She's a young girl, yet a 500-seat theater in Bangor, Maine will soon bear her name. The Gracie Theater, named after Gracie McCollum, will be part of The Meeting House on the Husson College Campus. Most buildings or rooms are named in honor of someone who made a significant, positive impact on many people's lives or a large monetary contribution. Gracie has done neither, although she did have the awesome responsibility of kicking off the ground-breaking ceremony last September with the rallying cry, "let's dig dirt!" Gracie's grandmother, Hilda Hutchins McCollum, did in fact make a large monetary contribution, thus why Gracie's name will adorn the new theater.
Construction progress on the building that will house Gracie Theater is a topic of discussion almost daily on the Husson College campus. There are many exciting reasons the completion of The Meeting House is eagerly awaited, including new classroom and faculty space, but the most exciting to me is the possible development of a performing arts program some time in the future. Why not! After all we have Ken Stack, known widely for his portrayal of the classic Dickens character, Ebenezer Scrooge, in addition to his directing talents.
I get goose bumps when I think about all the Maine talent that will be able to perform over time on Gracie's stage. And while those thespians, musicians and comics thrill audiences of all ages, students at the New England School of Communications (NESCom) will have a state-of-the art training facility in which to learn live performance audio and video skills. The theater is being designed by acoustic and theater consultants from Walters Storyk Design Group out of New York.
Gracie Theater will boast three lighting booths that are classroom size and a built-in video booth as well. "Some of the technological specifications of the project make the construction of the Gracie Theater a bit more complex," said Thom Johnston, President of NESCom. "The frequent snow storms have backed up construction time lines slightly but they'll be able to make up that time."
The classrooms in The Meeting House will be ready by the fall of this year with Gracie Theater scheduled for completion by January of 2009.
Construction progress on the building that will house Gracie Theater is a topic of discussion almost daily on the Husson College campus. There are many exciting reasons the completion of The Meeting House is eagerly awaited, including new classroom and faculty space, but the most exciting to me is the possible development of a performing arts program some time in the future. Why not! After all we have Ken Stack, known widely for his portrayal of the classic Dickens character, Ebenezer Scrooge, in addition to his directing talents.
I get goose bumps when I think about all the Maine talent that will be able to perform over time on Gracie's stage. And while those thespians, musicians and comics thrill audiences of all ages, students at the New England School of Communications (NESCom) will have a state-of-the art training facility in which to learn live performance audio and video skills. The theater is being designed by acoustic and theater consultants from Walters Storyk Design Group out of New York.
Gracie Theater will boast three lighting booths that are classroom size and a built-in video booth as well. "Some of the technological specifications of the project make the construction of the Gracie Theater a bit more complex," said Thom Johnston, President of NESCom. "The frequent snow storms have backed up construction time lines slightly but they'll be able to make up that time."
The classrooms in The Meeting House will be ready by the fall of this year with Gracie Theater scheduled for completion by January of 2009.
By Susan Patten
2 comments:
A thought -- is there room (and need) for another theater facility in Bangor? There is the Penobscot Theater, Peakes Auditorium, and the Bangor Auditorium. UMaine Orono is home to Hauck Auditorium and the Maine Center for the Arts. Without a theater program already well established on campus, does Husson and NESCom really need Gracie Theater? Could that money be put to better use elsewhere?
Hopefully Buckethead will come to play!
As for the last comment . . . Maine, and this area needs more than karaoke joints and Irish pubs. The more venues, the better.
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