Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1993 - 12

Building The Future On

YE~R~ ~F

~~lID~HITY
Alfred W. Di Talia
Thomas C. Short
Gelleral Secretary- Treasllrer

1515 Broadway * Suite 601 * New York, NY 100j6' 212-7jO·I770
Support
The American Labor Museum
Botto House National Landmark
83 Norwood Street' Haledon, New Jersey 07508

doing whar I do wirhom considering
whar's lefr behind. How do you judge for
rhe fmure' Who is co judge? Maybe we
should jusr do rhe work; if ir's good ir will
lasr and be appreciared." Whar derermines
value?-Ourselves, our peers, laymen
(audience-cri rics), cosr, pride, successful
comperirion, even winning'
The difficulry is char there are differenr
forces driving each of us in whar we do.
\X!har we do is born from whar we have
learned from each experience, from each
projecr, each generarion, each rhoughr.
The driving force may be an inspirarion
by rhe work of anorher, a "hero," or rhe
love of ones' own producr, or rhe need co
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1993 SUMMER

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make money, or perhaps because ir jusr
feels good.
Unril we acrually complere our objecrives and undersrand the responsibiliry for
whar we are doing, rhere can be no real
pre-dererminarion of "legacy." The cross
secrion of che U ITT membership is such
rhar we can nor assure our imprinr in rhe
same manner. This is whar makes ir so
Il1reresnng.
For insrance, rhere are differenr liferimes for certain "legacies." The live performance is only for rhe momenr and ends
when rhe curtain falls co lasr only in rhe
memories of rhe audience. The producrion-rhe direcrion, the scenery, rhe lighr-

ing, and che costumes-Iasrs only for rhe
run in rhar particular rhearre wi rh rhose
particular accors. The exrension of rhis is
che recrearion of an opera or a musical for
rhe road, or years larer recreared wirh
nares and comments from rhe original
producrion. To char exrenr chere is a conrinuarion.
This can be further exrended if ir is
recorded on film (here comes more rechnology) or on video rape or digirally scored
co have a longer life and cherefore a grearer
legacy. Television and film lasr as long as
rhe recording medium can be mainrained
on the shelf; perhaps decades. Then whar
happens when a black-and-whire medium
is, for commercial inreresrs, remasrered
digirally co be in color? Whar is che legacy
of a black-and-whi re art form has been
digirally dircled? Is chis co be a new legacy
or rhe destrucrion of an original? I suppose if rhe original is lefr inracr chen you
have a hiscorical choice. Which is genuine? The original or che digi-dircled polychromatic version?
The legacy of archirecture is certainly
far more reaching. Theatres from
Epidaurus to rhe Paris Opera, from
Srrarford-upon-Avon co che Guchrie, from
rhe Musik Vereinssaal co rhe proposed
Disney Concerr Hall, all cenainly have
had influences over rhe years and will for
che furure. More on chis larer.
The longesr lascing (che longesr half-life
in scienrific rerms) is char which is wrinen
and pur down on paper and perhaps faichfully reproduced in some son of prinr-che
play, rhe scripr or wrinen music.
Shakespeare's plays have certainly las red
longer rhan rhe buildings in which rhey
were firsr performed. The same is rrue of
Bach and Mozarr. Jusr think of how much
cheatre has resulred from Shakespeare and
music from Bach. Whar a legacy!
Did Shakespeare think of che cenruries
of life his work would have ar che rime he
wrore? I seriously doubr ir. everrheless,
we now know char whar we do will, for che
mosr parr, have an exrended life. Thar
esrablishes che responsibiliry nor co memorialize, bur ro pass on someching of value.

WE MUST PREPARE FOR THE
21ST CENTURY
I don't know why rhe new millennium is
so significanr. Why is one year any more
importanr rhan rhe lasr? Perhaps ir is significanr when you rhink of how quickly
rechnology has advanced in jusr rhe lasr
ren years. If rhe year 2000 is rhe
quinressenrial milescone, we had bener ger
buS)' because ir's gerring very close. Unless
we jusr ler ir happen wirhour regard as in
rhe pasr, finding rhar our legacies are only

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