Stage of Development
New Sound Stage Another Step for Growing MCA Department
Jeremy Kelley
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: News
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The revamped room, which features state of the art equipment, enables students in the Media, Communication and Fine Arts Department to practice filming in a contained, noise-canceling environment. It welcomed its first students last week.
"We wanted a place that wasn't a location where students could learn about lighting and camera techniques in a controlled environment," said Prof. Robert Klaeger, who has chaired the department in its various forms for over two decades.
The stage, completed in 1963, was used for theater productions into the 1980s. According to Klaeger, it was obsolete from the day it was built, possessing antiquated technology and lacking a "rigged" stage or tiered audience seating essential to the theater experience. He specifically cited a manual dimmer board for stage lighting.
"If you went to a stage production in 1931, this is what you would've seen," Klaeger remarked. "And this was new in 1963."
Productions eventually ceased, and the lighting equipment was removed some 20+ years ago, leaving the stage struggling to find its purpose. And there it sat, watching years of basketball and volleyball practices until falling into the sights of the growing then-Media & Communication Arts Department.
Klaeger and administrators felt the need for a new theater in Pleasantville, but knowing the Willcox stage was unsuitable, they proposed a different idea.
"The Dean and the Provost agreed that the Willcox space was perfect [for our sound stage]. It was a way underutilized space; there were only one or two events each year, and it was big and unobstructed."
According to Klaeger, both the administrators and the Department agreed that the stage needed to be completely soundproofed, enabling students to work undisturbed by sports practices in the neighboring gym.
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