Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1985 - 32

Hans Sondheimer
... continued from page 8

tured the spirit of Hans exceedingly
well and we are pleased that she has prepared her comments for this memorial.

-J.E.R.

Remarks by Rik Kaye
Hans Sondheimer was a very special
man. I knew him only a short time, but
I had heard of Hans long before I met
him. He was well known as a lighting
designer, theatre consultant, and allaround technical genius. By reputation
he was brilliant, fiercely dedicated to
his work, and one of the toughest men
in the business.
When I came to work during the last
season that he was Technical Director
of ew York City Opera, I don't know
what I expected, but I can tell you that
I had no idea what I was in for. He
ruled with an iron hand. He expected
nothing less than perfection, and respected only hard work.
During the first several months he
referred to me only as "young man."
One day while I was drafting some
ground plans he came over to inspect
my work. He studied the drawings,
then looked at me and said, "Your
drafting is good, Mr. Kaye." Well, I
stayed "Mr. Kaye" until his retirement
when he began calling me "T.D." I addressed him as "Maestro."
He never really retired. He was
both too valuable and too motivated to
stop working. He continued as Technical Coordinator for the Los Angeles
seasons, and Technical Consultant for
New York City Opera. In the months
that followed, I got to know the man
behind the reputation, a man who loved
his wife, and cared deeply for music.
As a colleague and a friend, he brought
a lot of joy into my life. He earned his
reputation. He was indeed brilliant,
dedicated, tough, and proud of it. He
was also a generous, sensitive man with
a heart of gold. Hans lived for the
theatre, for the magic of a performance
and for the people who shared that
magic.
I will never forget one night during
the 1980 Fall Season. The curtain was
about to go up when I heard Hans shout
"Hold the curtain, Ming Cho Lee is
here! I have to say hello to Ming." After he had greeted Ming appropriately,
the performance was allowed to begin.
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Theatre Design & Technology /

On another occasion, he insisted that
the stage right props table be rearranged to allow for the prominent
display of a rendering that Lloyd Evans
had just dedicated to him. He treasured
his friends.
He loved to work, and that's what
he did. He loved to share his enthusiasm and his experience. He loved to be
asked questions, to explain, to advise,
and inspire. He loved his trailers, his
LA Season, his cruises. He loved to win.
He loved to entertain friends. He loved
a practical designer and a dedicated
crew. He loved his staff. He would
never admit it, but he loved to be
tricked into laughing.
Hans was an innovator with projected scenery and a wizard with budgets. He designed a repertory light plot
that has moved gracefully into the computer age. Whether he was fine tuning
the light cues for nightfall in agasaki
in Madame Butterfly or the witches
sabbath in Mefistofele, whether he was
laying out an hour-by-hour stage
schedule eight months in advance, planning the trailer moves for the LA Season, translating a designer's rendering
into scenery practical for repertory, designing the circuitry for a star drop, or
checking the position of an escape step,
Hans was a relentless perfectionist. He
must have said "Every night is opening
night" almost as many times as he said
"Stop fooling around!"
I don't know anyone who didn't
look up to Hans. He commanded the
respect of everyone he came into contact with. Speaking for the production
staff I can say that we will miss him very
deeply. He gave us so much that will always be with us.
Innovator, Engineer, Con ultant,
Designer, Teacher, Coordinator ... He
didn't like to be called an expert. He
was a practical theatre man. When you
come to the opera, you can thank Hans
for the stars in the sky. I'm proud to
say that I knew Hans Sondheimer. And
I'm grateful.
0

Remarks by Joel E. Rubin
We shall all miss our friend and colleague Hans Sondheimer-surely at 82
and after 40 years, he has earned the
right to miss a few performances here.
In his memory, we all know what we
must do-demand quality and work
hard for it; have fun at our work, but

SITT / Winler 1985

always be a professional.
I first met Hans in 1954 just after
joined the Kliegl stage lighting firm
One day I was called into the shop b~
the foreman, one Adolph Kirchner
who introduced me to the Technica
Director of the New York City Center
"Herr Sondheimer," he said, "likes t(
inspect the equipment personally. He i
ordering ten spotlights today." An(
then, in an aside, Adolph said, "ge
him to select an extra one and just put i
aside." It took Hans a few minutes t(
select the units he wanted out of thost
we made available, and then one more
Hans departed and we sent ten unit
down to the shipping room and careful
ly tagged the eleventh unit.
"What's the eleventh unit for?"
inquired. "Herr Sondheimer help
improve my quality," said Adolph
"We're going to compare that eleventl
unit with those he rejected and see wha
improvements have to be made."
Thus I learned early on that Han
commanded respect from his fellO\
working professionals-he was pains
taking and demanding, but he was re
spected as a great practitioner ani
teacher.
This began my acquaintance wit
this seemingly most serious of men. I
also took a while to learn that behin
the serious facade was also a mischie
vous boy, and that what often appeare
to be a scowl was normally accompa
nied by twinkling eyes. For the produc
tion of Mefistofele, for example, w
made to special order a set of si
matched high - power scenic slide pre
jectors and accompanying lenses. Hall
was very proud of the result and so wer
we. We wanted to advertise and pre
pared some subtle material which ha
no real thrust. Speaking to Hans on
day about the problem he suggested
new "Headline" which, in fact, \\
used. It read "The ew York City O~
era Told Kliegl to Go to Hell."
Early in 1960 Hans became ill
terested in the work being done by
small group to start a national researc
organization in theatre design and ted
nology. He started coming to the earl
organizational meetings and becam
not only a founding member, but one c
the signers of the original "Certifical
of Incorporation." Hans remained a(
tive in USITT, as a member of th
Board of Directors, as Engineerin
continued on page 34 ...

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