Theatre Design & Technology - Dec 1969 - 9

been a much larger increase in ticket sales
by orchestras of the smaller cities. In the
group of major orchestras, winter concerts
increased in the last year by 11 %, and
summer concerts by 30%.
Obviously, there is lots more music being
played by lots more people to lots more
people-and an involvement of a great deal
more money. This does not mean obviously
that the orchestras are rolling in wealth. Far
from it. During this same period, however,
they have been raising the endowments
which were brought into being through the
Ford Foundation program.

Cost Spiral and "Double Squeeze"
(Mrs. Thompson then described problems
such as the cost spiral which affects everything from musicians' salaries to the costs
of paper and postage. She mentioned that
orchestras are victims of the "double
squeeze" when contracts are written: the
squeeze of the service costs' going up, while
the amount of contracted time goes down.
"We're paying more for less time available
to us. So far, the public has come along,
magnanimously, I think. ")
There is an experiment underway to cope
with these problems through merging of orchestras ..This is being discussed between
Buffalo and Rochester, and between the
National Symphony in Washington and the
Baltimore Symphony. Especially a problem
in the smaller cities is that the larger the
orchestra's activities become, the more they
have to reach into the surrounding neighborhoods . . . Is this going to result, eventually, in some discontinuance of the orchestras in the medium-size cities?

There is another concern: What is going to
be the tenor of Congress towards protection
of charitabl e contributions through tax in·
centives and their approach to foundations?
The only thing of which we are sure is that
there is an unending stream of people to
whom music can be brought, who will purchase tickets to go to this music, and who
must be accommodated in buildings, someplace-be they arts centers, be they office
buildings, or whatever they may be.

The "Cultural Explosion" Myth
I'd like to know who ever started the phrase
"cultural explosion". I think it's one of the
greatest disservices ever done to the arts.
I suppose some publ icist or journalist manufactured it, and everybody else has used it.
Indeed, it is an insult to all the work that
has been done for years, since the beginning of the arts in this country at least,
towards developing a wider enjoyment, a
wider acknowledgement, and a wider participation in the arts.
There was no cultural explosion. And just
as there was no explosion, most of us
throughout the country don't see a tragic
withdrawal from the arts at the present time,
either.
Most of this thinking emanates from New
York City, where there first was talk of the
cultural explosion, and now about the dejection and rejection of the arts. The myth
did the greatest harm in New York City, because it lured people into backing . . . things
that should never have been supported. This
to me has been the tragedy of the alleged
cultural explosion-and now the alleged
"withdrawal" from the arts.

Viterbo College Concert Hall-Theatre: LaCrosse, Wisconsin
Reflected Ceiling Plan

Architect
Theatre Consultant
Acoustical Consultant

Brielmaier. Sherer and
Sherer
George C. Izenour
Lyle Verges

Total COSI
$4,600,000.
Cos 1 01 Stage Machinery & Conversion
450,000.
System including Ceiling Structure
& Shell
Seating Capacities
Concert Hall
1,121
Opera. Musical Comedy
709
Drama (intimate)
533 with apron 506
Farthest Seat from Stage
Concert
Opera
Drama

102 It.
64 ft.
56 ft. with apron 43 It.

Permanent Tenants
Viterbo College Drama and Music Departments:
Complex also has Scene Shop, 200 seat Experi·
mental Theatre, 300 seat Recital Hall, and teaching facilities.

THEATER DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

DECEMBER,1969

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