Hi, I'm Colleen Jennings Rogan Zack the executive director of Arizona
State University Gammage. And I am here with Clyde Parker, the famous
technical director of tissue damage
Clyde. Why don't you tell us when you first came to A. S. U. What you were
doing? And were you fact or staff? Well actually I came here as a student
. I transferred from phoenix college as a junior
actually I was going to become a teacher. So I was in the College of
education with the theater major actually speech in the theater Because in
the early 60s they didn't have enough of anything to make it a single
major. So you have to combine it. Uh huh and became involved of course
with the theater department was working for the for the shows. Again it
was a very small department. There were two people
jimmy carter who you know still does the audio description for our
broadway shows. I was one and frank buyers. State grand old man I called
him was the other um so it was pretty small. We we did some shows, I
remember doing the first show in the then brand new remodeled lyceum
has since added a stage house and made it into a real theater. And but we
did the first show in the newly remodeled brand new theater is a
delightful place. Well during that period of time as I was a student and
then stayed on as a as a grad student. Uh They started building damage.
UU 62 when they started I transferred over here in 61.
Hard to believe.
Oh dad anyway and I was living across the street during a part of the
construction. So I watched it go up and was, I didn't realize then that
I've spent the rest of my life here. But those of us who are involved in
in tech theater
students and so forth became the, what I call the nucleus of the crews
began working shows here, which at that time weren't too many. And what
were those shows? Oh God fred Waring always, you know, what was happening
at A. S. U. At this time? Remember the number of students on campus? What
was the environment line? Well, when I came here, the students of the
campus was a totally different place. I mean it's, it's blossom so much
since then. I, I, I think, you know, the enrollment was probably somewhere
between 20 and 30,000 students and you know, well maybe I could be just
very wrong with that. But I remember, you know, the, the, the malls on
campus, Katie Mall in Forest Avenue Mall, the streets do you drive down
the street? Sure. And the campus wasn't so much a commuter campus as it is
now people, there was more of a, of a home atmosphere. I felt I lived in a
dorm as a matter of fact, I live a very traditional, pretty much so. But
the draw I was in was so Warhol, which is long since gone, but it was so
far off campus that we were considered off campus men a variety of things
. I remember that that one of the first season brochures
was Uh an eight by 14 trifle
And it listed 15 events, wow. And I think in three different series, one
series was sort of a cultural arts series, you know with the White Turkey
, the symphony concerts and ballet and the other was more Pop oriented.
There was a 3rd sort of a special events. Uh huh You know, kind of a
natural thing and I think there were five events seriously. The rest of
the schedule of what it was was filled out with rentals. Um the phoenix
symphony before they had the home at Symphony hall. Uh Yeah and they would
rehearse here on saturday and sunday play the monday night concert here
and then Tuesday night concert in a high school. Um So we had we had them
in here twice a month, theater used the facility for Maybe three
productions a year. Other dads department had their big, so the schedule
was filled out with those kinds of things and the other other things would
come down the pipe, a lot of campus activities then that gave it a homier
feeling. one of the things I remember specifically it was kind of a fall
festival carnival. The annual birthday party is what it was called, party
, birthday party, birthday party and there was a long uh just north of the
emu we're the library now sits, there was a long between the emu and what
was then East hall. So there was no Hayden library. It was Matthews
library
where jerry lewis filmed the nutty professor if you're quick and if you
watch the widescreen version of that you can barely see my left foot
exited. The
other funny thing about that, that movie. Yeah. Well a lot of us were
hired as extras and then everybody and their brother showed up. Uh one of
the the opening scenes of the movie or at least of the filming ah
supposedly the nineties professor.
Yeah, yeah. Science and there's filtering out the window and their music,
you know the building with the sciences building because that's it says
science and so there's all this smoke billowing out and what does this
shot show a bunch of students running into?
I'm going over that and most of them wound up on the cutting room floor
things. But were we the Sun Devils then?
Yeah, I I wasn't here when we were the stc bulldogs. Although I do have a
recording of fred waring's pennsylvanians singing the bulldog fights on
recently
that was able to dig out from from somewhere. It's uh fight on
bulldogs. Bulldogs, you know you have you know the homecoming parade and
and all that. But it just didn't seem like today what it was then. It
seemed like it was just a closer did everyone live on campus actually
there are students who commuted
but now it seems like, well having not lived on campus, having not been a
student for umpteen years. I don't know what the sense of feeling is now,
but it seems like, you know, like even though the student body officers
seem to have something really important to do and then or whatever now, it
seems to be a little perfunctory
Clyde. Who was the head of damage then? David School are oh, mr school and
the very first And he was the director of for for 10 years. It was not, it
wasn't a full time job for days.
We we only had when, when the building opened. Uh two full time employees
by full time. I mean full time for the auditorium box office manager. And
who was that? You know,
Vivian came in about two years, two years later maybe. Okay. By the name
of Lillian armor, who essentially was Dave school, our secretary before
before. Those are the only two full time employees. We had a custodial
supervisor actually was working for the facilities manager. He was there
all the time. It was our first stage door attendant and did all kinds of
things. He worked on the crew to, I mean, he was a part of the family
school are of course came, I was on the music department faculty, it was a
coral director then and still had a class load with with music. David Hale
who was the first TD also worked part time or think of something like 60,
whatever the theatre department the university just didn't think that
running damage was a full time job, things have changed. I think things
have changed, have they not now? Was the light opera shop always in the
back of damage? Uh every couple shop. Well that had always been a scene
shop when when uh damage opened the theater department was using it and
did so until they built facilities for them and the newly newly redesigned.
And then that's when the Lyric Opera theater and quite over the years
you've seen great technical changes this building. So at that point in
time you were doing most setting most of those cues by hand and today so
shift forward to today. How does that? Well now lining is is done by
computer. It just takes a sort of a different, totally different frame of
reference. Uh huh. If you've had the chance to go through and the program
, although I didn't get
you can you can create fantastic effects, moving lights and flashing this
and all kinds of things by simply pushing a button. That's it. That's all
it takes because the computer says this is what I want to do next.
If something goes wrong or if something is not right, changing that Q. Or
changing that look or whatever it takes, it takes knowledge and skill of
what all this equipment is and how it all operates and yeah and so if
you're running things manually, if you're running by hand you have a sort
of a greater sense of feel of control. It's not like pushing the artistry.
The artistry now is created before the fact a lot of times the artistry
then you're creating it.
When did you begin to get company now you said there were three to begin,
when did the staff begin to grow? And when did you get? Well I was a
graduate student for the first couple of years working in and damage and
there's a faint picture. People actually believe damage was built around
you. There's a picture of you on over there. I'm working on a piece of
scenery and people are building building and that's that. Well that's that
was a set for I think Marriage of Figaro which was a lyric opera theater
production one of their production they would they would combine with the
theater department on a major production like like a larger opera. They
did La Traviata or the trivia trivia the marriage of Figaro and other
productions where they would use and we would buy the set building was
done on stage. Ah But and I and I was a grad student for the first couple
of years I had a teaching assistantship and that was a part of that
assistantship. Then the second tv Came on to replace the 1st 1 frank was
his name and I became a staff person at that time as his assistant teeth.
So at that point there were two, a full time tv and an assistant A lot of
times we simply work together, he'd be backstage, I'd be running the
lights or vice versa or whatever it will take both of us because again,
the crew, although we had a nucleus of crew and people shows we'd all have
to, you know, nobody could just sit there or trade off or whatever. When
frankly left after his third year, I stepped into the full time position
as tv and higher unassisted for me. And then for a while and I had two
assistants. Those two assistant TDS ultimately became full time TVs. So
for the rest of the time there have always been three of us and we, we
sort of rotated shows. I'm doing the one this week, you do them one next
week, you do the one after that, you don't like that show. Okay, well,
yeah, I always sort of work all that out and then you or somebody else is
coming at a show and I would just screw that all of that. And in addition
to here, you also were doing things and what is now called Wells Fargo
Arena, which was then the activity, the activity center and in Sandal
Stadium. Then when I first started working here, it was a comedy
auditorium and that was it. Yeah. And then all of a sudden they add
the activity center. Wells Fargo Arena, we started doing shows at Sun
Devil Stadium, they gave us the care cultural thing. Right? And, and, and
, and then, and then the Sun dome. So, so then we started to expand out
and working shows and events in all of these other facilities we became
active in and running commencement and, and so forth. So yeah, in time,
those kinds of things have have greatly expanded placing greater and
greater requirements on, on the staff. As far as time is concerned, just
being able to Sometimes have to be in two places at once. I and with the
three of us is we've been able to, to juggle that around enough that we've
been able to handle it, it should, should somebody gets sick or something
happen, you know, throw the whole schedule to it is a lot of times would
happen instantly. Sub for somebody else walking into a show, having no
idea what's going on
Now Clyde over the period of time and it's been 45 years. Do you have a
standout moments in that 45 year old Thailand sort of marks the decades
and go along? Not, not, not in that way. The things that it's always stand
out in my mind and when I go back and and reflect on, on all that's
happened In the last 40, some odd years,
all of the shows, small ones, blockbusters, whatever, all those shows and
all of the people who have been here
have become sort of a big blur. You know, there's just so much, just so
much,
people always ask me what's been my favorite show and it's a question I
can't answer because because there's just so much to choose from, I could
sit here for days. Well, I like this show because and I like this show and
I was overwhelmed by the it's those special moments,
those fleeting moments
that happened. It'll never happen again or that that affected
I I remember mentioning this before, so you're familiar with, I remember
my Eddie Jackson for example, and every time I think about this, I always
well up and will before we're done with this, but I remember she did this
, you know, her concert,
the audience wouldn't let her go, she should finish the show, she'd walk
off and they would be on their feet, applauding and cheering more and more
and she didn't come back out and she would do another song and she'd go up
more and more. And finally
she came out and she had she had a few backing musicians, organ piano, No
, you know, I'm not a big concern. She just turned to them and just
Abraham and she stepped away from the microphone out on the apron
and sang, were you there,
no compliment, no reinforcement, her voice, just allowing them, that is ST
deadly silent. Just no noise as she said.
And when she finished the song,
the silence continued
that magic moment and then all hell broke loose.
Me too.
Let me see that is the kind of moment I cherish.
It's not it's not the star. It's not shaking hands with the mirror and
great and and whatever it's almost like that the face, whatever I did just
so with what and there were a lot of those just a lot of or things that
just happened some funny some tragic and you know some major screw ups we
were setting up for Flamenco dance company and they had dancers anna Maria
japan and whatever.
And one of the last things we're going to do before we were done for that
afternoon and getting ready to open for the show was to set sound levels
on the microphones for the bariatric group and also just the sound level
for the recorded music essentially the show. The singers and dancers would
do a number and as they were on stage changing costumes, the mariachis
would would play a song and then then come back out. We had some sound
levels to set and some of the dance numbers were tape recorded. So
at they start to take to set the level and nothing
and the guy running sound. He realizes well there should be something he's
checking this that's well that's up. That's up. That's something he looked
at the tape deck and he's actually punched record,
He's erasing the tape now I was only taking him you know, moments
discovered this. He's racing the tape being a dancer. You know what that
means. Not only was he erasing the tape, he he was racing their backup
tape because they had left their main tape probably. Well, so
now the good news out of all of this, if there is such a thing as good
news
Was that the the the group playing the music was on the tape was the same
one attribute that was here with the show. And they were just so probably
about 15 minutes before we were supposed to open the house, drag the
mariachis out of catering and onto the stage, make them play what that
piece is. They listen to it. Let's let's try it again. So they played it
again and that was the version of that particular thing. And so we we had
rerecord that particular number, you know, and and it's going by the time
we were doing dans is Venezuela
ethnic dance company from Venezuela. Yeah. And nobody with, with the group
spoken, english, My spanish is pretty well limited to phrases like holy
yes, anyway,
but as we were setting up, you know, finger pointing this, this whatever
you, you know, you could relate.
So I was running the lights for the show and we had finished. We while the
audience was coming in, the stage manager for the show.
Uh, and I were back in the back room
with the ambassador to Venezuela who was acting as interpreter, wow! Now I
had to tell him, don't try to understand what he is saying, just
translated. I don't know what he needs and of course the ambassadors. So,
so we go through the entire show, the first dance, this is what we want.
And basically, there's a particular lighting look on the stage, whatever
it is, uh, blue backdrop with uh, this particular wash and whatever. And
then as the curtain would open, I would add the appropriate frontline. And
that was kind of the routine you can see coming down the pipe. So we go
through the entire show and, and I have all those notes.
So the show starts and I get things set up and everything is fine and all
of a sudden, you know, after the curtain closes, I set up the backstage
look for the next dance and the stage manager gets on the headset and he
says, no, no, no, no, no
God, but you know,
okay, put in the world, you know, he wants a red psych
oh, he wants the side lights up. My notes, say blue psych, no sidelights
or whatever, you know, just the opposite. And so I make that change and
goes,
you were speaking techies. Yeah, from that moment on and this was about
the, maybe the third piece in the program.
None of my notes were correct. None of
and it may have been something as simple as them just shifting the order
of the pieces sure. Or anything like that. You know, I just would not, but
that was just not right. Well, the stage manager realized the problem I
wasn't upset over. So as soon as the curtain closed, I'd start setting up
what I thought the next look would be and he would say no, no, I'm making
changes. I asked you
and so I would have to visualize what the stage looks like. So I would
know what colored bring up or whatever. And so and that went on and
everything went on and then every once in a while I would say,
and I said, I'm ready because usually a stage wonder would be warning que
here and he would say attention, attention and I'd say on here and then I
would see that that would be a dancer or somebody in an area of the stage
where I knew we had focused on a light, so I would bring that light up
here in high school. So then I realized that when he said attention, he
meant he wanted me to do something with the lights. I wasn't quite sure
what my notes were not right. So I was having to follow the action and do
it and I came out of the boost after that.
You don't forget things like that, you know, you go back and you just muse
over it. Years ago we were at Miriam beagle was the director of the whole
them, we have booked Vladimir Horowitz concert pianist
who had the reputation for being just very, very finicky. Somebody who
just wanted to treat with kid clubs.
It was also known for canceling at the last moment. For whatever reason he
so chose.
And he also, Well he would he would only do his concert at 4:00 on Sunday
afternoon. That's the only time you do it. Okay, that's fine. Oh he would
not stay in a hotel room. He'd want to move into somebody's house, they'd
have to move out. He'd bring in his valet and his entourage or cook or
whatever and they'd take over for the few days he was here. So we had to
find somebody who'd be willing to allow this to happen.
Okay. So a few days before he is scheduled to arrive, we get word from his
management.
He's not coming. He wants to not cancel postponed. Well, that's a relief.
I mean, there's there's some hope there. He wants to be scheduled. Okay.
The concert was rescheduled and now we have to find somebody else who
wants to move out of the house all the time to go through all this again.
Mm hmm.
Okay. So now they're at the airport to pick him up. He gets off the plane.
Things are looking good. No, and at least he's in town. So it comes out
of the hall. He uh, he wants to, you know practice for, he was here for
quite several hours practicing, you know, for coming in. And he was also
known to what piano placed anywhere on stage. That is not the best to him.
It could be anywhere. No, it sounded good for him. Over there in that
corner, that's where he'd be. Well, I had it down here where we were
normal, but he came out and yeah,
and we had a chance to talk into chat and in that that few moments, you
know, he knew, you know, got to know why I was there, what I did and you
know, all that, you know, we've established somewhat of a rapport in that
brief amount
and I told him when he was part of saying I was over on the side stage, I
was working on a quiet project, but I was available to something, let me
know and I'll take care of it. Otherwise I just I said, I'll just leave
you alone, okay? And we were chatting about who knows what And I, every
once in a while I pop my head out, how's it going? Anything you need one
and would chat woman again, establishing that rapport. And we were not
just total strangers,
Miriam did not know this,
a form of cancer. She was backstage, we're escorting him out down the
hallway backstage, kind of actually nice little lapdog,
come around the corner and walks up to me, I'm standing there ready to
cinema, I turned to him and I say ready to go to work
and I looked at that expression on her face, I'll never forget that.
And she held that until Horwood said yes, it's time to go to work.
That's why he was there, you know, and we had, we had talked about that
before, you know, it was his job.
But but that expression, you know, those kinds of things, many things have
happened on this stage and in those places that have very little to do
with performance and I think about other kinds of things you've done like
the presidential debate, the presidential debate. It's a road show,
you know, as as as special as it was.
Yeah, Well I approached it as another road show is like, well the trucks
are going to roll up, they're going to unload the set, they have a crew,
they're going take instruction from the people traveling with it and how
to build their set sure there was a lot of other stuff we have to prepare
for. It was like preparing for another show
and so kind of putting it in that respective it was another event
one president has obeyed in them and one papal visit in a lifetime is
enough is enough. And were you part of laying Senator Goldwater to rest
for, for Senator Goldwater state fuel. Yes. And that sort of three
monumental kinds of things also for the carla Hayden funeral
and that was with johnson and Goldwater were the as Secret Service would
refer to them as the principles
and if if they, you know, they would say or or to Lyndon johnson
specifically, they would refer to him as our person. I think at that time
he was I had just left office or hadn't been out of office very much so he
was immediate past president, it was our person. And if you would say, you
mean mr johnson, they sort of look at you like
who said,
I remember when they lost it, they lost him, they lost him,
his his limousine was gonna pull up uh in the back, he was going to come
into the classroom bedrooms, down the elevator to the to the shop and then
to addressing the web
and we were just kind of waiting for his arrival. Nothing special. Just
and all of a sudden you saw this activity, you know, talking to, you know
, the people standing around, talking into the closely okay, he's here,
look us up and and I walk around to the to the elevator that's in the shop
, you know, just waiting for him because he's got help, elevator door
opens elevators and
and the Secret Service person who was standing right there expecting him
to be in the elevator goes, starts talking and
he'd gone up one to use the restroom and nobody got that clearance I
suppose anyway, that moment of panic and they lost the President meeting
with Hayden, see Hayden,
we knew
the service was imminent because of carl Hayden's condition and so you
know, they had planned or started to plan for the service, several of
these in advance, you know, and it was just a matter of when he caught
himself and we're dealing with us of referring to the funeral service as
another show, you know, when does the show start? Oh
and he'd catch himself. But it's a great man.
How many university presidents has your tender taken? How many presidents
have trained?
Well, several of course joe McDermott was the president when I came here
remember john Schroeder who was very, very staid and very distant kind of
person, was not very warm and outgoing every once in a while as we would
be backstage, ready to start something, the program, he hated ceremony.
You just load that to a passion.
If he had been president much longer we would have eliminated commencement
altogether. He just standing there, come on, he had a very wry dry sense
of humor every once in a while, I just sort of catch that little clint in
his eye that and that was it. Russell nelson, I think it was dave school
arts retirement reception we had here on stage and I was relaying some
stories
I have Russ nelson rolling on the floor, laughing at whatever it was I was
talking about. So he started calling me the world's greatest comedian and
good after that. Yeah. And we had, we have built up a certain report
because I was dealing with him a lot with with commencement, my wife and I
have had talked him into playing a practical joke on me. They pulled just
before commencement started one year, she asked him if he would be a
willing participant and then I'm told his comment was oh yeah,
but I have not had a chance to
established much of a rapport with with dr Crow because the situation is
not been there where we've been associated. How many directors again? Okay.
Been training us difficult to train,
Miriam Beagle the director following day school or was born Summers and
mary and Beagle followed him and then we had no director for a while, jim
McConnell this tractor,
you came to us. And oddly enough, the, the interesting thing was that the
person who became the director would step into that position from, you
know, essentially associate director or assistant director and that
position was usually the money person, you know, like the business manager
or the finance manager and that that was all that background and you, you
changed all that came in as an artistic director. What's the most unusual
thing you've ever been requested to do on the stage?
The thing that made it comes to mind, I don't why it does.
How do you come out and tell the audience? Yeah, 3000 people that there is
no fire,
no fire.
We were, we were doing a show or I think it was for a show that started
that the house was in. We were getting ready to start.
Uh there was a major fire on the east side of campus
and the wind was blowing the smoke in this direction and the aroma was
being brought into the building so you could smell it and there was some
concern. So we wanted to tell people that, oh you know the fire is way
over there, nowhere near here, don't worry. How do you tell the people
there is no fire Right? And I create that panic and be able to do that.
You know somebody is saying go and tell them this is of course pre-9-11 of
course, yeah. But yeah, at just a moment's notice, how do you do that?
What what do you say? I forgot what I said. Okay, it was you know, so
there are some unusual things. What do you think has been the major
challenges for Arizona State University?
Yeah. And what, It was a major challenge 45 years ago and major challenges
I think, I think just just growth, dealing with the growth
budgeting accordingly, having the funds to be able to do that? I think
that's been a major challenge
to the good, the bad. If you had bushes were horses, what change would you
either here at gamut or at the university if money time and space object.
If there was no object, I pushed the back wall of stage back about 20 more
feet, I'd love that. Absolutely, Absolutely. Because many people probably
don't realize that damage. Mr Wright designed it as an opera hall, which
meant this stage was to have been replicated behind it as well. Well, in
the original drawings for the Baghdad Opera House, that was the case. Um
and
multi use auditoriums
that were built all over the country and opened about the same time,
organically open have all gone undergone major revisions
in order to accommodate the big blockbuster shows that are on the road now.
And most of those revisions have incorporated blowing out the back wall
and extending the stage just enlarge the stage because usually the back
wall in stages, the back wall of the building. The problem here, of course
, is that the stages in the middle of the building, we have a whole
another building back there that most people don't realize. Ah and so
we're, you know, we're we're stuck with what we've got plus the fact that
that
when the original designers, when they, when they actually were working on
this particular building,
they thought well if
they would have a basically a theatrical opening
and then a concert opening as far as size is concerned. Mhm. And and They
was they were thinking that the theatrical opening wouldn't be anything
any wider than about 40 ft because in new york, that's a that's a pretty
wide stage and with without opening and something maybe 25 ft tall, 26, to
most that opening, you know, everything backstage, work size wise.
Um and then, you know, they didn't have big blasters, blockbuster shows to
deal with, It would be, you know, a venue for the theater department for
some of their shows or productions of the fit that we're traveling about
for concerts, there would be a larger stage with a wider opening, would
accommodate a full sized orchestra,
literally, they consider, you know, ballet openings which are much wider
or grand spectacles or lavish productions. Uh huh. So there were
essentially those designed in limitations
that we've had to deal with over over the and uh have done so marvelously
well. Extraordinarily well, I think many people mr Wright did some
incredible things with this building and made it a landmark monument. Um
some of the things he did not do so well and he had no idea, and could not
foresee was a curved loading dock. So when you began, how many semis would
unload a show 45 years ago versus phantom of the opera today. Oh yeah,
yeah, it was not the loading dock of course, was it was designed to fit
within the, the overall design plan, the curves, circles, the interlocking
inter meshing circles and so it was, it was designed to fit into that
space, hmm, trucks on the road weren't nearly as big and so some, most of
them could, could get somewhere closer with that. Now there's both open
the world, did that happen? Most of what formulated I had for for the
building was a series of sketches uh, and and some detailed works, basic
ideas. The, the balcony is separated from the back wall for acoustic,
detailed sketches, whatever they would take that over and turn it over to
his minions to say I want to do business. Um, a lot of concessions uh, in
the original scope of things because the legislature required that the
building had an academic function, otherwise they would support any
funding. So there are a lot of changes, wow and
they did a lot of redesign and redevelopment. And so this building is
considerably different from the initials concept that, that he had for the
grand and glorious Opera house sitting out on the island with. So it's
different and in many respects, well then Clive, you talked briefly about
if you had your wishes, you would blow out the back wall because of the
broadway shows and kind of the size of shows for going that wish you got
part of that wish in a pretty unusual way as it relates to the sound shell
behind us. Would you talk about that briefly, when
again the stage for its size and and the venue for its size. The stage is
a little too sharp uh from the proscenium, the picture frame to the back,
It's about about 33 ft, it should be No less than 40 ft
or were already.
And so the depth of the stage has always been a problem has always made
things very crowded backstage.
And as, as the big show's hit the road, the first big blockbuster I think
probably was fantastic
and believe it or not, they were actually able to do the show the first
time they were here with Shell in place, please shoehorned it in damn.
And and the, the set that they're designed for that. It was a set that was
designed with this stage in mind and with essentially smaller stage in
mind, they designed to fit.
Um Then later on
Miss Saigon came over
and we were told, uh, I don't even think about bringing this show. If
you've got this thing there,
we need the depth. It's not a matter of choice either get rid of this
trail or
you don't get the show.
And so that's, I guess that's when the thinking began about what can we do
with the shell. One of the ideas was to get rid of it all together and all
hell broke in the global music world. Very true. Just the idea of getting
rid of the show,
replacing it with with a more portable show,
it was another idea that people didn't believe because it was also at the
same time, Carnegie Hall had been reconfigured and it ruined the acoustics
in Carnegie Hall. So musicians who had played it damaged and at Carnegie
Hall were anxious, livid and furious. Well sure any any, any idea of
changing the, the nature and the acoustical properties of the existing
shell wasn't anathema to anybody who would think about that. So they were
trying to come up with some other ideas. One was to build a big elevator
in the middle of the stage. Mhm Yeah,
roll the, roll the shell, the whole thing out onto this elevator something
yeah, and drop it down below the stage. So essentially at the top of the
shell then would be replaced by, you know, just below the stage, which
will mean digging this huge hole down there. Uh huh. Well, that probably
it was a little more expensive than than um and so the engineers came up
with the idea of, of picking up on a cushion of air and floating it into a
storeroom off the stage and that's the idea that they finally, the space
shuttle idea how the space shuttle and so they built a room extending off
the side of the damage, which I never liked because it spoils the, the
exterior integrity of the exterior curves. We actually had faculty members
who complained because when they came here for convocation and smaller
commencement exercises for the colleges, they had to walk around instead
of following the sidewalk straight down into the building and it was
inconvenient.
Oh, but and and we wanted it to match as much of the building as as we
could considering it's going to be this straight wall room, we wanted to
spend as little money on it as possible. Um So the you know the stuck
along the side was it was kind of a little bit the layering, the
horizontal layering which makes it look like a seven story building sat
upon by a
one of the things that always bugged me about the design of that was the
fact that the half moon windows
that surround the rear of the building, That architectural feature was not
extended out to carry that design element to tie it into the building. And
this was not done and it didn't have to be elaborated and just be a little
suggestion of that. And I've never forgiven them or not. And by then it
was who we actually brought in to design that portion. So it stayed true
to the integrity of Mr Wright's initial vision. I mean yeah, they were
only involved in in the design of that and I still wanted to punch their
lights out.
Um So we built this store route during its construction, we were in
production
what a mess, but they didn't shut us down. Most of the major work was done
semester between semesters, semester break over the summer, whatever
I had to cut out an entire floor, right are just a story uh on the second
level. Had to cut all that out, all the utilities, the air conditioning,
the pipe work that was underneath that floor had to be raised up another
level. Ah So there was a lot of work involved and then just devising a way
of picking up this 100 ton thing that's designed to move like a
telescoping drinking cup this way, pick it up and move it this way. Uh It
was quite a quite an engineering feat. Uh George Eisenhower, one of the
original designers of the show, was involved with that project because
many people don't realize George neither Mr right nor president damage
lived to see Gammage completed. And George Eisenhower actually did the
acoustic completion and some of the interior and for news and of course
was the acquisition who actually was the one who, who set the shape of the
interior walls.
Yeah. And uh huh plaster
korean. That was very new person who did that and that's Eddie. He had
figured out mathematically what the Reverb time would be and I think he
was off by by a 10th of a point or something like that. He was very, very
good. Very good. Do you have I think the other a large proportion of your
life which we have not touched upon are the number of students that you
have influenced over the years and we've got to see and hear from many of
them when we celebrated your retirement. So you gotta pay homage or say a
few things about that because many of them, some, you started off into the
tech business and someone, some of them, you chased out of it
about everything I was able to accomplish.
I was able to accomplish because of their talents and their abilities
more so than anything that I did.
So I am beholden to all of us.
A lot of times, I would just be the person backstage saying this is what
we need to do next and they're the ones that would do it.
If I try to do it, I'd probably screw it up. Don't tell my boss. I said,
yeah.
Uh, but yeah, you just, you owe what you've been able to accomplish two in
every case and yeah, we've, we've had, we've had some students come
through here, There's been dogs, you know, it just didn't work out and
that's because they came here thinking
or seeking the romance of the job. I mean, yes, I'm working with the stars
and all this stuff And after they have pushed the 10th box up the ramp At
2:00 AM, the romance of the job, it's going out the window, right? And
they realize it's hard work.
Uh, and then, you know, so they would leave and that's fine. The students
who were bitten by the bug stick around,
some were just truly dedicated. There were years where we had just this
core crew of a small number of students who are on the five or six year
plan, I must say,
um,
that, that they did everything, you know, somebody's gonna fall spot,
anyone of them could do that. And it was just, and we just got all
accomplished with, with a court group. A lot of them have become technical
directors and other facilities.
We've had some people come here just out of curiosity, having virtually
little or no theater background at all,
um, who got bit, they have that stick to itiveness and that drive ah and
willingness to learn and they have become
excellent technicians in, in their own right. So yeah, you, you all are to
those people, I think it's, it's marvelous. I also know that in this kind
of work, everyone becomes family. Oh sure everyone does. And we were very
fortunate Over the 17 years, I've been here to watch our family grow. You
met Caroline here, who was that a techie and one day said to us, I'm going
to make her my wife and we had the opportunity to all participate in that
way. That was a great blessing. And she left us much too soon if she
didn't, but she was and we, We, we have 10 years together.
I, yeah, I met her, she was, she was on the student crew. I was a
confirmed bachelor at the time shocked us all. She, she shocked me. She
was more determined than, than I thought she was. Um, but
we, we, we shared a lot and, and of course she, she works in other
facilities around the, around the valley. So she was very active in
technical, just a fun person. Is there anything we haven't covered? Ah
45 years, 45 minutes. And I think Clyde enclosing one of the great joys
that I have In the 17 years here has been when I've traveled around the
world and people have said, you know, there was a tech director damage. He
was there a long time ago. His name was Clyde Parker. I said he's still
there and they're high school, he's still there, he's still there. And I
think Clyde, you will always still be here and we advantage at A. S. U.
And our community are all the better for it. Thank you for that.
Very good.