Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2000 - 30

..._ _" n our way to the conference from lew York, my wife
Lucille and I heard that twelve to twenty-four inches of snow were expected in Denver. I thought, how appropriate. During the weekend of the
fabled first USlTI conference, February 4 and 5, 1961, we had a real
blizzard in ew York. On Sunday when those assembled-approximately
120 of us-adopted the proposals of the pro-tern Bylaws Committee,
USITI was born. This year is the fortieth conference of USITI-a cause
for celebration. ext year we can celebrate again when USITI is truly
forty years old.
H!dpothesis
It was the fall of 1958 I think, when the Institute's co-founders, Tom

DeGaetani and myself, first met. We were brought together by the scenic
designer David Hays to whom we had individually been talking, expressing our concern over the bad new theatres that we saw being built. We
felt these theatres were unsuited to the programming that would make
them vital and living. USITI did not spring full-blown out of that meeting,
or indeed from many subsequent meetings, but Tom and I agreed that
the existing theatre organizations were not focusing any real efforts on
the problem of relating performance space design to performance
needs.
Gradually we began bringing colleagues into our conversations.
And we spoke to the leaders of the existing theatre organizations to see if
we could get their interest and involvement. Eventually we turned to the
idea of a separate "institute"-an organization for research and dissemination of knowledge. We would establish a home for those interested in
bringing together the disciplines of theatrical production and the disciplines involved in the design of performance spaces. At the same time we
would seek stimuli from and provide stimuli to the existing organizations. The word synergy would become vogue much later, but that is the
idea we had in mind. We probably used the word "umbrella" to describe
how USITI could bring together theatre artists and designers of theatres.
And, we saw ourselves as working hand-in-hand \vith the existing theatre
organizations.
The first Directors and Executive Commillee members were mindful
of the challenge of creating such an institute. They included: Robert
Rowe Paddock, a stage designer, painter and president of the nited
Scenic Artists; Jean Rosenthal and Hans Sondheimer, lighting designers and theatre consultants; Harry Horner and David Hays, scene designers; Helge Westennann, architect and Eric Pawley, theatre
architect and staff executive secretary of the Anlerican Institute of Arch.itects; Walter Diehl, vice-president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees; John Cornell, a working stage manager and
chair of the Stage Manager's Committee of Actor's Equity; Peter Cott, executive director of the Society of Television Arts and Sciences; Harold
Burris-Meyer, acoustician, Commander US R, author; Edward C.
Cole, educator, technical director, author, and past-president of the
28

MER

2 0 0 0

TZ>&T

American Educational Theatre Association; Rosamond Gilder, international.ist, former editor of Theatre Arts Magazine, president of the International Theatre Institute of the ruted States (also representing the
Anlerican National Theatre and Academy); Ben Schlanger, architect
and the vice-president of the Board of Standards and Planning of the Living Theatre, a comm.ittee within ANTA's New York Chapter; and Arthur
Benline, commissioner of environmental control, City of ew York, formerly principal building code writer for New York City and lew York
State Building Codes.
As we went about the progran1l1ung of the first USITI conference we
included artists from the many disciplines we sought to bring together.
Along with the members of the Board and the Executive Commillee, the
participants in the first conference of USITI included: playwrights Sidney Kingsley, Barrie Stavis; directors - Robert Le\vis, julian Beck;
choreographers - Valerie Bettis, Agnes de MilIe,]ose Limon; composers - Gunther Schuller, jack Beeson, janles Browning; producers Robert Whitehead, T. Edward Hanlbleton; designers - Wolfgang Roth,
Eldon Elder, Donald Oenslager, Harry Horner, David Hays; architects Peter Blake, PI1.ilip johnson, Burghard Engele; administrators - Melvin
Wlute, joseph Londin; acousticians - Russell jol1l1son, Cyril Harris,
Harold Burris-Meyer; theatre engineers - George Izenour, Felix Graham, Tony Maurer; business managers - Herman Krawitz, joseph
Shipley; publishers - Robert MacGregor of Theatre Arts Books; international activists - RosanlOnd Gilder, Robert Scluutzler; theatre librarians - George Freedley, Henry Wells; technicians - lots of us
including Charles Levy, janles jewell; and educators - Arnold Gillette,
Sawyer Falk.
It goes without saying that any dreams we nught have had at that
first conference have been long surpassed by the Institute's later achievements. But, as I will try to make clear, some of our dreams, the inter-disciplinary and inter-organizational concepts, and the heavy involvement of
leading professionals, have seenungly lost their importance as the Institute has aged and as it has become more self-centered, more paroclual
and more discipline oriented.
Recitative

I anI very thankful for the opportunities that USITI has provided over the
years; I have wonderful memories and a lot to celebrate. Here are a few
lughlights:
* Tom DeGaetani, Philip johnson, Peter Blake, and Iwere anlOng the Americans who participated in the lntemational Colloquy on Theatre Design orgaJuzed by Walther Unl1lh in Berlin in lovember of 1960. FfaJlkly, it was a
mind-opening expelience for me, tlus first tlip into tile intemational
world.
* As president of USITT from 1963 to 1965 I presided over a mailbox address at tile Radio City post office and montll.1y meetings of tile BOaJTI of
Directors held in the fifth floor conference room at . !\'TA (American Na-

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2000