Hall renovations start soon

College plans to improve on-campus theaters

The College continues to make the physical improvement of Oberlin's buildings and grounds a major priority. The latest addition to this trend will be the summer renovation of Hall Auditorium and plans to renovate Warner Center. The College will pour $250,000 into the 46-year old Hall, replacing some of the existing original equipment to create a better, more complete performance space.

The Hall renovations will include the installation of new light boards, dimmers, circuits and rigging systems. Starting in late July, the old dimmer and patch bay technology will be replaced by an ETC dimmer-per-circuit system at the cost of $150,000. Dimmer-per-circuit lighting systems allow for greater control of individual lights, as opposed to having to group many lights together.

"I think you could say it's pretty state of the art," said Associate Professor of Theater and Dance Michael Grube, who is in charge of the refurbishment.

In addition, the rigging system will undergo a total overhaul. The current rigging system dates back to 1953 with the original construction of Hall. Besides an alteration in the 1970s, the rigging has not undergone any changes. According to Grube, the $100,000 rigging project is a "replacement and not really an upgrade."

Equipment failures during Winter Term and the Spring Semester necessitated the replacement of the lighting board in Hall. Two ETC Expression light boards were installed in Hall after the old 1980's system died during the final dress rehearsal of The Cherry Orchard in January. The new boards debuted during the showing of Cosi Fan Tutti this spring. The ETC boards are fully capable of working with the new dimming system to be installed this summer. It allows for a greater number of individual lights to be controlled, as well as being capable of controlling intelligent (or moving) lighting.

The lighting system in the Little Theater also faced its share of problems. During the December showing of The Fantasticks the system quit. Three out of 18 dimmers died, forcing senior designer Zachary Williamson to compromise many of his design choices in the middle of the run of the show. "I had to group many more lights together and eliminate a couple all together. It was hard to have to let go of my initial design due to faulty equipment from the 1970s," said Williamson. With the purchase of 48 secondhand dimmers and a new ETC Acclaim lighting control board, Little Theater is now the only dimmer-per-circuit space on campus.

Although some of the changes were brought on by recent equipment failures, plans have actually been in the works since 1992 to renovate Hall's technological systems.

The Theater and Dance Department also hopes to make some changes in the Warner Center, but no formal plans have been solidified as of yet.

Work on Hall should commence in late July and be completed by August 26 for the fall production of M. Butterfly in September.