[SML] Theater Architects

[Wayne Rasmussen]

>Probably more important than the architectural firm is getting a
commitment from the the powers that be to engage the services of a good
THEATRE CONSULTANT. Very few architects actually are strong >in the area
of theatre design and the design of theatrical support spaces.

I could not agree more wholeheartedly.

>The TC can advocate for you and your space with the architect and the
bean counters better than you can and can actually save hard-to-come-by
dollars in the process.  They know stuff you haven't even >thought of and
best of all, they will listen to you and your needs. They will even
disabuse you of dumb ideas in the process. ;)

I wish this had been the case in the build of the theater at my school,
but a few things went wrong.  The consultant company was hired on a fixed
fee basis, and we changed the program twice.  Then I was told by one of
the "team" that they were asked not to talk to me anymore.  The faculty
who would be teaching in the building, both music and theater, had one
meeting with the consultant group at the beginning of the project, and
then never again.  The people calling the shots on the whole process were
the Building Committee (a group of well-meaning trustees who knew little
about theater and construction) and perhaps a couple of members of the
trustees.  The project could have turned out worse but for the project
manager and the acoustic consultant, both of whom were committed to doing
the best they could despite the extra time it took them.

Wayne Rasmussen
Blair Academy