Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1983 - 19

was a cozy building with fulsome charm
and intimacy. It housed 972 seats, with
833 seats on the shallow-sloped orchestra floor and 139 seats in a balcony section, also with a shallow slope, that
jeeply overhung the orchestra level.
The stagehouse was 50 feet deep x 85
feet wide and had a low wooden gridiron located approximately 35 feet above
the stage floor. The proscenium dimeniions were approximately 18 feet high
x 36 feet wide. The orchestra pit could
accommodate a maximum of 16 musi:ians. The auditorium had a long rectangular configuration approximately
120 feet long x 50 feet wide; the ceiling

was low. Owing both to the shallow
sloping floor in both seating sections,
and to the high width-to-Iength ratio of
the auditorium, the sightlines were poor
in many locations, the acoustics left
something to be desired, and providing
adequate stage lighting was difficult.
Many of these conditions-the result of
adapting factory structures to theatre
use-can be deduced from diagram la.
The opportunity to build a new theatre, although occasioned by tragic circumstances, permitted Paper Mill Playhouse to ameliorate the shortcomings
with which it had lived for many years.
Hence, the program for the new re-

construction was developed reflecting
a clear understanding of production
staff needs based upon working experience. The program which was developed, its rationale, and the construction which was implemented is explained in the accompanying article by
Jim Thesing, Paper Mill Playhouse's
Administrator.
0
Ashok M. Bhavnani is an award-winning
architect. His Abraham Goodman
House was featured in TD& T, Fall 1980,
and his design for the Lemberg Drama
Center appeared in the Winter 1979
issue.

Rebuilding a Regional Theatre zn the 80s

by Jim Thesing

The fire which destroyed most of
the Paper Mill Playhouse with terrifying speed began onstage; within minutes it was rotally out of control.
After the numbing disaster, our initial response was an emotional determination to rebuild a duplicate version
of the destroyed theatre. Upon reflection, though, we realized the futility of
iuch thinking: a faithful restoration of
what was already an adaptive building
:ould not serve our needs again. Conse::juently, after picking up the pieces, we
resolved to build the best technicallyiound, proscenium theatre possible
,vithin the limited budget that probably
,vould be available after raising funds
o supplement the $1 million fire insurlnce coverage. But how many millions
.vould it cost to get the job done right?
'v1oreover, the larger question that faced
JS was: How much could we raise?
)ince most of Paper Mill's expenses
lad been met traditionally with box of'ice receipts, we never had to raise more
han 5150,000 in contributions during
lny one year.
To answer the first question, we
:ommissioned a computer-projected
;tudy, It indicated that a ne\\' 1,200 seat
wditorium and stage house, which must
)e built, would cost between 53.5 and
;5.5 million, depending upon a number
)f variables; this projection was con'irmed in intervie\\'s with prospecti\'e ar:hitects, Furthermore, the abo\'e budget
ange \\'ould not prm'ide us \\'ilh hyIraulic stage lifts, chandeliers or plush

SITE PLA

100

150

200'

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----j

N-

Gam
hl~lng

Undamaged

by fire

carpeting; it would only cover a qualitybuilt and equipped basic facility. Response to the second question was even
more disheartening because it was a repetitive black refrain: "This is a terrible time to raise money,"
Luckily, amidst the gloom and confusion, fortune struck with several early leadership gifts received from trustees,
foundations, corporate friends, and the
State of Ne\\' Jersey, all of whom were
seeking to revi\'ify the state's primary
regional theatre. The arrival of these
gifts ga\'e sufficient heart to our trustees
both to commission an architect immediately and to embark upon raising 53.5
million to augment imurance proceeds,
Architect Ashok Bhavnani and a team

of experienced consultants he had selected were commissioned to design the
best possible new theatre on a budget of
54,S million.
Given the modest budget, we quickly realized that all structures, systems
and equipment salvageable from the fire
had to be saved, rehabilitated and integrated with a program of new construction. Unfortunately, these did not include Ihe stagehouse and the auditorium
which were destroyed beyond repair;
they would have to be built from scratch,
and since it was these two elements of
the much-loved old Paper i\1ill Playhouse that were technically most inadequate il made sense to design them to
meet totally new specifications. Prin-

UStTT \\'illicr 1983 Theatre Design &

Technolog~

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1983