Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1967 - 8

C. RAY SMITH: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen. We've
convened here because we're concerned in various ways
with an arts boom that is virtually a theatre explosion. In
such a continuing crisis, it is our central task to communicate more effectively the necessary background information
to all those involved before they plan and build the very
large number of theatres that will be constructed in the next
decade. The United States Institute for Theatre Technology
was founded to help facilitate that communication and this
conference has been carefully designed to examine ways to
broaden it. In all of our discussions, we will, I hope, examine ways to communicate the needs of each segment of
the planning team to each other segment, so that we can
insure that buildings for the performing arts do not just
happen. Theatres of every kind are being designed and built
today. We hope this conference will help develop an understanding of the interfaces, the interrelationships in this informational system of theatre planning. As an additional aid,
each panel discussion is designed to relate both to USITT
committee structure and to the particular hall in which we
are meeting. And now, to open this graduate refresher

Mr. Edgar Young, and paid
by the Metropolitan Opera
the Hamburg State Opera,
lorico, etc. I hope you enjoy

for by Lincoln Center. It is used
and by such touring groups as
the Royal Ballet, Mexican Folkthe tour.

SMITH: I want to express my personal thanks to Mr. Krawitz
for making very detailed and exciting plans for the tour later
on. Now, we want to go on immediately to our panel so
I'll introduce the past President of the Institute, Thor.las
DeGaetani, who'll moderate the panel on the client.
DeGAETANI: The title of this panel, "Who's Building Theatres and Why?" is both obvious and obscure. One of the
objectives of the panel will be to give some dimension to
the versatility of motivation behind the planning and building
of facilities for the accommodation of performing arts activities. I find it a privilege and a pleasure to introduce our first
speaker who is Mr. Edgar B. Young, director of Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts and the chairman of the
Building Committee which has supervised the construction of
the facilities at Lincoln Center.

YOUNG: Thanks, Tom. I'd like to supplement my colleague,
Mr. Krawitz's welcome to you on behalf of Lincoln Center
and to say we're very happy that USITT is once again having its meetings and discussions at Lincoln Center. We've
SWINNEY: Mr. Smith, fellow members, and guests, it is my had the pleasure of working intimately with a number of you
pleasure to welcome you to today's session, the opening of in the planning and building of the various auditoriums and
the 1967 convention, with which it seems to me, we move theatres in this Lincoln Center complex. From time to time,
on to new highs in the Institute. Ray Smith has envisioned some of you have come here to see and learn from our
a conference that will provide you with great variety. We experience and to avoid some of our mistakes. Now the
are, of course, indebted this morning to Lincoln Center and topic of this panel, "Who's Building Theatres and Why?"
the Metropolitan Opera for being hosts at our opening ses- seems to those of us who have, for the past twelve years,
sion. I shall now give the floor to Mr. Smith again. I'm de- been engaged in the planning and building of Lincoln Cenlighted that you're here and I hope you enjoy the next three ter, a rather obvious question. First, may we agree, at least
days.
for this part of the discussion, that we're talking about the
noncommercial theatre. We're talking about who's building
SMITH: I have the pleasure to present our host for this
theatres for performing arts institutions. Well, a short answer
morning, Herman E. Krawitz, Assistant Manager of the Metro- is-Dnly those who have either the naivete or the guts to
politan Opera.
embark on an enterprise which involves getting and spending
vast sums of money. The "getting" may mean either masKRAWITZ: I would like to make a few remarks about the
sive subsidies from governmental sources, usually obtained
room you're in and about the new Opera House generally.
through political channels, or the familiar American way, the
This room was designed both as a closed rehearsal room
voluntary donation. The whole approach, I scarcely need reand as a lecture room; it seems to be working for both. As
mind you, is utterly different from the commercial building
a matter of fact, the only nonfunctioning equipment in the approach. One of the earliest, and I think one of the wisest,
new Metropolitan Opera House is a turntable. To clear the decisions in relation to the planning and building of Lincoln
air quickly, it is my personal mistake that it doesn't funcCenter was that, since these were to be homes for nontion. The specifications prepared by Lincoln Center said that profit, "deficit ridden" organizations, the use of the building
the turntable was to be designed for 10,000 pounds. Now should not be burdened with debt service. Whatever else
I'm a layman to a large extent, and 10,000 pounds sounded one may say about the wisdom or unwisdom of the planning
like a great deal. I've since learned that it means fifty peo- ot Lincoln Center, we have learned that it is wiser in these
ple. Since we normally have choruses and groups far in exsituations to build without a penny of borrowed money. To
cess of fifty people, we should have instead insisted on date that has been the record in Lincoln Center. Since the
50,000 pounds. But we didn't. We accepted 10,000 buildings thus far are fully paid for, the charge for the use
pounds, and it was built for 10,000 pounds. We put 250
of the building is not rent in the usual, economic sense of
people on it one day and the steel bent-as simple as that.
the word. The charges are merely for services rendered at
The steel having bent, we have now to correct it. We know cost; there is no return expected on the invested capital.
how to do it, and we will do it, but we've decided to delay
So the "who" is simple. Those who build theatres are the
it while we take care of other items of a corrective nature.
institutions led by civic leaders who have the courage to set
You may notice when you're going through the auditorium
about providing better facilities for performing arts institucourse, it gives me pleasure to introduce the President of
the Institute, Dr. Donald H. Swinney of Hostra University.

that on the upper levels some of the carpet appears to be

tions themselves and for the audience of those institutions.

shabby. It really is. It is one of the errors we made in the
building. It's an error to some extent compounded by the
acousticians, the architects, and the management in an effort
to be sure that acoustical energy was not dissipated or lost.
We didn't put any underlay under the carpets and steps, so
the carpet wore out extremely fast. We have designed new
carpet. and it will be installed. Other than that, I think you'll
find the building interesting. It was designed for the Metropolitan Opera, organized and built under the supervision of

Now "why" are we building these institutions? In Lincoln
Center, the question of what institutions would be in the

major theatres was solved before anyone thought of a center. The origin of this complex was first a binding decision
by the Metropolitan Opera Association that they must have a
new home. The second decision was made by the Phil harmonic Symphony Society, in response to the "eviction
order," if you will, from the then-owners of Carnegie Hall,
that they likewise needed a new home. So the initial com-

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THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

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