Geffen nearly set to reopen its doors

After nearly 18 months and $17 million in renovations,
Westwood’s beloved Geffen Playhouse is almost ready to reopen
its doors to the public. Now boasting a houseful of top-of-the-line
seats, optimal sight lines, acoustic reflective panels and an
entirely new second stage, the Audrey Skirball-Kenis Theater, the
Geffen is at last fully equipped to host a more inclusive
repertoire of performances, ranging from grand theatrics to
intimate one-man shows. The playhouse will reopen to audiences on
Nov. 16.

“The great thing about the renovation is that we preserved
the dignity and beauty of this historic theater,” said the
Geffen’s producing director, Gill Cates, founder and former
president of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.
“But there are new elevators, a new backstage area that the
cast will appreciate, (and) new bathrooms, as well as a (remodeled)
box office and donor’s lounge.”

“Construction on the building was tricky because it has
been there since 1929 and we wanted it preserved,” said
Geffen press director Ryan Jimenez. “So the historical
structure was maintained, but the interior was completely gutted.
All the seats were removed and the stage was lowered four feet. We
had to get digging cranes in there to do the job, which was very
tricky.”

The process may have been risky, but the Geffen staff believes
the results will prove to be very useful throughout the upcoming
season. Along with the aesthetic changes that have been made to the
old theater, basic modifications were sorely needed to update some
of the more archaic attributes of the building.

“A lot of the basic fundamentals needed to be replaced
since it is a very old structure,” said Jimenez. “There
used to be issues with sound distribution, and for some seats it
took way longer for sound to reach them. But we have added multiple
acoustic reflective panels.”

Sound wasn’t the only upgrade the theater wanted to offer
its audience.

“The audience comfort level was not what we wanted it to
be,” said Cates. “The air system was especially
terrible. There also used to be a large flight of stairs to enter
the building, but it is now at street level.”

As for the actors, they too will enjoy many behind-the-scenes
additions and alterations, including additional wardrobe space.

“There are now under-stage passages and a tremendous
amount more wing space,” said Jimenez. “The limited
space also created artistic limits with backstage equipment. Now
the expanded space will give us more freedom for larger types of
productions.”

But the new Geffen is not only flexing its new muscles toward
presenting larger theatrical performances. The Audrey
Skirball-Kenis Theater is considerably smaller than the main house,
and will be able to accommodate a whole new genre of drama within
its close setting.

“The Audrey Skirball-Kenis Theater was actually modeled
after the Teatro Piccolo in Rome,” Cates said. “It will
allow us to present new and more plays during the
season,”

“There are a lot of plays here that work better on a large
or small stage,” said Jimenez. “Having the two stages
allows us to be far more diverse. Both are very intimate theaters,
but there is a big difference between a theater that seats 500 and
one that seats 117.”

Along with the vast new range of plays that will be available to
patrons with the opening of the smaller theater, the cast and crew
will also reap the benefits of having a second stage right next
door.

“The dimensions of the Audrey stage are synonymous with
the stage in the main playhouse,” Jimenez said. “So
when we are wrapping up production of one show, we can already
begin to block the next in the other theater, which will allow us
much smoother transitions from one play to the next.”

With one world premiere and three West Coast premieres on the
lineup for the upcoming season, the newly restored Geffen Playhouse
should maintain its reputation as a theatrical hot spot for years
to come. As for which play this season is the one you
shouldn’t miss, Cates can’t bring himself to pick a
favorite.

“It’s like asking a father which one of his children
is the smartest,” said Cates. “We now have the facility
to make new things happen on the stage. And, as always, we pride
ourselves on the excellence of the productions that we
do.”