Commentary: Renovated music hall boosts OKC's cultural image

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

A separate rehearsal hall will be provided for Ballet Oklahoma and the Canterbury Choral Society, including mirrors and bars for ballet dancers preparing to perform. Also among the additions are seven star dressing rooms, four large dressing rooms for large casts, a wardrobe room, storage for instruments and a library for performance groups.

With the overall size of the main performance hall reduced from 3,200 to about 2,400 seats, an atrium will separate the back wall of the performance hall from the lobby on the main floor and the Hall of Mirrors above it. As a result, noise from the Hall of Mirrors will not penetrate the performance hall.

That means we can have events in the Hall of Mirrors and the performance hall at the same time, said Brown. We are refinishing the gold leaf around the mirrors, but this room essentially will remain the same room people have known since the 1930s.

How good will it be? We won't know until Music Director Joel Levine leads the Philharmonic in playing its first note on Sept. 14. It will be a truly historic moment in the 111-year history of Oklahoma City and the development of our culture.

I, for one, plan to be there.