Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1985 - 13

a total plan that provided the necessities
the company required at the time. In
addition to simultaneous production
in both theatres McConnell wanted to
keep certain productions in repertory
and his architectural list of priorities
provided the means to achieve that
goal. While the CPH never went to a
complete season of rotating repertory,
it did keep the productions for a season
or more. McConnell elucidated the
premise in a piece he wrote for the A rchiteclUral Record in 1927.
At the Play House ... a number of
productions have been given in revival for five years and these plays are
as much a pan of the tradition of the
theatre as some of the personalities
that in time have grown up with the
theatre. A permanent staff ensemble
and production staff must attach [Q a
theatre of this character and in the
new plan facilities have been provided
for their accommodation, study, rehearsal, and recreation. J

The facility included two theatres, a
centrally located workshop and scenic
storage space, a costume shop and storage, a rehearsal room, a greenroom,
dressing rooms, offices for front-ofhouse and production staff, and lobby,
foyer and lounge for audiences. This
complex served the CPH admirably for
some 20 years. By 1947, however, the
company was engaged in a number of
activities that put a heavy strain on the
old facility, including a highly successful summer program at Chatauqua
Lake in western ew York state, a series
of plays for children inaugurated in the
1930s, and an annual Shakespearean
production in the spring of each season.
Several solutions and expansionist
schemes were explored and finally a
former Christian Science Church at
Euclid Avenue and 77th Sr. was acquired. The building had been "dark"
for ten years and satisfied all of the organization's spatial needs at the time:
the modified thrust stage, a rehearsal
area and some storage for scenery, costumes, and props, plus a large parking
lor.
Working with architect Draz once
again, McConnell evolved a plan that
provided a theatre seating 567, a rehearsal space that would ultimately be
convened into an "in-hou e" restaurant / club and whatever storage space
could be scraped together in the basement. Dressing rooms and secure areas

for prop storage were situated close to
the stage. Settings and costumes for
77th 5r. productions were built in the
86th 5r. facility's shops. In pre-show
set up periods, the rehearsal space did
double duty as a temporary shop for
scenic repairs and touch-up painting.
The large auditorium was located in
that pan of the building formerly occupied by the church itself. The ceiling
was a semi-circular dome of considerable size. A large box was suspended
from the dome's center. In it were located most of the F.O.H. lighting in-

highly useful function.
Between 1950 and 1975, that pan of
Cleveland's east side where the theatres
were located went through a period of
trial. By the mid-1950s the resident
population was predominantly black
and in 1968, following the death of Dr.
ivlanin Luther King, Jr., Cleveland's
east side suffered some of the nation's
worst riots. By the 1970s the neighborhoods surrounding the theatres had
calmed but many of the businesses located there had closed down or moved
away. It is to the credit of the CHP that

Cleveland Playhouse Complex

struments. Other F.O. H. posIllons
were placed around the auditorium's
side walls. The high ceiling, however,
created a very serious acoustic problem.
So in the summer of 1950 a graduated
ceiling providing numerous F.O.H.
lighting positions was put in place over
the seating area. The acoustics were
improved significantly and lighting
capabilities were greatly enhanced.
In spite of McConnell's enthusiasm
for its shape and versatility, the former
church was not everyone's favorite theatre. Cenain seating areas till suffered
from less-than-adequate acoustics and
actors, aware of these areas, tended to
play to those seats where they could be
heard well. Directors did not like the
\,·ide stage which required a 1m of scenery for some of the representational
productions staged on ir. The stage wa
also too shallow to light effectively.
The technical staff had other problems.
All of the scenic requirements had to
be realized in shops nine blocks away,
and then trucked "downtown." As a
result, the work force was frequently
split up with one third of the whole
working at Euclid 77th Sr. In spite of
these limitations the theatre served a

the staff and trustees resisted the urge
to shut down the entire operation and
move to another pan of the city. One
of the reasons they did not move was
due to the success of the Play House
Club.
In the late 1950s, McConnell and
the trustees faced a serious problem: as
racial tensions in the community and
neighborhood increased, attendance at
77th 5r. and 86th 5r. decreased. Looking at the problem straight on they decided to woo the audience by creating a
first class restaurant / supper club Wilhin the 77th 5r. theatre.
By the fall of 1960, the Play House
Club was a reality. Originally set up as
a key club for Play House subscribers
-one paid a modest annual fee for a
key to an exterior entrance-the club
became a potent source of income for
the theatre. The subscription audience
used it for dinner before the evening's
performance and afterward as the cap
on an evening our. Subscriptions increased markedly and in a good season
the club could add as much as 5;60,000
in revenue.
Regardless of its success with the
Club the CPH had to think seriously in

USITT SUIlllller 1985 Theatre Design & Technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1985