December
2000:
Project Update:
Radiance
of the Seas
John Lodge's recent visit to the shipyard in Pappenburg, Germany found the showtheater on Radiance of the Seas well under way.
May
2000:
Project Update:
Akron Civic Theatre
Wilson
Butler Lodge is using a new cutting-edge technology to complete the existing
building documentation of the Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio. The high-tech
consultant, Quantapoint, uses a laser camera to calculate, down
to an eighth of an inch, the building's dimension. The silver apparatus
(shown right) contains a pivoting mirror and the laser source; the top
cylinder spins on axis, sending out 1000 laser readings per second. These
readings are transferred to a computer (the big yellow box) where one
can see the scan of the building. A number of these scans are collected
and then overlapped to generate the plans, sections, and elevations. They
will complete the entire Civic Theatre documentation
in about 5 days, in comparison to the 3 days it took for WBLI architects,
Heidi Rosenwald and Tony Vogel, to just measure the basement. Tony Vogel,
describes the Quantapoint equipment best in his field log:
Thursday, May 11, 2000
Thursday we met "The Machine" [actually the Quantapoint scanning machine accompanied by its operators, Mike Florian and an assistant]. The scanner looks like nothing so much as a large stainless steel Cuisinart. A small cylinder atop a broader base rotates about a vertical axis. A mirror set in an opening in the cylinder, rotates about a horizontal axis. It plugs into a computer on steroids with lots of buttons and a tiny screen. The screen is navigated by touch, allowing the operator to pan through completed scans. Mike seemed to understand what he was looking at.
In his field log, Tony also describes both the beauty of the theater and its shortcomings:
Richard and Matt [stage manager and assistant] gave us carte blanche to hang around backstage during the performance, lifting our spirits. It was painfully evident, how cramped the stage was. With a maximum of only 7 musicians on stage, there was absolutely no room for concealed crossover behind. As Richard H. would inform us later, this has been a particular problem with ballet performances.
About halfway through the show, another angel led us some great seats in the stage right orchestra where we began to appreciate the real magic of the Civic. We saw the stars come out and the clouds roll across the sky. We saw twilight through Moorish arches and spotlights streaming cross the sky.
November
2000:
Event:
Boston Music Awards 2000
For the sixth year in a row, WBLI let their creative inspirations
run rampant over the Orpheum stage for the Boston Music Awards. The evening's
set was built with the frenetic creativity and ingenuity as the previous
Boston Music Awards sets were.
This year we went a little dotty coming up with yet another amusing design.
The theme was loosely based on the growing importance of the "Dot.Com"
world, as well as our fervent wishes for a polka music revolution. The
Polka-Dot set celebrates the potential of both these hot new trends.
The Award's sets naturally extends from WBLI's theater
and performing arts expertise. Since 1994, WBLI has backdropped Boston's
premier music show with loud paint colors, chicken wire, plastic tubing,
and beaming black lights. The idea is to create an elaborate, expensive
look at bargain-basement prices. "All begged and borrowed," says principal
Scott Wilson of the set materials used each year. "When you take basic,
inexpensive stuff and mix it with theatrical lighting, creative painting
and a fog machine or two, it's amazing how much fun you can have."
In the past, presenters and performers alike navigated a "Big Dig-like"
assemblage of construction lights, scaffolding and orange cones. Another
year, the firm decorated the stage with a heap of donated taxicab doors
and bumpers, street signs, and fire hydrants- then set to work erecting
a freeform set from the mélange of parts. That year's bands performed
on a fog-filled stage, bathed in the light of an oncoming train emerging
from the tunnel entrance at the T's the old Scolley Square station. Last
year, a larger than life Y2K bug loomed over the stage- never to be heard
from again.
April
2000:
Boston
Design Community Benefit to Shelter Inc.:
"Under the Sheltering Sky"
Wilson Butler Lodge joined Boston’s community
of architects and design firms in building birdhouses for Shelter, Inc.’s
25th anniversary. A fund-raiser dinner was held on April 13, 2000 at the
Boston Center for the Arts. Twenty-nine birdhouses were auctioned off
and raised $25,000 to help the city’s homeless men, women and children
served by the programs of Shelter, Inc.
Scott Wilson and Aaron Williams of WBLI
participated. Aaron’s design celebrated the Chinese Year of the Golden
Dragon, representing symbols of hope and prosperity. “The Golden Dragon
(the Chinese character hand-painted on the faces of the birdhouse) is
a symbol of hope, prosperity and good things to come. Lanterns light the
way to safety and shelter and the light represents warmth and goodness.
We wish all these things for Shelter, Inc. in this coming year,” wrote
Aaron for the event’s catalogue.
Scott Wilson's design centered around a house for a young bird family
and was metaphorically shaped like a bird. “The ‘bird’s wings’ are made
of copper and deflect upward from the uplifting forces of flight,” wrote
Wilson.
“The display and auction of these “works of art” helped to create a wonderful,
enjoyable evening which focused on the real goal of a call to action for
people to acknowledge the unfinished business of ending homelessness and
the conditions that create it in our community. We sincerely thank you
for your contribution to an incredible evening.” writes Joe Finn the Executive
Director of Shelter, Inc.
April
2000:
Project Update:
Bushnell Stats
Pile driving was completed at the Bushnell in early January.
A total of 301 piles were driven into the ground with a paylength of 12,400
feet. That's over two miles of piles!
Construction later began on the massive concrete box which will become
the new stagehouse. The concrete is 16 inches thick and 98 feet tall.
The wall will take 2 days to set but 28 days to reach its full strength
of 3500-4500 pounds per square inch.
The Bushnell's new addition is on course to be completed by September
2001.
April
2000:
Project Update:
Akron Civic Theatre
The interior restoration of the 70-year-old Akron Civic Theatre has begun. Evergreen Painting Studios of New York has started cleaning and priming sections of the proscenium. They are scientifically testing paint chips to determine the original colors, and then repainting the decorative plaster to match. The results are spectacular.
Wilson Butler Lodge has proposed a new 50 foot-by-112 foot stage house, new concessions, restrooms, elevators, lobby space, and back of house amenities. The interior of the theater will undergo not only plaster detailing restoration, but also seat and carpeting refurbishment, and new lighting and sound configuration. The project is set for completion in September of 2002.
November
1999:
Project Opening:
A Big Splash
It was a weekend full of sparkle and drama as Royal Caribbean
International debuted it's newest and largest cruise ship, Voyager of
the Seas, in Miami. The inaugural event opened with a speech from CEO
Richard Fain and a memorable champagne christening with two-time Olympic
gold medallist Katarina Witt. WBLI directors, Scott Wilson, Scott Butler
and John Lodge and associate, Tom Hains attended the ceremonies with their
respective spouses.
One of the high points was the KB Toys.com's Starskates on Broadway performance
on Studio B's ice rink, a headlining attraction of Voyager of the Seas
and one of the two main spaces that WBLI was responsible for designing.
Broadway hits, sung by Ben Vereen and Betty Buckley, were accompanied
by performances by world-class skaters Katarina Witt, Surya Bonaly, Brian
Orser, Rosalyn Summers, Viktor Petrenko and Robin Cousins in his final
live performance. The performances were followed by the comedic ice skating
team of Vladimir Besedin and Alexei Polishuk.
In La Scala, the ship's main theater and second WBLI designed space, the
WBLI contingent, along with 1,340 other guests enjoyed the Wave Revue
Singers and Dancers paying tribute to legendary musicians and composers,
among them Duke Ellington and Andrew Lloyd Weber.
November
1999:
Project Update:
Bushnell Benchmark
The trucks are parked and the fences are up! Construction has officially begun on the new addition to the Bushnell Theater designed by WBLI in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. With Turner Construction heading up the effort, plans for the contemporary 915-seat theater are well underway. Once completed, the new addition will offer a greater range of programming, a new box office and an improved facility for the Bushnell's educational outreach programs. The project has an aggressive completion date of September 2001.
November
1999 :
Project Opening:
A Night of New Beginnings
The November debut of Voyager of the Seas will celebrate more than the introduction of the world's largest cruise ship to the high seas. Along with the naming ceremony, Royal Caribbean International will be holding an overnight charity gala to benefit the United Way Success By 6 program through their initiative called Voyages. United Way Success By 6 is an early childhood development program designed to ensure that all children are ready to learn and thrive by the time they enter school. WBLI will be contributing to this initiative as well as enjoying the fruits of their labors. WBLI was responsible for the design of Studio B, a flexible performance space and La Scala, the main theater.
October
1999:
Conference Presentation:
Seminar in Seattle
On October 10, 1999 Scott Wilson brought his love of musical architecture to orchestral conductors and executive directors in a three-day conference sponsored by the Orchestra Leadership Academy, a division of the American Symphony Orchestra League. Scott was joined by a dozen fellow colleagues as they spoke about the fundamentals of planning programming and siting for concert halls. All participants enjoyed a tour of Seattle's Benaroya Hall, home of Seattle's Symphony Orchestra. In a rare alignment, three of the world's leading acousticians, Larry Kirkegaard, Russell Johnson and Christopher Jaffe compared approaches and successes in the never ending search for the "perfect acoustics."
September
1999:
Project Update:
It's Alive!
Watching a cruise ship being built is second only to a week or two on said ship in the South Seas. While on visit to Kvaerner Masa-Yards shipyard in Turku, Finland, Scott Butler witnessed the culmination of a two-year effort as La Scala, the main theater aboard Voyager of the Seas, came to life. Voyager of the Seas, Royal Carribean International's latest and largest cruise ship is due to set sail in November 1999.
August
1999:
Office News:
Scott Wilson Goes Back to School
Harvard University was up one occupant as Scott Wilson staged his return engagement to Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. For the fifth year in a row, Scott joined forces with Joshua Dachs, Steven A. Wolff and Christopher Jaffe to entrance and enlighten minds in their class, "Theaters for a New Century". This year's class included tours of the Wang Center, Huntington Theater and Richard W. Sorenson Center at Babson College.
June
1999:
Groundbreaking:
Not Quite the Big Dig
It's not exactly going to change the streets of Boston everyday since it takes place in Downtown Hartford, Connecticut but it was a big event for patrons of The Bushnell Theater. In mid-June, local officials, Bushnell staff, WBLI's Bushnell team and several local groups came together to celebrate the Groundbreaking for The Bushnell Theater. WBLI is designing an addition to the original theater to add seating capacity and allow the theater to house a larger diversity of different programs.
April
1999:
Event:
Boston Music Awards 1999 Set Design Team
A lotta flash with little cash produced a grand night out for throngs at the 12th Annual Boston Music Awards on April 20th. For the fourth year in a row, the furious minds at WBLI put their heads together to create the set design for the festivities. This year they paid homage to the coming Millennium with their own version of the Y2K computer bug. Ordinary materials such as fiberglass and plastic became the flesh and bone of this menacing digital insect, while the brushwork of Sam Simon breathed life into its sprawling limbs. The result: one funky bad-ass crawler. The many musical artists and presenters barely escaped with their lives.
April
1999:
Office News:
Christmas in April
It was a miracle on somebody's street on April 20. Several groups from different organizations came together to help repair and paint the home of Ann Jones in Dorchester. The miracle is called "Christmas in April." It is an annual event in Boston and also countrywide. 15-20 WBLI volunteers braved the cold temperatures to dangle from ladders and help restore the beauty to this old Victorian home. Warm hearts, cold hands and afterwards... cold beer.
April
1999:
Project Update:
Custom Carpet for Voyager
We're working with graphic designer Nick Thompson to create the Voyager of the Seas Main Theater carpet. The custom carpet is currently being woven at the Desso mill in Oss, The Netherlands.
