Questioning the Performing Arts Center's adequacy
Beth Hoffmann
senior
As a senior film, television and theater major, you can imagine my excitement when I saw that The Observer had finally opted to run an editorial regarding the inadequacy of the new performing arts center. I was thrilled that someone outside the music and theater departments finally noticed what a sad waste of resources this obviously undersized project is going to be — and moreover, cared enough to write an article about it.
Then, of course, I read it. I immediately realized the error of my haste. How silly of me to imagine that anyone on this campus, even the editorial staff of The Observer, would be concerned about the Performing Arts Center as a performing arts facility. I believe the only comment regarding the center's adequacy as the new home of FTT was that it "will accommodate many of the theatrical works on campus, but other events often require more than 900 seats to meet demand."
Hmmm ... it's unfortunate no one thought to ask someone in the department about what Notre Dame theatrical works actually require in terms of space and facilities. That person might have learned that in many respects, FTT will have less space than it currently does, especially since there will be more non-departmental groups making demands on the theaters in the new building.
The mainstage theater will have significantly fewer seats than Washington Hall, a circumstance that can't help but adversely affect department ticket revenues. The smaller space also halts any attempts at new audience development. There is not enough office space to accommodate the current FTT faculty; a serious problem if the University plans to attract any new professors to the department. And as a costume shop employee, I am also painfully aware that we are gaining negligible new shop space and no real new costume storage space — even though our current facilities are ridiculously small and cramped; they're hardly adequate to support our current work, much less to support the needs of a growing department.
And the number of majors is growing, by the way, despite the apparent efforts of the administration to quell any interest in it. The new building will obviously offer some advantages, especially in terms of technology, but to invest such a large amount of money in a facility that will be obsolete as soon as it is completed is very, very wrong on a very fundamental level. The problems that I've mentioned here only scratch the surface of the facility's inadequacies — and I've hardly even mentioned the problems it causes for the music department.
The administration is sending a clear message to FTT and music majors, all the other students on campus who participate in theatrical and musical groups, the current faculty in both departments, as well as prospective students and faculty members that the performing arts are not valued here. Need another example?
No one in the department was invited to the groundbreaking ceremony; many faculty didn't even know when it was to be held. It's clear to me that the "performing arts" portion of the title for the building is there as a token only; the inhabitants of Main Building could obviously care less about fostering artistic expression and scholarship among Notre Dame students. And The Observer editorial, a veritable fountain of indifference toward FTT's concerns, merely reinforces that sentiment.
I didn't start out intending to sound so angry, but I guess the frustration has been building for a while.
See what three years as an undergraduate in the arts at Notre Dame will do to you?
Beth Hoffmann
senior
Lyons Hall
Sept. 7, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, September 10, 2001
