Performances will reach new heights in the proscenium theatre


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Performances will reach new heights in the proscenium theatre
The next time Erda the earth goddess in Wagner’s Siegfried appears in Kansas City she’ll do it in great style. Lifted from the bowels of the earth, she’ll appear dramatically amidst a screen of smoke, through a trap door in the stage floor of the Kauffman Center’s proscenium theatre. “The last time the opera performed Siegfried, the singer performing Erda had to lie in wait for her entrance, literally stuffed under a false floor beneath the set,” explains Evan Luskin, general manager of the Lyric Opera. “When it was time for her entrance, she had to sort of shimmy out of her crawl space … and there’s no way we could have added smoke for effect. She would have asphyxiated during the wait.” A trap platform system with various sized components that can be opened to below stage is just one of the many features that the Lyric Opera and the Kansas City Ballet will enjoy when the Kauffman Center proscenium theatre opens. In the 1,800 seat hall the audience will sit facing the stage. Three balconies are arranged at the back of the main floor, with box seats along both side walls. Currently, the stage tower for the theatre is one of the most prominent features of the construction site at 16th and Broadway. It rises 74 feet above the stage, allowing vast fly space for sets, lighting and other theatrical equipment. This room will allow both companies to accomplish more production-wise. Currently, both the ballet and the opera face the challenge of finding productions that can actually fit on the Lyric stage (see opposing page). In the new theatre, sets as tall as 30 feet can be flown above the stage. “We would like now and again to produce more of the full-length story ballets similar to our successful Romeo and Juliet last season,” shares Jeffrey Bentley, executive director of the Kansas City Ballet. “Most of our brethren companies, from whom we rent sets and costumes, almost always perform in larger halls and build their full-length productions on a scale that doesn’t work for us in the Lyric.” Another thing the companies eagerly anticipate is a larger, more flexible orchestra pit. The Kauffman Center’s larger orchestra pit can be easily adjusted from no orchestra (allowing extra stage area or seating space) to a 60-piece orchestra to a 100-piece orchestra filling what is called a “Wagner pit.” This will open up the array of ballets that can be done. Plus, many Strauss operas, like Rosenkavalier, require a big orchestra for full effect. If you would like to receive Opus Online, the Kauffman Center’s monthly e-newsletter, go to http://www.kauffmancenter.org and sign up. You’ll stay in-the-know about all the developments of Kansas City’s new performing arts center.

The next time Erda the earth goddess in Wagner’s Siegfried appears in Kansas City she’ll do it in great style. Lifted from the bowels of the earth, she’ll appear
dramatically amidst a screen of smoke, through a trap door in the stage floor of the Kauffman Center’s proscenium theatre.

Proscenium Theatre Kauffman Center “The last time the opera performed Siegfried, the singer performing Erda had to lie in wait for her entrance, literally stuffed under a false floor beneath the set,” explains Evan Luskin, general manager of the Lyric Opera. “When it was time for her entrance, she had to sort of shimmy out of her crawl space … and there’s no way we could have added smoke for effect. She would have asphyxiated during the wait.”

A trap platform system with various sized components
that can be opened to below stage is just one of the many features that the Lyric Opera and the Kansas City Ballet will enjoy when the Kauffman Center proscenium theatre opens. In the 1,800 seat hall the audience will sit facing the stage.

Three balconies are arranged at the back of the main floor, with box seats along both side walls.

Currently, the stage tower for the theatre is one of the most prominent features of the construction site at 16th and Broadway. It rises 74 feet above the stage, allowing vast fly space for sets, lighting and other theatrical
equipment. This room will allow both companies to accomplish more production-wise.

Currently, both the ballet and the opera face the challenge of finding productions that can actually fit on the Lyric stage (see opposing page). In the new theatre, sets as tall as 30 feet can be flown above the stage.

“We would like now and again to produce more of the full-length story ballets similar to our successful Romeo and Juliet last season,” shares Jeffrey Bentley, executive director of the Kansas City Ballet. “Most of our brethren companies, from whom we rent sets and costumes, almost always perform in larger halls and build their full-length productions on a scale that doesn’t work for us in the Lyric.”
Another thing the companies eagerly anticipate is a larger, more flexible orchestra pit.

The Kauffman Center’s larger orchestra pit can be easily adjusted from no orchestra (allowing extra stage area or seating space) to a 60-piece orchestra to a 100-piece orchestra filling what is called a “Wagner pit.” This will open up the array of ballets that can be done. Plus, many Strauss operas, like Rosenkavalier, require a big orchestra for full effect.

If you would like to receive Opus Online, the Kauffman Center’s monthly e-newsletter, go to http://www.kauffmancenter.org and sign up. You’ll stay in-the-know about all the developments of Kansas City’s new performing arts center.