More Than a Shell of its Former Self

Even an 18-ton steel structure needs occasional tender loving care.

So that’s what the Orange County Performing Arts Center has been doing for the last eight weeks--refurbishing its internal orchestra shell, the steel structure that projects sound from the stage and into the hall.

“We’re 15 years old, and a lot of the [shell’s] mechanisms were wearing out,” said Orange County Performing Arts Center President Jerry E. Mandell recently. “We worried about their safety, and that fact that it took longer and longer to load shows in and load out.”

Because of its weight and size, the shell couldn’t simply be shipped to a factory.

“We had to repair it onstage,” said Mandel. “There aren’t many firms that do that kind of thing. It was also an eight-week project and this was the first time the center has ever been closed that long.”

The cost of the job was approximately $500,000.

Although it’s called a shell, it’s actually a multipart steel structure covered with two layers of plywood designed to reflect and balance sound. It consists of 16 pieces--eight sidewalls (four for each side), one rear wall, two flying (adjustable) ceilings, three reflectors and two lighting trusses.

Put together in various ways, the shell can accommodate acts of differing sizes--from a single recitalist to a chamber ensemble up to a full-sized, 90-plus-piece symphony orchestra.

The back wall--roughly 66 feet wide and 45 feet high--remains fixed. It’s so heavy--16 tons on its own--it moves on two cranes.

“We have to be one of the only theaters in the country with cranes,” said Robbie Foreman, technical director at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion has a ground-supported shell that the fellows roll into place.”

A crew uses winches to move the side walls in and out, varying the depth of the stage from eight to 36 feet from front to back.

“There are eight winches for the side walls,” Foreman said. “It’s a monster. Setting the side walls is like riding the Matterhorn [at Disneyland]. That’s the kind of sounds you hear.”

All the winching has been reworked. “It took a lot of time and labor and material,” Foreman said.

Air brakes were installed to increase safety. Overhead pieces, which are electronically adjusted, provide lighting and, even more important to the musicians on stage, reflect sound downward so that they can hear themselves.

Control systems for the orchestra shell and for the acoustical sound system that hangs over the audience were refurbished. Both are now run by a hand-held computer control device.

It used to take a crew of eight about four hours to set up the largest design--an orchestra-sized shell. But with the new computer-driven assist, Foreman is hoping to accomplish the same task using just a few people.

“We won’t know until we put it into practical use, which will be the Pacific Symphony opening concert on Oct. 3. We expect it to improve, just from the electronic standpoint alone.”

While all this work was going on, center officicals decided to take advantage of the down time to make other changes and repairs.

You’ll see a whole new walkway into Founders Hall, as well as new artwork inside. The Plaza Cafe in the Center itself has been expanded.

“We also took the opportunity to paint everything downstairs, including the dressing rooms,” Mandel said.

The total cost of the repairs was about $800,000.

“We have a repair and maintenance fund, the kind of a thing that many performance art centers are envious of,” Mandel said. “We put $720,000, or 1% of the cost of the building every year into a fund that can only be used for repair and maintenance.

“That’s why when you come into the Center, it always looks like a brand-new place.”

Concert Update

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County has canceled a video installation documenting Karlheizn Stockhausen’s “Helicopter Quartet,” Oct. 6-29 at the Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach. The video of the work, in which each member of the Arditti String Quartet plays his or her part in a separate helicopter, was being remixed and could not be ready in time, according to a Philharmonic Society spokesperson. The cancellation had nothing to do with the controversy surrounding the composer’s recent remark that the destruction of the World Trade Center was “the greatest work of art imaginable for the whole cosmos,” the spokesperson said. A replacement installation will be announced.

All That Jazz

The Orange County Performing Arts Center will sponsor free master classes with jazz and Broadway musicians and instrumentalists for 35 advanced high school and college students recommended by their instructors. The classes will feature jazz pianist Benny Green, Oct. 5; Broadway singer Jason Graae, Oct. 26; Broadway singer Davis Gaines, Nov. 16; jazz singer Jane Monheit, Feb. 1, 2002; jazz composer Maria Schneider, April 5, and jazz saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, May 3. Information: (714) 556-2122, Ext. 8234.

Chance to Dance

St. Joseph Ballet will hold its annual auditions on Oct. 27. There are approximately 80 openings for new students. Classes are held six days a week, year-round. More than 95% of St. Joseph Ballet students are given scholarships by the company. Studios are at 1810 N. Main St. in Santa Ana. Information: (714) 541-8314.