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A Class Act
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Theater
innovations and renovations are getting more sophisticated.
By Susan Caba
St. Louis theater facilities are going state-of-the-art, with recently
completed or in-the-works projects at the University of Missouri–
St. Louis, Webster University (in collaboration with the Repertory
Theatre of St. Louis and Opera Theatre of St. Louis), and the St.
Louis Science Center’s James S. McDonnell Planetarium.
The most significant project financially is the $50-million new
performing arts facility under construction at UMSL, the cornerstone
of a planned fine arts and communications district on campus that
will eventually include other new buildings, renovations of existing
buildings and additional parking. This new building, largely state-funded,
will have two performance areas, with the main hall seating 1,630
people. Opening is targeted for next spring.
The performance arts center will incorporate state-of-the-art lighting
and sound systems, as well as a concrete, double-slab roof to minimize
noise from passing aircraft, says Sam Darandari, UMSL’s director
of planning and construction. Other innovations to eliminate noise
in the building include a low-velocity air- circulation system and
placement of mechanical components in an adjacent building, connected
by a pedestrian tunnel.
Plans for the main performance hall include new technology that
lifts the floor of the orchestra pit. Raised to stage height, the
platform will increase the depth of the performing space. Or it
can be positioned to either increase audience seating by two rows
or enlarge the orchestra pit. A second hall, for musical theater,
will accommodate 300 people in different configurations, depending
on the production. Both spaces will be available for use by professional
companies, Darandari says.
Seeing stars at the Planetarium
Above:
The planetarium’s new design allows visitors to stroll—or even
lie down—under a night sky within a new 80-foot dome.
Seating—or rather, the lack of it— figures in the design of the
renovated St. Louis Planetarium, which reopened last year. Rather
than fixed theater seating and scheduled programs behind closed
doors, the planetarium’s new design allows visitors to stroll—or
even lie down—under a night sky within a new 80-foot dome. Visitors
come and go as they please, with the effect of being closer to gazing
at 9,000 stars from a backyard vantage.
The “star” feature of the planetarium is a state-of-the-art projection
instrument, the Zeiss Universarium Planetarium Mark IX fiber optics
projector. That $3.5 million instrument provides the clearest, most
accurate picture of the sun, moon, planets and other celestial bodies.
In addition, it can simulate celestial events like meteor showers
and eclipses, move forward and backward in time, and show the cosmos
from the perspective of planets other than Earth. The St. Louis
Universarium Mark IX is one of only four in the world.
In addition to basic wiring, plumbing and air circulation renovation,
the $13 million project—conceived six years earlier—expanded the
40-year-old building from 37,000 square feet to 43,100 square feet,
with just over half of that in exhibit space. Funding for the renovation
included gifts of $4 million from the John F. McDonnell and James
S. McDonnell III families, $3 million from The Boeing Company and
the Boeing-McDonnell foundation, as well as gifts from Mr. and Mrs.
William R. Orthwein Jr. and the Employees Community fund of Boeing
St. Louis.
More elbow room backstage at the Loretto-Hilton
Above:
Costumers at the newly renovated Loretto-Hilton now have triple
the space for creating props and wardrobes.
Audiences may not appreciate the full impact of the just-completed
renovation and expansion at the Loretto-Hilton Center of Webster
University, but the inhabitants of back stage spaces will definitely
feel less cramped.
Thanks to a $5.5 million collaborative effort between Webster University,
the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Opera Theatre of St. Louis,
the backstage facilities at the Loretto-Hilton Center have been
expanded by 20,000 square feet. The successful fund-raising project
was jumpstarted with a $1 million challenge grant by Laurance L.
and Virginia Browning Jr., and aided by an $800,000 donation by
Wells and Jean Hobler.
The main performance hall has been named the Virginia Jackson Browning
Theatre. The Hoblers’ donation was specifically earmarked to build
two large dance studios with changing rooms, a lounge and faculty
offices. For the first time, dancers will be able to practice in
a rehearsal studio equal in size to the performance stage. The new
facilities were phased into use this spring.
Room for costume shops has been tripled, and locked storage space
has replaced covered racks in the hallways. The orchestra, too,
will have lockable storage. Dressing room facilities include six
more private dressing rooms and two more ensemble dressing rooms
at the stage level, rather than in the basement. Prop building facilities
are six times bigger.
The project was completed in April. Richard Meyers, president of
Webster University, says the collaborative effort received “overwhelming
support.”
Susan Caba is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer.
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