renovations to lobby and technological updates on the way

When The Music Hall completed its most recent restoration in early September, exposing an opulent interior dome covered with dazzling artwork, the public was thrilled with the results. The dust from the renovation has settled, but, according to executive director Patricia Lynch, public excitement has not.

“People were overwhelmed,” Lynch said. “They love it so much, but they have been asking what we are going to do about the lobby. There is a real appreciation for the work we’ve done to date, but

Starting in January, new work will begin to upgrade the downstairs lobby, box office and restrooms of the downtown performing arts center. While construction is underway, The Music Hall will continue to offer a full schedule of performances, which has required careful planning and determination. But, by the time the project is finished in mid-September 2008, the lobby will be larger and more in line with the auditorium upstairs.  

“What we’re really doing in January is the preconstruction,” said Margaret Talcott, director of strategic communication at The Music Hall. “We’re looking at what’s there and what can be done. We’re getting a sense of space, but we’re still in the really early stages of any of this, and since we’re committed to staying open, everything happens in baby steps.”

The Music Hall was built in 1878, during a time when demand for leisure activities was high among working class families. Since its construction, a river of music, film, drama and dance has flowed through the 900-seat theater. It is the oldest performing arts center in New Hampshire and has been designated an “American Treasure” by the National Parks Service’s Save America’s Treasures program. The classification allowed The Music Hall to access federal funds for restoration work.
The lobby has been rebuilt and renovated so many times, it no longer has much historic significance, Lynch said. “It comes from so many different eras, nobody really knows what it looks like,” she said. These days, though, it looks like cracked tile, cramped bathrooms and fading paint.

In June, The Music Hall adopted a new strategic plan, which highlighted the need to address three critical issues: limited space, dated technology for backstage systems and lack of an endowment. The endowment would ensure financial sustainability, but first, structural and technological deficiencies must be addressed.

“Right now, we’re working on the urgent needs,” Talcott said.

“We’re in a place right now where we couldn’t put it off. We turned to some board members and close friends of The Music Hall and asked them to help us,” Lynch added. 

The design of the lobby, bathrooms and box office will be in flux over the next couple of weeks. TMS Architects, which handled the fall restoration, has designed the lobby upgrades. John DeStefano, of DeStefano & Associates, is the general contractor for the job. 

In addition to the downstairs project, The Music Hall has invested in technology to improve its programs upstairs. The latest purchase was a high definition projector, essential for the screening of The Met @ The Music Hall, a series of eight live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. 

In 2006, The Met launched a “live in HD” series, broadcasting its shows to several performing arts centers throughout the United States and Europe. Seacoast residents will be able to taste the Big Apple throughout coming months. The screenings are enhanced by live interviews of the performers and behind-the-scenes action at the Lincoln Center, all captured by 10 high definition cameras strategically located within the NYC venue. 

The first broadcast of The Met @ The Music Hall will present “Hansel and Gretel” on Tuesday, Jan. 1, at 1 p.m. For this debut, The Music Hall will be decorated with a winterscape of white birches and Christmas trees. Next on the schedule is “Romeo et Juliette,” on Saturday, Jan. 5, at 1 p.m. On Saturday, Jan. 12, “MacBeth” will be shown at 1:30 p.m.

The remaining season’s schedule can be found on The Music Hall’s Web site, www.themusichall.org. Tickets for each show are $27.50 and can be purchased at The Music Hall box office at 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, or by calling 603-436-2400 or visiting the Web site.

During intermissions of The Met shows, opera box lunches with champagne and chocolate will be available, and pianist Deborah Wyndham will perform in the lobby. All of these fringe activities are meant to enhance the opera-going experience. The backstage interviews and actions will also increase understanding of the performance, and The Music Hall’s surround sound speakers will help enliven the show.

The Metropolitan Opera was founded in 1883 as a home for creative and talented artists working in the multidisciplinary field of opera. Since 1976, the Met has been under the musical direction of James Levine, who created the current orchestra and chorus. In order to reconnect itself with a contemporary audience and to make the opera house a more welcoming place, The Met launched a series of initiatives, most recently a new media plan to make its opera performances available regularly on multiple platforms. These include the live high-definition transmissions to movie theaters in North America and Europe. The Music Hall was quick to jump onboard.

Also on Jan. 1, the five-month trial closure of Chestnut Street will be over. The narrow side street first closed on Aug. 1 to test the viability of making it a permanent pedestrian walkway. Apparently, the trial proved unsuccessful, because on Dec. 18, The Music Hall withdrew its request to keep Chestnut Street closed, according to Portsmouth planning director David Holden. But, on Dec. 19, Lynch met with neighbors of The Music Hall to discuss how best to manage Chestnut Street, which has become an outdoor extension of the venue’s main lobby. In the future, vehicles making deliveries will be able to use the street, but Lynch hopes to maintain Chestnut as a gateway to The Music Hall.

“The neighbors have shown a lot of good will and are enthusiastic about working with us,” Lynch said.
In March, when the city is beginning to thaw from winter’s freeze, the process of further adapting the side street will continue. 
With the construction, new technology and opening of Chestnut Street, the next few months promise to be very busy for The Music Hall. “We’re on track for our five-year plan,” Talcott said. As the plan is executed, The Music Hall and the Seacoast community should benefit from all the hard work.

“When you have something like this, you do want to protect it for generations to come,” Lynch said.