The rehearsal hall can seat up to 60.

Work continues on the Hamilton Stage for Performing Arts in anticipation of a grand opening this fall, with an open house preview expected in May as other preview events around the Arts District continue this spring.

Richard Bryant of Madison-based Front of House Services, a consultant to the Arts District, offered up tour of the Hamilton Stage recently. The main 199-seat theater will be on the north end of the building and includes 18 moveable seats along the sides. A rehearsal hall on the south side of the facility also can be used as a small theater with up to 60 seats.. Arts Riverwalk, a promenade along the Rahway River, will stretch behind Hamilton Stage and toward the interim parking lot where the Hamilton amphitheater eventually is planned.

After a call for submissions last summer, six artistic affiliates (two principal affiliates and four associate affiliates) are in negotiations for Hamilton Stage, including a contemporary dance company, a classic dance company, possibly two theater companies and a children’s theater company.

Bryant has been organizing flash tours of the Rahway Arts District and overseeing a fundraising campaign featuring inscribed bricks that will be installed next year for the Hamilton Stage.

Check out the video of the interior (I’m practicing with the video mechanism on my camera). The video above is the main entrance, fronting Hamilton Street, with the hallway going all the way to the back of the facility. Note the original steel from the former Bell Building that’s exposed along the ceiling. The video ends at where the main entrance will be.

This video is a little more difficult to view, as I shot it from a “vertical” angle on my camera, with hopes of being able to manipulate it later (haven’t figured that out yet). But it pans the rehearsal hall mentioned earlier. My apologies for the angle; I’ll remedy that as soon as I can figure something out.