When Louis Sullivan, the famous Chicago architect who also served as Frank Lloyd Wright’s mentor, was at his designing peak in the late 1800s, he tersely remarked, “Form ever follows function.” Such a maxim was consistent with Sullivan’s mission to create a design based on how a building would be used. It’s one that can easily apply to complex performance venues as well, especially an historic theater, like the 68-year-old Kimball Theatre at Colonial Willamsburg, which is currently be converted into a performance venue; it’s a project I’m all too familiar with, working as its top theater consultant.

To shed light on the current plan to renovate the Kimball Theater, which started life as a movie house, it’s necessary to recap its history. In 1926, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was approached about restoring Williamsburg, Virginia, once hailed as the political, cultural and educational hub of 18th century America. Purchasing most of what is now Colonial Williamsburg in the late 1920s, Rockefeller had the non-18th century buildings razed.

He also ordered the reconstruction of colonial buildings, which forced most of Williamsburg’s merchants to relocate. A new section of the town dubbed “Merchant’s Square” was built especially for them. This area, which lies between the historic district and The College of William and Mary, the second oldest college in the country, was constructed in 1932.

Tucked inside Merchant’s Square is Kimball Theatre, which, following renovations, is slated to be used as a venue for 18th century-style plays staged by Colonial Williamsburg and for small productions mounted by The College of William and Mary and other local groups. A completely new structure behind the proscenium arch will include a modest working stage, an expanded wing area, costume and property storage and dressing rooms.

The challenge for the design team was to incorporate these changes into the Kimball space while retaining the district’s architectural vernacular, overall character and scale. The process began with the realization that everyone experiences a theater building in one of two ways. We are either members of the audience (“front of the house”) or theater artists (“back of the house”). A theater striving to follow Sullivan’s precept must function for both audiences and performers. This is a formidable task when the envelope and character of a building are relatively fixed.

Front Of The House Architecture And Design Issues
Lobby enlargement. Research into the original design of the building indicated that sufficient ground for a grand lobby was not included. In fact, a representative of R.K.O. (Radio Keith Orpheum) Pictures is said to have encouraged a small lobby, since a line of people outside the theater would indicate to the general public that a popular film was being shown. For today’s live performance theater, a small lobby does not accommodate the audience during intermissions. The challenge then was to figure out ways to enlarge the lobby space.

The solution was to encroach on the audience chamber and reduce the number of available seats, which would make the size and shape of the audience chamber more compatible with a live performance theatre. And, as if deferring to the R.K.O. rep’s marketing idea, plans were also made to erect a marquee tent at the entrance for special occasions.

Making the audience chamber friendlier for live performances. In a movie theater, the architect’s goal is to make sure the audience is not far from the axis of the film projector(s). In a fan-shaped audience chamber, the screen image becomes dim and distorted on the sides of the audience seating area. Motion picture theaters are, therefore, typically narrow and deep, which is not optimal for a live performance. The goal for a performance venue is the polar opposite—to seat the audience as close to the stage as possible.

By removing seats considered the worst in the house—the back of the auditorium—the theater automatically became more conducive to theatergoers.

Extension of the stage apron. To accommodate the 18th-century style of play presentation, the stage apron had to be extended. This area of the stage, located in front of the curtain, was the primary acting area in the colonial period. Although the extension now encroached on the audience chamber from the front, it also shortened the overall “shoebox” shape.

Changing the seat layout. As a cinema, the Kimball Theatre was designed with a three-aisle seating configuration—one aisle along each wall and another down the middle of the house. Such an arrangement moved all of the seats closer to the center axis of the screen.

The redesign scheme takes advantage of new code parameters that allow more seats per row. There are now only two aisles, with most of the seating in the center of the chamber. This new arrangement places very good seats in the center of the chamber where there was once an aisle. Performers like this “continuous seating” layout because it makes the audience a cohesive unit that reacts to the production more quickly and uniformly.

Increase of restroom capacity. Movie houses constructed in the early 1930s were not built with adequate restroom facilities for live performance use. Audience members follow different restroom patterns in live theater, where there is a lot of traffic during intermissions, than at the movies, where they visit the restroom either during or after the show. Live theater requires many more facilities for the intermission rush.

Insofar as the existing architecture permitted, this problem was solved by allocating additional square footage for restrooms on the second level of the building. An elevator is planned to permit handicapped access to that level.

Maximizing building expansion capability. In trying to solve these front-of-the-house issues, the architect/designer had to overcome limited building expansion capability. The building cannot expand horizontally because it is situated between two other commercial establishments; only a very limited backside expansion is possible.

Back Of The House Architecture And Design Issues
In the original configuration, the area behind the proscenium arch was small, designed to accommodate only a projection screen and the motion picture speaker. Additional space was needed to serve the demands of a live performance venue, in the following areas: dressing rooms, some offstage space for scenic and property items, rigging for curtains and painted drops, lighting, an integrated sound system and storage for stock items.

Optimizing dressing room space. The 18th century-style plays produced by Colonial Williamsburg use relatively small casts, so the dressing rooms have a fairly small capacity. Yet they are fully equipped with make-up counters, lighted mirrors, toilet facilities and space for hanging street clothes and costumes.

Installing scenic drops and stage curtains. The original motion picture stage will be replaced with a new, deeper stage behind the existing proscenium arch. A valence and front curtain will emulate the original look of the proscenium decor. A stage drapery set and rigging for installing drops and lighting fixtures will surround the new performance area behind the front curtain.

The new design called for traditional “ropes and sandbags” to be operated from a fly floor on one side of the stage. On the opposite side, an expanded wing area provides offstage waiting space, as well as a location for three-dimensional scenic elements and furniture moved on and off the stage during productions.

Performance lighting issues. The Kimball Theatre was not originally designed with lighting, since it was used exclusively for showing films. In the 18th century, footlights were principal sources of stage illumination. With the new design, the spirit of the 18th century will be recreated with reproduction footlights located around the stage apron. However, they will be used primarily as “curtain warmers” to illuminate the front curtain when closed.

Contemporary performance lighting often favors illuminating the stage picture from realistic angles so that the facial features of performers appear normal. For the design team, this was a challenge since it seemed to require using the front of the stage from the auditorium ceiling as a lighting vantage point. The design staff solved the problem by creating a lighting gallery that would fit above the existing curved ceiling and be used as a site to install the apron fixtures. Additional locations above the stage and in the wings will also be used to brighten up the stage.

Plans also require the installation of the latest electronic dimming equipment. It will be operated by a computer console located on the second level at the rear of the auditorium. Followspots will be operated from this same general area.

Increasing the limited storage space. When the new building behind the proscenium arch was designed, it was configured to include storage for costume and props. On-site storage makes changing from one production to another less costly in terms of required manpower. It also reduces the potential damage to these items.

Configuring for an integrated sound system. Sound capacity for movies is very different than sound for live performances. Specifications to convert the Kimball space called for three types of sound: a sound system that permits atmospheric effects such as night and animal sounds; speech reinforcement, which is required for conferences; and sound that accompanies film projection.

Minimizing the impact of building design. The biggest challenge of all was the addition on the back of the building, which required unusual sensitivity to the surrounding architectural style. The exterior massing had to appear to be a natural extension of the existing structures and, at the same time, allow interior functions to drive its volume and height.

Working with gifted architects has made it possible to accomplish the goals delineated in this project. Construction begins in the next few months. When the “new” Kimball Theatre opens in about a year, it will be apparent that adaptive re-use has provided a good, workable live performance venue for Colonial Williamsburg.

As this example illustrates, designing for conversion merges sensitivity to the past with modern needs and materials. It supports Louis Sullivan’s tenet “form ever follows function,” as true today as when he espoused the notion over 100 years ago.

For more information on Colonial Williamsburg, log onto www.history.org.

IMG1: Rendering of proposed facility after renovation

IMG2: Inside the original movie house configuration, circa 1930

IMG3: Exterior view of Kimball Theatre