listed by the year they were performed at Carowinds. They played at Kings Dominion within 2 years of the Carowinds production dates (before or after). Keep in mind that the tapes are not HD and the film quality is not perfect; but, these are the ONLY videos that I have found of King Production shows from the mid-late 1980's. If you watched Bill's video of the Entertainment History at Kings Dominion, you will recognized the soundtrack from the show "Celebration".
Enjoy!
"Celebration" - 1984 -Carowinds (1985 video version as well)
http://youtu.be/EVhRzywj-EU
"Gotta Dance" - 1986 - Carowinds
http://youtu.be/aEaxE6xxb-Y
"Facinating Rhythm" - 1989 - Carowinds
http://youtu.be/6-8DSR2FbcY
