Commentary: Renovated music hall boosts OKC's cultural image

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jul 9, 2001 by Max Nichols

It's easy to see the potential elegance for patrons and the drastically improved efficiency for performers in the renovated Civic Center Music Hall - even now amid the scaffolds, bare walls, construction equipment and concrete dust.

With the Music Hall scheduled for a grand opening in September, it's already easy to see the remarkably outstanding views of the stage from the main floor, the boxes along the sides and from every balcony. The last row of seats in the top balcony will be only 120 feet from the stage. That's only four first downs on a football field.

While some have started to call the new arena the crown jewel of the Metropolitan Area Projects, I have to differ. While the arena may well lead to a National Hockey League franchise in the future, Oklahoma already is well regarded in sports. The new Civic Center Music Hall will launch a giant leap forward for our self-image in the performing arts and therefore our cultural image in the country. It's a remarkable achievement by architect Richard R. Brown Associates.

Jim Brown, who manages the Music Hall for the city, pointed out tremendous improvements in every phase of the operation during a tour.

With glass enclosed elevators for moving between floors, open spaces around the Thelma Gaylord Performance Theater and vastly enlarged restrooms, patrons will move easily from one area to another. Separate elevators will be available for moving instruments.

The Music Hall has been redesigned and expanded for easy access to the stage, orchestra pit, rehearsal halls, dressing rooms, a wardrobe room and a green room for stars to greet admirers after performances.

We have kept the customers in mind, said Brown. We've always had complaints by ladies who had to wait in the restroom line during intermission, but we will have 60 stalls in the main floor restroom. There will be plenty of legroom between rows on the main floor, and the risers grow at each level to 27 inches in the top balcony. Everyone will have an unobstructed view.

The Civic Center is the third major music hall developed or redeveloped in the country during recent years - following The Bass music hall in Fort Worth and one in New Jersey.

With each new one, we learn and make improvements, said Brown, so we think this will be the best. Jaffe Holden of New York engineered the acoustics, and they did Carnegie Hall. We will be able to adjust the acoustics for music without amplifiers and by drawing drapes along the walls to deaden the sound when amplifiers are used.

Brown's tour started in the lobby, where the interior of the front doors have been restored to their original classic wood appearance. The building was constructed as the Municipal Auditorium by the federal Works Progress Administration in 1937. Chandeliers will replace overhead lighting, and a long curved box office will provide easy access.

Before the renovation, we had one small elevator in the corner, Brown said. We have added the two glass elevators, and we still have the elevator in the corner.

We also have separate elevators for the Little Theater and a service elevator for the stage. The Little Theater also will have its own dressing rooms and has been refurbished. A glass wall will separate the Little Theater from the main performance hall, so we can have events in both theaters at the same time.

The main performance theater stage will be 90 feet wide with plenty of room for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Ballet Oklahoma and Broadway road shows. The most private views of the stage will be from nine boxes along each side of the main performance hall, varying in size to hold from six to 11 persons.

Brown took us to the Grand Tier level boxes, where the view of the stage is spectacular as well as private. I have set a personal goal to see a performance from one of those boxes. We have never had anything like it here before.

Patrons will reach boxes through hallways behind each sidewall. The hallways will help protect the performance hall from outside noise and will separate the boxes from private suites, which will have windows to the outside. The Civic Center Foundation is marketing the suites for the city under the direction of Lee Allan Smith of OK Events.

Meanwhile, the function of the main performance hall has been improved tremendously. A 25-foot-high door opens from the back of the stage to the outdoor truck docks, allowing for instruments and props of any kind to be unloaded and moved directly to the stage.

The orchestra pit has hydraulic elevators, which can lift or lower instruments between the pit level and the stage level. While overall theater lighting will be adjusted by computers, the stage lighting will continue to be directed by hand.

In a significant improvement, the Joel Levine Rehearsal Hall has been doubled in volume by expanding it from one to two stories.

The old Philharmonic rehearsal hall was so loud it was difficult for the conductor to hear the various instruments, said Brown. The sounds bounced around too much. This will vastly improve rehearsals, and it will have easy access to the stage by elevator.