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New theater puts practicality over looks Mail Tribune photos / Roy Musitelli Duane Howell puts finishing touches on the paint job in the lobby of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's new theater, known for now as New Theatre, while OSF Executive Director Paul Nicholson, center, begins a tour of the building. A Monday tour shows of the building's high-tech, flexible features By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune Don't look for architecture that calls attention to itself in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's new theater. "We wanted the emphasis to be on the stage," Executive Director Paul Nicholson says. Steel, glass, cement and cinder blocks predominate in an $11.8 million structure that promises something for everybody: playgoers, actors, technicians, the OSF. A look at the New Theater's features and construction Number of levels: four. Square feet: 33,000. Cost including adjoining parking structure: $11.4 million. Months to build: 14. Vertical feet from stage floor to overhead fly loft: 38. Possible stage configurations: three. Seats , depending on configuration: 228, 270 or 352. Performances scheduled in 2002: 289. Increase in number of total seats available for the season (assuming an average of 270 seats per show): 38,148. Gross revenue increase (assuming 95 percent occupancy at an average of $35 per ticket): $1.27 million. Plays seen by average Oregon Shakespeare Festival patron: 3.5. Percent of those who wanted to see Black Swan plays unable to get tickets: 25. Number of other OSF theaters for which scenic designer Richard L. Hay of OSF was the principal designer: three. Millions of dollars which, by donating, you can earn the right to name the theater: five. Number of other theaters in the world changing seating configuration daily in rotating repertory: zero. The theater, known for the time being as New Theatre, debuts March 1 with an opening ceremony followed by William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" (which previews Feb. 26). The theater stands across the street from "the bricks," the courtyard that connects the festival's Angus Bowmer and Elizabethan theaters and its administrative offices. It was built more than 14 months after a community controversy, a fund-raising effort and a lot of brainstorming. It replaces the Black Swan, the 138-seat theater/converted car dealer's shop. People had a love-hate relationship with the Swan. As a venue for small, edgy plays, it boasted startling intimacy, but it also had no backstage and required actors to run down Main Street for costume changes. Standing on the new theater's stage, Nicholson indicates the fly loft four stories overhead, a space in which scenery or a curtain can quickly be moved. "We wanted it higher," he says, "but we didn't want to face more opposition (over the building's height) than we already faced." A curtain that can come down and create a backdrop for theater in the round is part of a $1 million package of technical goodies including state-of-the-art light and sound. Theatergoers enter through a lobby off Pioneer Street. A cinder-block wall denotes the start of the theater space, basically a box within a box. Primary designer was the festival's Richard Hay, who over the years designed the festival's two other theaters and the Swan. The space reflects the aesthetics of a theater and scenic designer; everything works off the stage. It's surrounded by a big corridor allowing access for actors, technicians and, depending on stage configuration, audience members. "We knew what we wanted to do, and it was not to create a pretty building," Nicholson says. An open stairwell leads to a second lobby with a ticket counter, restrooms (three men's toilets, 10 women's) and views across the valley the toward mountains. A courtyard opens to the rear of Carpenter Hall. It's all wheelchair accessible, Nicholson says, including the technical booth above the audience. The stage can be configured in what's called "three-quarters thrust" (like the old Swan), in the round, or in "avenue staging" with the audience on either side. Risers and seats are on wheels. Seats are 3 inches wider than those in the Swan. Sound reflectors break up the sound and prevent echoes, yielding a sound that's live but not clangy. High above stage are catwalks with room for a person to stand up. Booths for lighting and sound technicians can be reached via an elevator. A warehouse-style door at one end of the building affords access to the street for big props and gear. The stage floor is made of movable panels supported on steel posts and beams, permitting sets, props or actors to appear and disappear quickly. On a lower level is a "sound room" for actors to warm up their voices in addition to three full dressing rooms (with showers and toilets), the green room (for actors waiting to go on), a laundry and a wig room. The theater is expected to enable visitors to stay longer and see more plays. Fully 25 percent of those who wanted to see a Swan play last year were unable to do so. The festival has already sold about 37,000 of 50,000 available seats for "Macbeth." Nicholson acknowledges that the space makes possible production values not seen in the Black Swan, but he says there's no plan to change the kind of play presented here. "We're not anticipating pushing it to another level," he says. If you have an idea for a good name, the Allen Foundation for the Arts (which made a $6 million grant) has passed on the naming rights, deferring to whomever makes a gift of $5 million or more. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.