The Flight Deck

I love this intimate venue for performances! I volunteered with a studio for their performance and it's perfect for showcases. I hope this place stays around!

Had an art show recently and the owner and her kids were helicoptering the whole time over everyone which did not feel comfortable at all. I understand that it is your venue and you have rules but at least give us some space. Place feels super restricted with all the rules and hovering over people.

My wife and I just had a great experience at a show this weekend. We have two young kids and haven't been to much theater in years, and can't say we went all that much to begin with, but we recently went to Winter's Tale put on by Ragged Wing Ensamble at the Flight Deck and we're really impressed. I have to admit, a few minutes in my wife and I both thought... ohh wait, Shakespeare is not so easy to follow and not so fun, but by intermission we were loving it and by the end so impressed. It is a really impressive cast, and the theater size was intimate and perfect for that kind of production. Really special. The Flight Deck apparently is home to a few core performing groups and a much bigger community of performing arts groups that don't have permanent space. I love the idea of a shared space for so many small theater groups and plan to support others - I'll be curious to see how good the others are, but I've heard great things. By coincidence, we ran into some very close friend's parents who live a few blocks away. They sold their house in Florida where they worked and raised their family and moved into a small downtown Oakland condo a few years ago and have gotten really involved in the Oakland arts and downtown scene. They said they and a group of other older folks they know in downtown go to every production at the Flight Deck and that many of the different groups they've seen so far have impressed them.Very cool space, great cast, great show. What a gem for downtown Oakland!

I work here as a young actor's acting coach, and have held rehearsals here as well. The studio is wonderful to rehearse in - a dream really - with it's beautiful wood floors, clean, and bright; very conducive to creative energy. I often use the conference room upstairs which is perfect for coaching individual actors. It's a good size, and just the right amount of decor and openness for working one-to-one. The staff here is friendly, supportive, and respectful of everyone's time and artistic practices. I beyond highly recommend THE FLIGHT DECK!

My group rented a room here and I can't believe how bad it was for what we paid. Too small for the number of people we told them were coming. Not even a little bit soundproof. Not ADA accessible. None of which they told us about until it was too late to move the event. A whole bunch of codes just to get to the room so we had to show each person in from the street through a maze of halls and doors and stairs all the way to the room. And there were LOUD performers rehearsing downstairs and walking past our room talking loudly during their breaks. And of course there is the lack of parking, which I expected. The only good things I could say are that the chairs are comfortable, the tables are pretty new, and the bathrooms are gender neutral. Seriously NOT a place you want to rent from for a professional event, though.

Great space! Diverse offerings/plays and performances. Love the art work in the gallery, in the hallway!

Parking is bad, I repeat unless you want your car broken into on a fri or sat night you have to park far or in a alley.This venue rents out and caters more to the "new oakland" not so much support to long term community members.

Last month, in June, I produced my contemporary dance company at The Flight Deck and was so very gratified by the experience that I want to urge all performing arts companies/groups in the Bay Area to give TFD a whirl. I've been choreographing and producing my work for 35 years. In fact, I am a proud member of the "OLD Oakland/Bay Area" performing arts community, having grown up in Berkeley, moved on to Oakland and established my own studio in West Oakland four years ago. The Flight Deck met my needs as a long-time Bay Area choreographer/director (way past "mid-career,") who's just looking for reasonable ways & means to show my work. The Flight Deck delivers! Champagne Hughes and her staff work hard to coordinate rehearsals and tech in a space that is on the small side, but very serviceable. House Tech Director, William Campbell, worked closely with me and, despite shortage of time and lighting options (this is the way it goes for small dance companies) succeeded in designing and running a well-paced, beautiful show.

The Flight Deck is an exciting new performance space in downtown Oakland. Located within one block of BART and easy walking distance from places like Dogwood, Make Westing, Duende, and Flora, it's ideally located for a dinner theatre outing. I had a chance to take in the inagural show in the 99 seat black box. Which was a treat!To quote the website: "The Flight Deck is a collaborative arts space and performance venue opening on June 6, 2014 in Downtown Oakland, where artists of all kinds and ages can work, play, collaborate, learn and thrive. A project of Ragged Wing Ensemble, it is home to multiple artists and organizations..." Right now, it is a little rough around the edges, with things like bare walls and an uncarpeted hallway to the rest rooms that is badly in need of some sound dampening. I imagine that willl change considering they aren't even officially oen yet. Rough edges aside, I really enjoyed my first experience with them and I'm hoping to see much more in the future. Definitely visit their website to see what is coming up next.

Flight Deck is an idea that seems too good to be true, but they make it work -- in a world-class way. Take an old downtown storefront, remake it into a theater, create workspace for multiple artists and arts organizations, use the walls as a visual art gallery, recruit and house four diverse local theater companies, apply for grants, sell tickets, cultivate and perform original work, train a sizeable youth contingent -- basically, produce risk-taking, provocative theater, have a strong educational component, run the business end like professionals -- and treat each other well, serve the community, and continue to grow and prosper. I mean, really, isn't this how it's supposed to be? Is this the real America at 15th and Broadway in downtown Oakland? A model arts organization and it's on the map for young arts entrepreneurs to emulate. All of which results in a theatrical experience that feels like something more.