Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Happy Groundhog Day! What a shock for Punxsutawney Phil this year to see such massive change on the economic landscape. We are happy to be here, and are proud that you are reading this issue, which begins the 5th year of Theatre By Design.

Ann and Roger undertook a silly endeavor this month and wrote a little dramatic scene together for The View From Here, entitled “FAQ’s”. We continue with Theatre Audiences Observed and Wisdom from the Wings in the side column. Send us your stories and we’ll share them in the next issue!

Theatre by Design is a quarterly newsletter with useful information about the business of building theatres.

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THE VIEW FROM HERE
FAQ’s
by Ann Sachs and Roger Morgan

SCENE ONE:
In which the Theatre Designer receives a new commission

The Setting: Evening. The stage of a historic movie palace in New England, shabby and rundown

The Action: A party is in progress; everyone wears construction hard-hats. The press is everywhere, reporters texting or speaking on their i-phones. The Board of Directors has just announced the selection of the theatre design team for the theatre renovation. Applause. Board members, valued donors, VIPs from the community, and the design team nibble little pieces of cheese on multi-colored toothpicks. There are crackers. They raise their wine glasses to toast THEATRE DESIGNER, an artistic looking fellow of a certain age, and he raises his glass in thanks. BOARD CHAIR, silver-haired, charismatic, politically savvy, slaps THEATRE DESIGNER on the back.

BOARD CHAIR
Bravo, Leo, Bravo. Unanimous first choice. Dynamic presentation. And your leave-behinds – mini-flash- drives. Genius. (Slaps him on the back) Fine firm. Gonna be a winner project.

THEATRE DESIGNER
Thanks so much… um… (To the audience) I can’t for the life of me remember the guy’s name! (Back to the BOARD CHAIR) Nice tie.

BOARD CHAIR
Dolce & Gabana. The wife, y’know.

THEATRE DESIGNER
(To the audience) Was it George? Bill?

BOARD CHAIR
By the way, Leo…

THEATRE DESIGNER
(To himself) It reminded me of “President”… Not Barack. Jimmy? Shit.

BOARD CHAIR
(Aside to Theatre Designer) You gotta help me out here: some of our board members, y’know, are out on a limb…

THEATRE DESIGNER
(To the audience) Ronald? Richard? No…

BOARD CHAIR
I know it’s early, but how much is this little project going to set us back?

THEATRE DESIGNER
What did he just say?! (searching for the name) Sir…

BOARD CHAIR
No need for formality, Leo – call me Jack.

THEATRE DESIGNER
JACK!

BOARD CHAIR
I know, I know, you don’t like to put a number on it.

THEATRE DESIGNER
Actually, we’ll give you a project cost when we finish schematic design…

BOARD CHAIR
Leo, this is your specialty – that’s why we hired you – you’ve done hundreds of these! Just give me a number. Promise I won’t hold you to it.

THEATRE DESIGNER
Jack, would you want your doctor to diagnose your condition at a party? I’m sure you understand.

BOARD CHAIR
Absolutely. Hey – you’re a professional after all. Shoot from the hip…

THEATRE DESIGNER
The cost of a project is a complex process…

BOARD CHAIR
(Hard back slap) I know you understand my position here, Leonard, so just put me in the ballpark.

THEATRE DESIGNER
(To the audience) I haven’t even been to the ball field yet!

BOARD CHAIR
Off the top of your head.

THEATRE DESIGNER
(Worried. Blurts it out.) Somewhere between eleven and seventeen million.

BOARD CHAIR
That’s awfully high.

THEATRE DESIGNER
Well, depending.

BOARD CHAIR
You’re smart. You’ll get that number down!

Music plays. Lights fade.
Large projection screen appears with local newspaper headline:
Board Chair Announces $10 Million Estimate for Renovation – Community Divided!

SCENE TWO:
In which a Theatre Designer responds to a second FAQ

The scene: A few days later. A conference room.

The Action: The building committee of 10, including THEATRE DESIGNER and BOARD CHAIR, is assembling around a large table. The meeting is about to commence.

BOARD CHAIR
Hi Leo, lookin’ good m’boy! (slaps Theatre Designer vigorously on the back) Say listen, I’ve told the board you’re preparing a great little watercolor sketch for them. Just to show them what the completed project will look like. That’s ok with you, right?

THEATRE DESIGNER
(Stares blankly at the chairman, turns out toward the audience. Says nothing.)

LIGHTS OUT

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached the 13th issue of Theatre By Design, but here we are. Thanksgiving is behind us and we’ve all expressed how grateful we are in this year where hope seems to be the dominant word.

It is in that spirit that Roger writes of his longtime hope for a “Black Box Theatre” paradigm shift in Useful Blather, and Ann’s side column Wisdom from the Wings recalls a few gems from last week and from the last century. We love hearing from you, and invite you to share your own stories. And please feel free to contact us on Twitter: Roger is @TheatreByDesign, and Ann is @TheatreSmart.

We are grateful that you are in our lives, and hope that the great spotlight in the sky shines down on all of you!

Theatre by Design is a quarterly newsletter with useful information about the business of building theatres.

To generate your own hard copy of the newsletter, simply click the “Newsletter Print Version” link to the right. If you would like to discontinue receiving the newsletter, please respond to this e-mail with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

USEFUL BLATHER
Black Box Theatres
by Roger Morgan

“Here kid, stand inside this pallid, dead-black, empty room. Now, spread your damp little wings, and just let your imagination take flight.” That’s the concept of the Black Box Theatre.

This ubiquitous form emerged in the early 1960’s when baby boomers started entering colleges and universities. Struggling to accommodate them, institutions built a rash of new buildings, among them a whole lot of theatres.

At the time, the thrust stage theatre was the rage in architectural circles, no doubt influenced by the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis (1963) and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center (1965). It became the fashion in academic institutions to accompany a big theatre with a much smaller one, commonly referred to as an experimental theatre. An accepted design formula emerged, and eventually they all looked alike.

Experimental theatres were intentionally devoid of architectural character. The accepted recipe called for a two-story square or rectangular room with a flat floor and 100 to 200 movable seats. The floor, walls and ceiling were painted flat black, and black curtains were on traveler-tracks. The spaces were meant to be serious little workplaces or factories; artistic workshops, which placed the focus on the writing, the actor, and on explorations of actor/audience relationships. The belief was that a blank, black room was a safe haven for young artists to take risks. A place devoid of the stultifying effects of conventional theatres was thought to be the environment where bright young minds would find inspiration.

Many experimental theatres were fitted with sophisticated machinery that lifted and pushed modular components to adjust the form. The concept fit comfortably with academic thinking of the time. Not everyone, however, agreed that it had merit. My mentor, the legendary scenic designer Jo Mielziner *, deplored the concept and found the appellation ‘experimental’ insulting. “All theatre is experimental,” he said to me. “Every single production is a high-risk experiment!” Jo believed that the so-called experimental theatres were inventions of left-brained engineers who hoped to de-mystify and systematize what he believed to be the art of theatre. He objected to the costly equipment used to transform them from one format into another, and he wondered further “Why do they always have to be painted black?”

Over the years many of those mechanized rooms proved too cumbersome and costly to operate. Cheaper versions, ones that required users to reorganize the parts by hand, were built. A lot of institutions couldn’t afford to move the stuff, or objected to the inconvenience. So, in time, a lot of highly ‘adaptable’ theatres ended up in a formation that once worked well, and parked there permanently.

To be fair, many people like these theatres a lot. An early example, at Cal Arts (see below) is vigorously exploited for its artistic opportunities and is often praised.

After all these years I still don’t care for Black Boxes, although I must admit they have some virtues. For example:
1. They are small. Theatre works well in small spaces. That’s good.

2. Many have overhead catwalks to reduce the need for ladders and provide safe access to equipment for students. That’s excellent.

3. They are easy to clean. That’s good too.
Nevertheless, I see these theatres as opportunities wasted.

If I could go back in time and re-write the history of this theatre form, I’d emphasize that the architectural program (which lays out specific space requirements determined by use) could better benefit the diverse activities the theatres serve. Looking at an annual schedule of room use, one notes that the most frequently scheduled activities are not performances, but classes: acting, dance, improvisation, playwriting, stagecraft. Crew calls, rehearsals and social gatherings round out the mix. Those activities deserve fresh air and daylight, features that can lift the artistic spirit.

Rooms endowed with architectural character have visual elements beneficial to a space in which creativity flourishes. For instance, artists naturally gravitate toward the light; create windows with sills set deep enough for actors to sit in as if they were pulpits, castle walls, hideaways, or balconies for love scenes. Artists must move: ramps make for exciting chases; stairs with landings and railings, trap doors and other natural elements of real rooms transform easily into the surprising worlds explored in the theatre.

While we’re at it, shall we come up with a more fitting name for the workplace of an artist? Let’s face it, Black Box sounds like a coffin, so heaven help us, ban the black paint. It’s gloomy and deadening to the spirit – a leftover from a sensibility that artists must suffer.

Artists suffer enough; they deserve a place to soar. Let’s give it to them.

* Jo Mielziner (1901-1976) is considered one of the most influential scenic designers of the 20th century. He collaborated with architects to design several theatres in the 60’s and 70’s, and his designs of scenery, costumes and lighting for more than 200 productions have become part of the American lexicon. He ‘experimented’ with Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Rodgers and Hammerstein, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Robbins, Noel Coward, George S. Kaufman, George Balanchine, and others.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

With this 12th issue of Theatre By Design we focus on the explosive phenomenon of Social Media. The data is in, and it tells us that Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are here to stay. You may know that the Tony Award winning Next to Normal has half a million followers on Twitter; according to FAST COMPANY those followers are becoming audience members.

Members of the Silent Generation* (that would be Roger) remain skeptical about this form of instant, unscreened communication, whereas Baby Boomers** (Ann is one) are riding the wave. Ann writes about this in THE VIEW FROM HERE. And a Glossary is included in this issue for those who are not quite on board. In USEFUL BLATHER, Roger shares his thoughts on watching Ann develop her blog, Theatrical Intelligence. We are curious as to how you – our readers – are using Social Media. Please let us know what you’re doing with your blogs and your tweets; how is it all working?

• …American men and women who graduated from college in the Eisenhower era [born from 1923 to 1943].
  Time: June 29, 1970
• …The approximately 78.2 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964.
  US Census Bureau

Happy end of summer to all. Hope to see you on Twitter. Ann is @Theatresmart, and believe it or not Roger has just signed on as @TheatreByDesign.

Theatre by Design is a quarterly newsletter with useful information about the business of building theatres.

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THE VIEW FROM HERE
The Social Media Revolution
by Ann Sachs

In conversations with friends, family and colleagues this summer, the one subject that dominates most interactions is Social Media. “Do you tweet?” no longer sounds risqué to me, and is often followed by vigorous dialogue about whether Facebook is preferable to Twitter, and which ones of us have a blog.

I am not a geek, and freely admit that I am technologically challenged. I never could have imagined that the day would come when I would be fully engaged in an animated debate asking if Social Media is a fad or the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution. That’s what happened this summer. The speed with which this topic has penetrated our culture is like nothing I have witnessed in my 60+ years. Is it here to stay? I think so. My question of the moment is: what are we going to do about it?

In early August, 2009, Erik Qualman, the author of Socialnomics released some remarkable data in a YouTube video called Welcome to the Revolution.

Erik’s data is listed below:
• By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers
• 96% of them have joined a social network
• Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
• Years to reach 50 million users:
…Radio: 38 years
…Television: 13 years
…Internet: 4 years
• Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months
• iPod Application downloads hit 1 billion in 9 months
• If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest:
1. China
2. India
3. United States
4. Facebook
5. Indonesia
6. Brazil
7. Pakistan
8. Bangladesh
• 80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees
• 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out-performed those receiving face-to-face instruction… 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
• The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year old females
• There are over 200,000,000 blogs
• 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily
• 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video… on their phone.
• 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle
• More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook DAILY

All this information distribution is so complex and compelling it makes me feel curious and excited – and then I get dizzy and just want to take a nap.

My friend and colleague Gary Cohen recently introduced me to “the Law of 3/30/3”: viewers look at your website for 3 seconds to decide if they’ll give you 30 seconds to determine if it’s worth 3 minutes of their time. Talk about having to make a good first impression! How is it possible to handle this speed?

I’ve decided to schedule lots of time to ponder. Alone. In between tweets.

USEFUL BLATHER

My partner Ann has become a missionary to people in straight jobs (i.e. any kind of work outside the theatre). She is determined to quantify theatre as a successful work model, and spread the word to other industries. Wherever she goes, Ann observes the special ingredients shared by theatre professionals that could be transferred into almost any workplace. Where I just see ordinary theatre folks doing stuff the way they always do, she sees common denominators within the theatrical culture. Through her particular lens, she has defined “The 8 Roles” and “The 6 Principles” of Theatrical Intelligence. She believes that we all come into the world with it and many of us lose it somewhere along the way to becoming a grown-up.

I must say that I love watching her as she continues to develop this concept. Non-theatre people get really excited about it, and I’ve actually learned a thing or two. Now Ann is writing a book about it and she recently created a blog: www.theatricalintelligence.com. It’s fascinating and fun. Check it out. Tell her I sent you.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome to our 11^th edition of Theatre By Design.

As the current worldwide economic crisis impacts our daily lives, the creative spirit surrounds us. From the darkly humorous logos (see our sidebar) to the timeless words of Irving Berlin…
Got no checkbooks, got no banks
Still I’d like to express my thanks
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.

…we are reminded that out of crisis springs new perspective and opportunity.

The theatre industry, for instance, led by Mayor Bloomberg and the Broadway League, is seizing the opportunity to make a difference in the carbon footprint of NYC by committing to environmentally sustainable practices. See THE VIEW FROM HERE.

And may insight and opportunity spring for all of you!

Theatre by Design is a quarterly newsletter with useful information about the business of building theatres.

To generate your own hard copy of the newsletter, simply click the “Newsletter Print Version” link to the right. If you would like to discontinue receiving the newsletter, please respond to this e-mail with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

THE VIEW FROM HERE
IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
by Ann Sachs

As a member of the Broadway community and the national theatre industry, our Studio is witnessing the rapid growth of a collective environmental conscience: the greening of American theatres. Given that Broadway earned the moniker “The Great White Way” early in the twentieth century because of the bright, white and newly invented electric light bulb, this will be no easy feat!

On November 25, 2008, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of the Broadway League, launched the Broadway Goes Green initiative. This new plan has received commitment from Broadway theatres and theatres across the country to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adopt more sustainable practices. The goal in NYC is to reduce the City’s carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030.

Changes in operational practices are already underway: ten Broadway theatres have replaced over 10,000 exterior and interior bulbs, and an additional 14 conversions will follow. The rest of the theaters have pledged to do the same during 2009. Steps such as these will help reduce the load on the taxed electrical grid in Midtown Manhattan. (Press release: http://www.greenbroadway.com/index.php)

The practices announced by the League are largely operational, including the “Reuse-Recycle-Reuse” philosophy. I reached out to our frequent collaborator Don Lasker, LEED certified architect and Principal of Don Lasker Architect LLP, and asked him to address green approaches for theatre buildings.

Don referred to six areas worth investigating:
1. Water usage: the installation of energy conserving plumbing fixtures can have impact on reducing water usage – think of all those toilets being flushed during intermissions! During routine plumbing maintenance, it makes economic sense to consider the new, water-conserving fixtures. On Broadway, for example, reductions in water usage reduce the waste-water delivered to the New York City sewer system.

2. Building Mechanical Systems: a great deal of energy can be saved here. Payback of the initial investment may vary: less than five years is appealing, and three is better. When equipment is replaced, the new and innovative systems reduce energy cost. Commissioning existing systems (testing and calibrating equipment to ensure it is running at its optimum performance level) will ensure that they are running at peak efficiency, which can save energy through a modest investment of professional engineering time.

3. Refrigerant Management: many older systems have CFC refrigerants; these cause ozone depletion. The CFC refrigerants can be phased out, and new, environmentally friendly refrigerants can replace them.

4. Solar Energy Systems: Some theaters have substantial roof area. Solar energy can be used to heat domestic hot water for energy savings. The technology has been improved for these systems, which has reduced the payback period. Solar voltaic cells can used to generate a portion of electricity (although this will be small compared to the energy needed for lighting productions).

5. Indoor Environmental Quality: when new carpets, cabinetwork and other finishes are replaced, attention to off-gassing and environmentally friendly materials can help. This also applies to the adhesives used to glue down tile and carpet, and the sealants for caulking windows. And sometimes there is the opportunity to use materials that have some recycled content.

6. Lighting: in addition to replacing tens of thousands of bulbs, a modest investment can yield energy savings in lighting controls for non-theatrical lighting.

It’s not easy being green if you’re a theatre, especially if you’re a theatre over a hundred years old. It will be a challenge, but we in the theatre industry always welcome a challenge – we hope you will too.

Related articles and links:

Broadway Goes Green: http://www.greenbroadway.com/index.php

Green Theater Initiative: http://greentheaters.org

The Ecological Sustainability of Theatrical Lighting by Ian Garrett http://greentheaters.org/ecological-sustainability-theatrical-lighting

Atlanta Georgia’s Balzer Theatre (LEED certified Silver) http://eere.buildinggreen.com/overview.cfm?ProjectID=615

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome to the 10^th issue of Theatre By Design. In this edition we’ve temporarily departed from “useful information about theatre buildings” to provide “useful onstage tech tips” about Fog, Smoke and Haze, just in time for all those holiday productions of A Christmas Carol. Enjoy it, and let us know what you think.

P.S. FROM ROGER: Please note the brief announcement in the side column about Ann’s upcoming book, Theatrical Intelligence™ to be published next summer. Sign up for her survey if you’d like your opinions to be included!

Theatre by Design is a quarterly newsletter with useful information about the business of building theatres.

To generate your own hard copy of the newsletter, simply click the “Newsletter Print Version” link to the right. If you would like to discontinue receiving the newsletter, please respond to this e-mail with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

USEFUL BLATHER
Fog, Smoke and Haze
A Techie Tidbit by Terri Tomola

Lighting designers love to use fog, smoke and haze. Why? Three reasons:

• • Light must be reflected off of a surface to be seen, and even vapor allows us to see a beam of light (think rock concerts).
  • It effectively sets tone and place (think scary night in a cemetery).
  • It’s just plain cool.

There are three conventional forms with which to achieve the effect:

Fog – a dense vapor that creates a cloud-like effect, and then disappears.

Dry Ice – a low-lying fog created by submerging solid CO2 in warm water.

Haze – an atomized fluid that hangs in the air.

Since fog typically disperses up, atmosphere-making devices are often placed on the stage floor, as are dry-ice machines. Hazers can be hidden in the upper part of a set or hung on battens above. However, there’s nothing worse than placing your fogger too high above the stage floor or directly under a vent. The fog will either be blown into the lobby or directly up the vent. This might work for a tornado effect if the theatre is doing The Wizard of Oz, but is certainly not advisable.

Actors Equity has specific guidelines in its Production Rulebook¹ regarding the use of haze and fog under the section “Inherently Dangerous Conditions Prohibited”. This ensures that the products used don’t irritate the performers, the crew or the audience, and are in compliance with quantifiable testing limits set forth by the union².

In spite of safety precautions, audiences tend to react to any type of atmosphere with waves of coughing spasms, much like a rousing chorus of “Row, row, row your boat”… in the round.

No matter the method, or where the device is placed, there’s always a way to produce the desired effect. It’s clear when it’s beginning to work when someone exclaims in hushed tones: “Wow – that’s cool!”

¹ AEA Production Rulebook, April 2008, pg 90.
² Equipment Based Guidelines for the Use of Theatrical Smoke and Haze, by ENVIRON International Corporation, June, 2001. www.actorsequity.org>document library>safe and sanitary

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome to the third year of Theatre By Design, and Happy Valentines Day!

This edition includes a couple of valentine specials for you: musings on the primal ritual of theatre (from the point of view of the building) in our USEFUL BLATHER column. And for the designers among you – last issue’s AUTOCAD TIP was so popular, it is expanded upon in The Third Dimension.

Now go out and spread love among you…

Theatre by Design is a quarterly newsletter with useful information about the business of building theatres.

To generate your own hard copy of the newsletter, simply click the “Newsletter Print Version” link to the right. If you would like to discontinue receiving the newsletter, please respond to this e-mail with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

USEFUL BLATHER
A THEATRE SPEAKS
By Ann Sachs and Roger Morgan

It is said that human beings prospered because we learned to gather in groups to cooperate. During our development as a species we built dwellings to protect us from the elements and our enemies. As we became more civilized we erected special-purpose buildings for sports, religion, government, and other activities of society we especially cared about. Such buildings incorporated custom features to hospitably accommodate the lives that are lived there.

The task of every building is to serve the life within. It is common knowledge that a family home works best when organized around the activities of those who live there: a family that entertains a lot may need a large dining room, whereas a family that never entertains may not need one at all. Most of us are able to draw on experiences of family life when planning a new home. But what happens when a prospective building must serve a life less thoroughly understood, such as a theatre?

Perhaps there should be a large sign on the office wall of every person who works on a theatre building: I CARE ABOUT YOU! Who is the “You” in this case? You, the performer; you, the playwright; you, the stagehand; you, the theatre owner; you, the designer; you, the audience member… it is a mighty list. Who is the I CARE ABOUT YOU! sign “from”? The theatre, of course.

Suspend your disbelief for a moment, and imagine that a theatre is talking to us. Listen carefully as it shares its wisdom:

MY PATRONS purchase tickets that provide the cash on which our industry depends, so I give them a warm welcome! They arrive by the hundreds – strangers to one another – who will magically coalesce into an audience in less than thirty minutes. They migrate intuitively from street to seat. I take great pride that I never hear “Which way to the loge?” It’s easy to forgive the ones who are cranky, because they have abandoned their routines to participate in an ancient tribal rite with me. And my patrons in wheelchairs (many of them older than I) feel respected and understood. I have come to believe it is one of my greatest assets.

MY ACTORS want my audience to be prepared for the ritual! There are so few minutes between arrival and performance, the peaceful process of getting my audience to their seats helps them leave their hectic world behind so my actors will more easily draw them into their world. My dressing rooms – forgive me – have become legendary and my costume designers love them because of the access to laundry and storage. I have stage-level bathrooms on both sides of the stage for my actors, who (no matter what level of fame or fortune) always use them!

MY AUDIENCE CHAMBER: You know, intimacy is THE most frequently used word in the thousands of discussions I overhear about the quality of my house. My performers and my patrons feel that they can almost touch each other. That always makes me smile. The interior treatment of my audience chamber, while simple, defers to the event onstage.

MY STAGEHANDS are my closest colleagues. They know that stage lighting and sound apparatus mess up my walls and ceilings, but they understand the necessity. My original designer worked closely with them to ensure that stage equipment would peacefully co-exist with architectural materials and finishes.

MY TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE is impeccable if I do say so myself. Unfortunately my friend down the block was not so lucky; essential front-of-house production elements were left out as a cost-saving measure during her construction. In a matter of months she was forced to endure that nasty ritual we refer to as “the law of midnight improvements” – retrofitting in unwelcome places at off-hours because too little was provided to support production in the first place. Unpleasant and unnecessary. It is my job to accommodate production needs! I am the most popular house in town because of my quick load-in capacity (and my seat count of course).

MY BACKSTAGE: The ten minutes before curtain is my favorite time of day or night. The hair people are combing out wigs in the wardrobe department, one of my stagehands leans precariously at the top of a ladder to adjust a light, a young dancer stretches out on the floor of the stage-left wing while my prop man – ever-so-careful not to disturb the dancer – carries a serving tray with the cup handles pointing just the way the leading lady likes them. Kim (my favorite flyman) climbs to the stop of the stagehouse to double check the flying birds at the opening of the show. The seeming chaos of carpenters, electricians, hairdressers, actors and even the company manager delivering paychecks, is actually a finely choreographed ballet. I am here to support them.

MY TIDBITS OF ADVICE: If I were to devise a little shorthand “cheat sheet” (as my stage managers often request) of little things that matter, it would look something like this:

Steps in Aisles: the fewer the better
Handrails: the more the better
Directional Signs: lots, to relieve patrons’ anxiety
Comfort: not too much, not too little
Accessibility: more and more important every day
Row Spacing: Greater spacing offers more legroom but forces the last row farther from the stage. (Great designers required.)
Seat Count: fewer the better? more the better? Theatre owners rule.
Ladies Toilets: You can never have too many!

It is important to me to remember that I am a way of life. I am a temple of art, a factory, a place of ritual and growth. I am a building in which to carry out an ancient rite of human civilization. I am not an ordinary thing. I am a theatre.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As ghost stories emerge from the shadows on Halloween every year, we are reminded of the words of a favorite Carnegie-Mellon professor: “Theatre isn’t larger than life,” pause…smile…”it is as large as life!” As large as life indeed. And then some.

Everyone in our industry knows at least one person who swears to have seen a theatre ghost. Many theatres claim to have one. It can’t all be made up – it’s not as if they’re Roswell converts – they’re just normal people. Theatre people.

We have received some nifty tales of haunted theatres to share with you in this Halloween issue of Theatre By Design. Enjoy them with your candy corn…and when the show is over, don’t be the last one out of the theatre!

We’ll catch you again before the New Year.

Theatre by Design is a quarterly newsletter with useful information about the business of building theatres.

To generate your own hard copy of the newsletter, simply click the “Newsletter Print Version” link to the right. If you would like to discontinue receiving the newsletter, please respond to this e-mail with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

October 31st Street Theatre

Haunted Theatres
Assembled by the Sachs Morgan Studio Staff

Do theatre ghosts really exist? If so, what are they – some kind of energy generated by the intense emotional history that has collected in great theatres of the world? Whatever the answer, it is always fun to hear the stories and let a little shiver run up your spine.

HOLLYWOOD’S PANTAGES
My current favorite ghost is my husband and partner, Roger Morgan. One morning in the summer of 2001 in Hollywood, several workers on the Pantages Theatre renovation team were sure they had seen Roger lurking in the shadows as they worked high up on the scaffolding. When they saw Roger later that afternoon one of them asked if he had just gotten a haircut. Roger (who admits he often needs a haircut) said no, that he had just arrived from the airport, suitcase in tow, and hadn’t even been in the theatre that day. The team realized that they had seen the ghost of Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire who owned the Pantages from 1949 to 1953. Apparently the publicity-shy Hughes is always seen in the shadows, never in the light.

EUGENE O’NEILL’S AH, WILDERNESS
On November 27, 1953, during the first act of an Ah, Wilderness tour, the entire cast of the Barter Theatre Company heard a bloodcurdling scream. Shocked, they asked at intermission what had happened; no one knew what they were talking about. After the show they heard on the radio that Eugene O’Neill had died that night at the exact moment of the scream. Chilling.

NEW AMSTERDAM, NEW YORK CITY

Olive Thomas

Beautiful Olive Thomas was married at 13 and ran away from Pittsburgh to NY two years later. She entered and won “The Most Beautiful Girl in New York” contest which got her on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post and a coveted role as a Ziegfeld Follies Girl at the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street. Olive’s second husband (Mary Pickford’s brother Jack) was an alcoholic and a womanizer. One night in Paris after a long night of drinking, Olive downed the blue bottle of mercury bi-chloride he was using to treat his syphilis. She is now one of Broadway’s most celebrated ghosts. Disney’s Dana Amendola tells of Olive’s presence recently scaring the wits out of the security guard at the New Amsterdam who resigned on the spot. Stagehands in the theatre often enter with a “Hey Olive – we’re back!” and Olive has been heard to say “Hey, fella!” in a coquettish voice. She is often seen holding the blue glass bottle that reputedly holds the poison that killed her at 21, poor thing.

RIVOLI, INDIANAPOLIS
In 2004 I visited the Rivoli Theatre in Indianapolis, built in 1927 and closed since 1992. I saw photographs of mysterious lights forming into the shape of a person on the left-hand side of the auditorium and heard firsthand reports from two people who simultaneously witnessed a man in a tuxedo and a woman in a white dress, sitting in the auditorium, who vanish when looked at.

KEITH-ALBEE, HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA
Built in 1928, designed by the architect Thomas W. Lamb, the theatre still operates today as a movie theatre and home to Marshall University’s Artist Series. There is a strong female presence on the stairs near the ladies powder room.

PIPER’S OPERA HOUSE, VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA
Darrell Ziegler wrote of an “unexplained event” he witnessed at Piper’s Opera House on Wednesday, January 30, 2002, at approximately 6:00 PM. His meticulous account follows:

Our team was removing samples of existing fabric/wallpaper from a trunk in the upper, house-right stage-left (north) nearest the stage, side box. My colleagues took these samples and laid them on tables for viewing and labeling. At the same time, I was on the grid above the stage, taking pictures and measurements. Suddenly, a 4″ diameter cast iron sheave (pulley) fell from the grid, landed on the stage near the upper house-right (nearest the stage) side box and rolled onto the auditorium floor. It did not strike anyone. I was still on the grid in the upstage-left (northeast) corner, far away from where it hit. What fell was not a rigging loft block that is found on the grid floor; loft blocks consist of a metal pulley revolving around a metal shaft supported by wood sides. A loft block did NOT fall; only a metal pulley fell.

In my investigation and photographing of the grid, I did not see any loose, individual pulleys anywhere; not on the grid floor, the grid support structure, the fly floors, anywhere. Bo, the building superintendent, had not seen any either. As no one was in the area when the pulley fell, I have no explanation as to why it fell or where it fell from. What do YOU think?!

PALACE, NEW YORK CITY

Palace Fire in the 1920s
“Red Hot Mama” Sophie Tucker asked the audience to “keep cool” while firemen backstage quelled the fire.

According to Robert Viagas of PLAYBILL Magazine, more than a hundred ghosts haunt the Palace Theatre on Broadway! Recently when Andrea McArdle was doing Beauty and the Beast at the Palace she saw a white-gowned cellist playing in the pit; the presence of Judy Garland has been felt near a door that was built especially for her at the rear of the orchestra. And one Palace ghost is that of a vaudeville acrobat who fell and broke his neck there; he has been seen walking a tightrope from the house-left box up to the mezzanine. Beware! Legend has it that anyone who sees this particular ghost will soon die themselves.

Perhaps the answer to the question of why these ghosts don’t release their hold on the earth and move on, may be found in the punch line of the old theatre joke: “What, and give up show business?”

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome to the Theatre By Design summer ‘Lite’ edition. It is a quick-read version, in consideration of summer schedules.

Our Halloween issue, including many of the haunted theatre stories you have sent us (keep sending them, by the way!) has a publication date of October 30th, so there will be five 2007 editions of Theatre By Design instead of the customary four.

May your summer be filled with breezy days!

Theatre by Design is a quarterly newsletter with useful information about the business of building theatres.

To generate your own hard copy of the newsletter, simply click the “Newsletter Print Version” link to the right. If you would like to discontinue receiving the newsletter, please respond to this e-mail with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

Summer Doldrums
By Roger Morgan

A Studio Sampler Of Favorite Theatre Terms
Assembled by the Sachs Morgan Studio Staff

1. BREAK A LEG “Good Luck!” in theatre jargon. The term was derived from a “break or bend of the leg” while taking a bow or curtsy; “May you have many curtain calls”.

2. EGG ON YOUR FACE Term used when an actor forgets his lines; “There I was with egg on my face…” (looking ridiculous.)

3. FLYING Raising or lowering scenery, equipment or actors, above the performing area by means of a precisely designed rigging system.

4. MR. SANDS Theatrical code to warn theatre employees of a fire without frightening the audience. “Mr. Sands is in the foyer” means that fire has broken out in the foyer.

5. MULE BLOCK A pulley, used to change the horizontal direction of a moving line.

6. SLEEPERS Strips of lumber placed at regular intervals to form the substructure for a resilient finished floor.

7. STRIKE To dismantle and load-out a production following a performance run; to remove a piece of stage equipment from its playing position. Notable because it is the opposite meaning from the Union term “Strike”; instead of no work getting done, a lot of hard work gets undone very quickly.

8. SUNDAY Knot, used to clew or hold several lines together. (May be used every day of the week.)

9. VOMITORY In a thrust or arena theatre, a ramped or stepped tunnel or passage giving performers access to the stage from beneath the seating area. The term has been known to gross out dozens of non-theatre professionals.

10. UPSTAGE Nasty habit of egotistical actors; refers to a move “upstage” (away from the audience and scene partner) causing their fellow actor to turn away from the audience to carry on dialogue, and hence NOT be seen.

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE IT MAN
Lite, Juicy Contractor Terms
By Hernan Morales

Here is a Contractor Glossary of Terms, a quick reference for people like me, who are embarrassed to ask what they should know.

http://www.contractorreferral.com

This page provides access to a large number of terms commonly used in the construction industry.