Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday; October 13, 1970 Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday. October 13. 1970 I Power Center: Artistic reply to theatre needs By GLORIA SMITH It is a work of art. An alive, festive sculpture that speaks of the dramatic experience itself. The Power Center for t h e Performing Arts is presently under construction just one block east of the Frieze Builld- on Central Campus. Its six large, eight-foot col- umns support concrete beams that thrust dynamically out from the building's middle. When completed, these beams will form the ceiling for t h e lobby. The Power Center's front will be one massive glass wall which, during the daytime, will reflect the greenery in Felch' Park. In darkness, the wall will be backlighted, exposing to passersby the entire front lobby with its two unique glass-en- cased,.spiraling staircases. The interior space will be roughly divided in two, provid- ing room for both the auditor- ium and service facilities such as rehearsal halls, dressing rooms and business offices. In 1961, the University in- vited Robert C. Schnitzer and Marcella Cisney to come from New York, where they were well-known producers and di- rectors, to establish a Profes- sibnal Theater Program on cam- pus. At that time, University President Harlan Hatcher sug- gested that a new theater be built. But the Schnitzers refused the offer, explaining that a successful program was needed before plans for a building could begin. "This is the only basic, or- ganic approach," Miss Cisney, Artistic Director for PTP ex- plained. "The program must come first. Too many campuses today have built magnificent buildings but have nothing to fill them.' We wanted to in- sure a substantial, healthy si- tuation in which a successful program had first demonstrated its need for a theater. I Both Prof. Schnitzer, Execu- tive Director for PTP, and Miss Cisney, vehemently explained exactly what the needs of PTP are, and why none of the pre- sent University facilities satis- fy them. To begin with, neither Hill nor Mendelssohn provide a suit- able stage. In Hill, where t h e platform -is shallow, the actors nearly fall off the edge and into the orchestra pit. Plays which open in Men- delssohn Theatre sometimes need to be re-built when they move to New York. PTP has lost companies because of this problem. For example, PTP brought the Stratford Ontario Shakespeare Festival to the Mendelssohn Theatre for two years and then simply surrend- ered. It proved impossible to adjust the Festival to such limit- ed space. A second problem PTP en- counters is the physical layout of the available theaters. Men- delssohn is attractive because of its intimacy, yet the seating ca- pacity is insufficient for t h e crowds at 'sell out' productions. Hill, on the other hand, is'large enough to accommodate large audiences, but from the second balcony it is difficult to be- come involved with even the best dramatic performance. There is also a need for more modern backstage equipment. This is especially obvious in Hill, which is a concert plat- form, not a theatrical stage. The new Power Center w il l provide a solution to all of these problens. For one of the most exciting facets of the Power Center are the two stages. It' has not only a standard proscenium stage, but also a convertable thrust stage (where the audience forms a horseshoe around the plat- form). The proscenium stage will be 54' wide and 28' high and the thrust 'stage 28' wide, projecting 16' into the auditor- ium. To further increase flexi- bility, provisions can also be made to allow the thrust stage to be completely surrounded by seats, thus creating a theater- in-the-round. The theater will have a seat- ing capacity of 1,426, yet no seat will be more than 72' from the stage. This will provide a unique intimacy for so large a group. Backstage, the equipment will be engineered for efficiency wit\ an electronic switchboard and lighting control'center. Much of the interior will not be finished by the time of the Center's opening in the fall of 1971. The Green Room, the business offices and the work- shops are all parts of 'Phase Two', which will hopefully be completed. within the next five years. The reason for this par- tial delay is a simple lack of funds. Since plans to build the Center first began in 1965, con- struction prices have soared be- yond any original estimate. For the most part, existing funds have been provided by Eugene B. Power, former chair- man of the University's Board of Regents. The Power Center is an archi- tectural feat, and the men re- sponsible for its classical-mo- dern design are Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, formerly of Saarinen Associates of Connect- icut. Jo Mielziner is the interior co- designer for the Center. Dis- tinguished Dean of Broadway scenic artists, Mielziner is a winner of seven Tony awards and is responsible for the design of the thrust and prosenium stages and the lighting equip- ment of the Power Center. This skillfully designed Power< Center is under construction to- day because of the deter- mined efforts of many people. Yet is basic catalyst has been the PTP) a program w h i c h1 first demonstrated a vital need and then demanded that the need be met. PTP has been successful be- cause it satisfies a broad variety of theatrical tastes, providing a spectrum of drama which rang- es from Greek tragedy, to Shakespeare, to established Broadway and Off-Broadway hits, to works from talented, new, young playwrights-in-resi- dence.j In a sense, PTP is attempt- ing to bridge the 'generation gap. Their plays havedealt with problems which everyone Hairstyling To Please NOW 4 SHOPS * ARBORLAND " MAPLE VILLAGE " LIBERTY OFF STATE " EAST UNIV. AT SO. UNIV. THE DASCUA BARBERS DIAL 8-6416 Doors Open .h. Shows at at 6:45 7-9 TIH G iii STO , I f 4 te°.'..N~w~n~i """f "" i -Thursday- "WOMEN IN LOVE" and "TOM JONES" -Balthazar Korab; Birmingham, Mich. Architects' model of the Power Center for the Performing Arts audiences do not want to cut the umbillical cord to the dra- matic past," Miss Cisney said. "We find that they respond to the prophetic ,to the vision- ary, and to the poetic as well as to the theatre of the 'now'." "PTP audiences average 60 per cent students, and are keen and responsive to the theater of wide scope and diversity," Schnitzer added. "Satisfying dramatic exper- ience should be somewhat like the sex act," he explained. "We can see the performers as the male, and the audience as the female. Through an interaction F of both participants, a climax is reached." An appreciation of professional drama is not new to the city of Ann Arbor. Begining in 1928, Valentine Windt directed a n d produced a five-week Drama Festival each spring for many years. After his death, fifteen years ago, there was a period of creative inactivity which, for the past nine years, has been" filled by PTP. Ann Arbor is a noted leader and a pioneer in cultural activ- ity. The new Power Center for the Performing Arts, which will house presentations from t h e School of Music, the G i1 b e rt and Sullivan Society, the Pro- fessional Theater Program, Musket, and others, is one giant step in continuing Ann Arbor's tradition of excellence in the arts. (EDITOR'S NOTE: The PTP opens this evening in Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre with "in the matter of j. robert oppen- heimer.") KILLER SALE! STUDENT 200K SRVICQ 1215 S. University 2Oo0 OFF LIST ON NEW BOOKS 50% OFF LIST ON USED BOOKS STARTS MONDAY, OCTOBER 12 I The other odor No feminine spray can stop it. The "other" odor. It starts in the vaginal tract where no spray can work. You can't spray it away. And it's more offensive than external odor caused by perspiration. That's the reason you need Norforms*...the second deodor- ant." These tiny suppositories kill germ,-stop odor in the va- ginal tract for hours. Something no spray can do. And doctor- tested Norforms can be used as often as necessary. They insert easily, quickly. Get Norforms protection for the "other" odor no spray can stop. The second deodorant. --k ~ - ___ ____- - - --- - - TTHERFD BOYS I TONIGHT at the -Daily-Sara Krulwich letters From IBrecht to slapstick To the Daily: One wonders how many of those exposed to Brecht's Caucasion Chalk Circle for the first time, in Mr. Coakley's 'U' Players pro- duction understood that the play is a masterfully developed attack on traditional concepts of "ownership," including the whole legal apparatus that legi- timizes and perpetuates ,prop- erty "rights." The reason why this number is probably minute is simple: As the "Director's Note" :explains, the production aimed at conveying the "roman- tic dreams' of a "promise of forgiveness and redemption through love" instead, executed according to Brecht's most im- portant intention, which was "to please."~ Coakley's production achieved what it set out to do: With the cutting- of the prologue, the so- cial context and the contem- porary relevance were elimi- nated, and the rest of the text was deprived of its meaning through an unending flow of gimmicky distractions. 'Brecht turned out to be a dramatist in the best American slapstick tra- dition, and one wonders why Coakley stopped short of mak- ing a musical adaptation of the play. (the ending showed his ambitions in that direction). Perhaps one is doing Coak- ley an inustice, nowever. After all, Brecht himself observed (in Brecht on Theatre - highly recommended to Coakley) that "the modern epic theatre . . . cannot by any means be prac- ticed universally. Most of the great nations today are not dis- posed to use the theatre for ventilating their problems." Of course, that was in 1936. But maybe Coakley is merely selling out to the unchanged likes and dislikes of the American theater goer thirty-some years later? Or is he, by any chance, under- estimating t h e development away from the craving for un- challenging entertainment and prote c t i v e narrowmindedness that might have takenh lace since, at least among theatre goers in a university commu- nity? --Helga Goldberg Oct. 10 The Michigan Daily, edited and man- age6. by students at the University of Micnigan. News phone: 764-0552. Second Class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich- igan, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104. Published daily Tues- day through Sunday morning Univer- sity year. Subscription rates: $10 by carrier, $10 by mail. Summer Session published Tuesday through Saturday morning. Subscrip- tion rates: $5. by carrier, $5 by mail. 1421 Hill 15c 161 -1451 must face, yet about which youth are especially concerned. For example, The Trojan Wo- men, by Euripides (presented in 1966) speaks out against war with much the same emotional impact as the contemporary anti-war play, Summertree, (to be presented in October). "We have learned that our ii~ J - - ----- - --- -- ----------- IEI Caleft Every MONDAY: Football Night, color TV happy hour prices -- FREE NORFORMS MINI-PACKar Plus informative bookletl Write: Nrich Pharmacal Co., ept. CN-A, I Norwich, N.Y. 13815, (Enclose 250 f for mailing, handling.) Name Street City State zip Don't forget your zip code. Subscribe to The Michigan Daily THURS., OCT. 22 STEVE MILLER BAND SAT., OCT. 24 TEN WHEEL DRIVE AND SHA-NA-NA 4 Every TUESDAY: Apple Wine Night-reduced prices THURSDAY, OCT. 15 LOVE'S ALCHEMY 9:30-1 :30--Women half prices FRIDAY, OCT. 16 LOVE'S ALCHEMY 9:30- 1 :30 SATURDAY, OCT. 17 MERLIN 9:30-1 :30 M T! L"" DIAL 5-6290 Shows at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 P.M. . l _____ _ _i _ ._. , . OPENS TONIGHT! THIS WEEK ONLY! I . i : ,: I .. U U 1 -. u'~ F Lk L~ 3 1. 3M' ~ I I Ifl~fl3.Ji~. I~LI V - - - w m