Tickets

The ticket represents the theater and goes a long way to preparing the ticketholder for the show. It should reflect the theatre's unique image and remain functional. These are the examples from my trip:

Design Elements

Lighting:

The theatrical productions I saw both made great use of the spaces they were in. The Wonderful Circus definitely pushed the envelope back in 1977 when it premiered and gave the requirements by which the theater of the Laterna Magika was designed. Just to cover all the angles, the lighting booth extends across the entire length of the back center row. This would be overkill in most modern theatres, especially now that computer programs are replacing lightboards. In the Narodni Divadlo, the lighting was placed in boxes, hung and there was even a special chunk flown in during the suicide scene that looked just like stadium lighting. As I said before, the flyspace in here seems ideal and the roomy light booth sat at the back of the raked orchestra.

Ceilings:

Just look up, there is where the art of the classical music halls resides. The chandeliers in the more distinguished halls or the broad domes of others all say much that needs to be said about the design. Any mistakes in the proportion or degree of the ceiling can be disasterous to acoustic conditions within the hall. In modern theaters, the ceiling has taken on a role in which it is patched to provide the necessary acoustics, but back in the day, the architect just had to know what he was doing or be copying a proven space. I’ve spent entire movements looking up at the boring ceiling in some halls, but when you provide me with one as overwhelming as the Narodni Divadlo, I can bask in its warm glow for an entire show.

Stages:

First of all, bigger is not necessarily better, especially for theatrical productions that rely so much on physical proximity to affect the audience. Care should be taken to produce an apron that fits within the proportions of the rest of the hall, like the one in the Narodni Divadlo. If that is too small, it can restrict the director’s blocking and cause a disconnect with the first rows of seats. In spaces designed specifically to be concert halls, try to get rid of the proscenium, in certain cases it will block out low sounds and anything that points in its direction. And leave enough space on the wings to drag off scenery; if one has to be larger than the other, make it stage right. The rake of the seating affects how high the stage can be from the orchestra seating level; I always prefer to be able to jump up and down. The director gains a usable barrier and the front few rows of audience don’t have to have neck pain at the end of the show. If you can’t have the perfect size stage for everything, then have a few stages all in one building.

Organs:

The classical music venues in Prague showed a couple of different organ configurations and, unfortunately, I did not get the chance to hear any of them. The Narodni Divadlo situated it at the very top of the hall, above the first column of boxes, which I can not recall seeing anywhere before. I would speculate that this arrangement means the either organ is just for show, or the original was stripped out in a renovation. It does not seem to fit into too many of the shows that go on inside the Narodni Divadlo, or to be as well decorated as the others. The Smetanova Siň and Dvořákova Siň are graced with two beautifully cased organs situated just behind the stage. The Dvořákova organ is boxed in a structure with Doric columns and dark wood, while the Smetanova is the opposite kind of casing that more resembles a cigar wrapper. They round out the design of each space quite well, although it would appear to be too much to ask for the organ to be part of the back wall. In both there is a small chorus balcony situated under the organ, necessary for the large amount of Mozart played in Prague and sometimes used for seating. Most people can’t stand this location behind the musicians, so these seats are always cheap and probably more aptly termed overflow seating. For some reason, audience members are not even given chairs to sit on in these areas.

Seating Plans:

This aspect of the performance space was the most consistent through these cases, only the Laterna Magika doesn’t fit with what appears to be the status quo. And while the status quo applies to Smetanova, it receives an interesting variation because of the dimensions of the hall. The boxes have been limited to only a handful here and the two that are midway back on either side were converted to house lights. This ended up looking quite ridiculous in comparison to the Narodni Divadlo because of the visual isolation those two boxes have. I think they would be best used to address a crowded ball below than to watch a show anyway. Overall, boxes need to be handled delicately; my experience in a box leads me to believe that the feeling of privacy is necessary to fully enjoy the seats. If you expose the box either by not having it surrounded by other boxes or making hierarchical gestures with ornaments, you risk losing that private feeling for the patrons. The other issue that Smetanova brings to the forefront is the importance of raked seating in the orchestra. It was sacrificed in this example for additional functionality, but acoustics can only make up for so much. Part of the concert going experience is being able to watch the musicians and not just the conductor. With the advances in computer modeling, it is well within the realm of today’s seekers of entertainment to expect a wonderful view regardless of where they sit and architects should be able to provide that.

Sala Sinopoli - Parco della Musica

14 November 2007

Maceo Parker Band

School’s In

To see Renzo Piano’s auditorium complex and mix things up a bit, I picked up tickets for this jazz/funk performance of the 31^st Roma Jazz Festival. I arrived to find a complex that would not be totally out of place on the Clemson campus; I honestly think they found a way to use the same brick as we do. Completed in 2002, the Parco has hosted a wide variety of shows in its three main halls and wide range of secondary spaces. The complex is situated around an outdoor amphitheater that Piano dubbed the ‘Cavea.’ This is just one of the many spaces that suit a wide range of activities including art exhibitions, conferences, debates and research. This programmatic mixture sounds much better than it looks on the inside; the brick walls continue into the Sala Sinopoli (and probably the others) where they would wreak havoc on the acoustics if it were not for the blinds installed on every surface and the curved ceiling panels. While the space lacks dedicated light and sound booths, the flyspace is generous and the ceiling is set up so rails can be relocated anywhere over the stage or house. It ends up being a decent place to listen to or watch a show, but the circuitous entry to the hall detracts significantly. One even is directed past the backstage door on the way to their seats; I can imagine a lot of circumstances where this would become a problem—especially considering how narrow that hallway is.

Smetanova Siň - Obecní dům

13 November 2007

Symfonicky Orchestr HL. M. Prahy.

Janáček – Katya Kabanova

Dvořák – Concerto in A minor – Anna Pogostkina, violin

Martinů – Symphony No. 6 “Symphonic Fantasies”

Located in the heart of the art nouveau masterpiece is the multipurpose hall named for one of the most famous Czech composers. This space was the most acoustically brilliant space I witnessed; the uncommon proportions create very long reverberations that overwhelm most listeners. I was able to deduce that the space was multifunctional because the house consisted of movable chairs and the lighting instruments had taken over the only balcony areas along either side of the hall. It seemed as if the orchestra was going to break into a waltz at any moment and launch the audience into a 19^th century ball. Two boldly lit statues stood just in front of each side of the stage and added to the regal nature of the place that Alfons Mucha established through his stained glass and other decorum. I was quite lucky to sit next to a lovely older Czech lady that spoke perfect English and mentioned Mucha by name.

Laterna Magika

12 November 2007

The Wonderful Circus

This venue, completed in 1983, provided my first taste of Black Light Theater. I had no idea what to expect out of this show, other than black lights, or if I would have trouble understanding the dialogue like I did with Früling Erwachen. All I really knew is that my curiosity was spiked by this building skinned half in glass block and half in glass. Who puts a glass block building next to the Narodni Divadlo in the first place? I went inside and discovered that the same person that puts glass block on the outside puts marble, wood accents and indescribable lighting fixture through the center of the staircase. This light sucks you up the stairs immediately to the actual lobby and coat check, where you linger until climbing up the second flight to the theater. The actual theater space is full of carpeting, giving it the feel of a movie theater almost immediately. Mostly empty heavily padded seats, better than any movie theater I have been to, filled the house around the small thrust stage. It was a very intimate space overall, even the use of film is unable to push the audience away. The show took advantage of the film media (with projectors that looked 50 years old) by mixing it with moody music and having the actors interact with it.

Narodni Divadlo

10 November 2007

Früling Erwachen

The ‘National Theatre’ is part of a complex of theatres in the heart of the old town in Prague. It is also owned by the same owners as the Stavovske Divadlo and Divadlo Kolowrat, so their box office and schedules are interconnected. The theatre in which I attended this German play is another neo-renaissance design by Zítek and Schulz. The decorum was similar, although there were fewer mirrors, and the circulation spaces were more comfortable than the Rudolfinum. The building was opened briefly in 1881 and attacked two months later by a fire that pushed back the construction schedule 2 years.

Going back to the fact that this venue shares a joint box office with two others, I still can not figure out why they let me in to see this show. My ticket was actually for the ballet in the Stavovske Divadlo that night, yet the beautiful box seat I booked was available in the Narodni Divadlo that night. None of the ushers read the name of the show on my ticket and I was shown to box 14 anyway, still expecting to see a ballet. Once the constructivist set was revealed, I started doubting that I was in the right place; by the time I heard German being spoken onstage I was certain.

The show was top notch, surely benefiting from the wonderful space. The actors were able to go without microphones because the acoustics of the space were that good. The director gained a lot of flexibility from using a handful of boxes along either side for lighting and converting the pit elevator into a shallow pool. I can’t recall being in a proscenium theater and feeling like it was this flexible ever before.

Dvořákova Siň – Rudolfinum

9 November 2007

Česka Filharmonie

Dvořák – Concerto in B Minor – Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Cello

Strauss – A Hero’s Life

The Rudolfinum is one of the landmark buildings in Praha on Vltava River—clearly visible from the castle and farther up and down the banks. J. Schulz and J. Zítek designed one of the finer examples of neo-renaissance architecture in the world. Construction was completed in 1885. The building contains 2 halls; the larger is named for Dvorak and the other goes by the Czech word for small—Suk. The Dvořákova Siň is a lavishly decorated hall that unfortunately is broken up by the presence of gigantic columns across the balcony. After hearing the show, I was able to conclude that these columns don’t cause any acoustic problems. Schulz and Zítek were adhering to the rules of design as they knew them, but I would rather have those extra seats and unobstructed views. Several of the people behind me looked like they were struggling to see around the columns at times. The architects also placed mirrors throughout the building; there was even one on the stairway landing heading up to the balcony. I have to assume that the way one looks at a show is of the utmost importance, thus requiring all those opportunities to check your hair or see if that purse still matches that dress. Conceived as a building for elite social events, all the stops were pulled out, including the beautiful ceiling and chandeliers overhead. The image of the Rudolfinum has to be based around this kind of grandeur, almost to the point of superfluous grandeur.