Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2004 - 24

Dan Carter, director of the Penn State School of Theatre.
(Photo by George Woskob)

BUILDING THE PENN STATE DOWNTOWN THEATRE CENTER
If you build it will they come? Well, they did and they came in record
numbers! What began as a doodle on a napkin 300 miles away, a year and a
half later was transformed into the Penn State Downtown Theatre Centre.
On June 2nd, 2003, the Pennsylvania State University invited audiences to
attend the very first performance of Broadway Bound in the Citizen's
Bank Theatre. By the time the summer theatre closed its doors in August,
Pennsylvania Centre Stage, the professional arm of the Penn State School
of Theatre, saw an increase in summer attendance of thirty percent and an
audience attendance of over ninety percent for each production. Opening
a new performing arts center on a university campus might not seem so
unusual. But when you build it off campus it is certainly worth notice.

The old Danks Department Store. (Photo by George Woskob)

A TIGHT FIT
The Penn State School of Theatre was bursting at its seams. With six
M.F.A. programs, three B.F.A. programs in musical theatre, production,
and stage management, and a strong B.A. program, the school was looking for a greater variety of production opportunities. The fifty-five-foot
wide proscenium of the playhouse theatre provided theatrical opportunities for large-scale productions but prohibited any sense of intimacy. The
250-seat Pavilion Theatre (actually a converted agricultural arena) was
more intimate but its extreme-thrust stage limited the scope of productions it could comfortably handle. What was missing was an intimate
proscenium theatre, one which made the audience truly a part of the
training experience.

ENTER THE PRESIDENT
President Graham Spanier, Penn State's chief administrator, has been a
big fan of the theatre program: He performed the role of the president of
Tate University in a department production of Good News, and has taken
students in the musical theatre program on trips as far away as Japan to
visit alumi and assist in fund raising for the university. A demographer by
profession, President Spanier has presented his own research before the
university regarding the challenges facing Pennsylvania, the university,
and the economy. Recognizing that the university is the largest employer

in the county and seeing the strain the large chain stores put on the
downtown economy, he wanted the university to do something. As he
said, "Downtowns everywhere are being challenged by shopping malls
and ours is no exception. I wanted the university to be part of the solution. I felt that a downtown theatre, with a brightly lit Broadway-type marquee, would create a nice downtown attraction and an ambiance that
would be of special interest."
Keeping in mind the tight squeeze for space in the School of Theatre
and the challenges faced by the downtown economy, he kept a casual eye
open for expansion opportunities. The president has long encouraged a
real "town and gown" relationship, feeling that it would bring the university and the community closer together. The questions were how and
where?
The vacant State Theatre, an old movie theatre located across campus, appeared to be a likely place into which the School of Theatre could
expand. Just toss "Penn" onto the front of the name on the marquee and
there you have it. Unfortunately, the building was so old and run down
that the cost of renovation would be extremely high. It needed an electrical upgrade, a fire suppression system, and, the back wall would have to
be torn down to create a new backstage area that would partially block
the alley. The State Theatre was out. Nothing else seemed very promising
so the new theatre project was put on the back burner.
TD & T

S P R I N G

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2004