10.18.02

to: Jonah Cohen, Thomas Hacker & Associates

from: Fred Tepfer

Here is a synopsis of the discussion among the Theatre Arts faculty last Wednesday:

Fred is still concerned that the project has been reduced enough to be within budget (separate message forthcoming). The department suggests being very careful about where and how we spend money in the project.

Folks are not very happy with the Robinson lobby. It's very cut up, and, as pointed out at the last user meeting, the doors to the accessible seating (not shown on this iteration of drawings) don't have sound/light lock. The department would like to propose a much more open lobby which in its entirely is the sound/light lock. This larger room could also have other uses when at other times. This probably also means moving the elevator farther south (more on this subject below). Overall, this approach should be simpler and therefore less expensive, and may simplify some potential structural problems (see separate message, forthcoming). The tracing paper of this area from the meeting is attached.

People are generally pleased with the upper/lower lobby, although its size might be able to be smaller if the Robinson lobby is more functional. Keeping two levels helps keep box office queueing away from lobby and entrance functions.

Although the overall size seems about right, this drawing is still a very rough sketch. The department is eager to get into more detail on many subjects, including:

- The nature of various setups needs to be carefully worked out so that actor entrances/exits work smoothly, that necessary fire exits work in all configuration, and so forth. We speculated on these subjects in the meeting, but agreed that we really need the design teams help with these issues. Whether the public entrances are in the right places probably depends on the theatre setups, so this is an important question to resolve now, not later.

- The crossover for actors is currently in the "getting close to working" category. We still have an actor crossover through the lobby, and this can easily be corrected by extending the east-west corridor somewhat. Sketch attached.

- There was some discussion about whether the crossover space was wider than needed, and whether any redundancies remain that could be tightened up. This also can be discussed and refined at the next meeting.

- We now have a theatre with remote dressing rooms as well as a non-existent or remote green room. This won't work.

The relationship between the parts seems fine, and the amount of space is adequate. There is a lot of existing Robinson construction that appears to have been ignored, and there will need to be additional doors to provide appropriate sound control and privacy. Also, we're shoing a paint storage area that's probably a vestige of some earlier idea. The actual layout of the scene areas will determine whether all of this really works or not.

We did not have enough time to discuss the costume studio and the acting/directing studio except on a programmatic level. The department is initiating discussions to try to get additional space in Villard Hall so that both of these functions can be provided for.