Dan's Papers - April 10, 2009 - Presenting Guild Hall

There's an old English proverb: Good things come to those who wait. Whoever coined that phrase must have astral-projected to Guild Hall in East Hampton, Spring, 2009.

At a press event last Friday, Executive Director Ruth Appelhof, Artistic Director of the John Drew Theatre, Josh Gladstone, and Robert A.M. Stern Architects project Architect Randy Corell, as well as many other capable members of the Guild Hall staff, led a tour through the Guild Hall Center for Visual and Performing Arts.

The facility is everything a community cultural center should be - especially if that community is an upscale resort area that's a stone's throw from New York City. The project has been done to the nines, it seems that no stone (literally) was left unturned. But the five-year, $15 million renovation is anything but ostentatious. It is understated elegance, rooted in the best of Hamptons traditions.

The demolition/re-creation of the John Drew Theatre is the crown jewel of the project. Its signature feature is the carnival tent ceiling, a striped, pitched affair, punctuated by an enormous glass balloons chandelier. But it was in bad shape. In the restoration, the entire interior was totally redone - not refurbished, but magically re-created after it was "stripped to the walls" according to Correl.

"Just look up," said Applehof, on the stage in front of the elegant deep blue velvet curtain. "The chandelier was entirely remade. Mark Figueredo, a East Hampton lighting designer, completely recreated it." In addition, Broadway scenic designer and Hamptons resident Brian Leaver, a la Michaelangelo, painted the new tent top ceiling to replicate exactly the 1930s original. A weaver recreated the fabric for the wall, and it was then hand printed with the original trellis design.

Applehof spoke glowingly of on-site architect Doug Moyer's as well as builder Ben Krupinski's dedication to the project, and collaboration in problem solving. The team was constantly challenged with local building codes and an unforeseen problem: hitting water when the foundation was excavated. Due to building codes, the facility couldn't be built up or out, so the crack team had had the brainstorm to build DOWN - to create a lower level where a slab foundation had been.

"The stage house was on the lowest level," said Applehof as we toured the seven spanking new dressing rooms below the stage area. "When they knocked it down and dug, they hit water. Ben Krupinski basically built a bathtub inside the lake."

The acoustical consultant for the John Drew was JaffeeHolden Scarbrough Acoustics, Inc. based on Norwalk. The bells and whistles include a sound redesign with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound capabilitiess. New structures were built in behind the wall fabric to control reverb. There's a Lightning 14,000 lumen high def projector and a Blu Ray player for high def playback of video. As part of the tour, a clip from The Hulk was shown on the enormous Stewart screen. The rich, full sound reverberated to your very bones. The images were immediate. It was other worldly - actually, it felt very much of this world, an experience that seemed quite real. With its extraordinary sound and projection capabilities, this "movie theater" is unrivaled on the East End.

Guild Hall's Capital Campaign Manager, Genevieve Linnehan, said that a whopping $12.5 million, which included an $800K challenge fund grant from the venerable Kresge Foundation, has been raised. Guild Hall still needs an additional $2 million. Much of that, they hope, will come from a seat naming for the 360-capacity theater. Already, 60 were sold, at a cost ranging from $2500-$5000+.

The first two phases of the overall restoration began with refurbishing of the three art gallery spaces (almost 3,000 square feet) which were upgraded with new infrastructure and better lighting. Shockingly, Guild Hall was never closed during the protracted, ambitious project - at least one gallery was always open.

Phase three was the creation of a new 7,000 square foot education center and admin offices within the existing structure. The Boots Lamb Educational Center, which reaches 2,000 students per year, has been expanded both in size and programming. The center offers art classes, week long camps and workshops for children. Local theater/education specialist Toni Munna and actor/writer/educator Kate Mueth are now working with the Montauk School and Hamptons International Film Festival, on an anti-bullying program for sixth graders.

Phase four was the daddy of them all: The almost 13,000 square feet renovation that included a restoration of the lobby with a pretty and functional museum shop, and the mammoth recreation of the John Drew Theatre.

The first show in the new theater will be not a Guild Hall production, but a community event: Hampton Ballet School performances on April 17-19. Next is Guild Hall's own Naked Stage Marathon - an weekend of play readings and alternative theatre (April 24-26). From May 8-17, the Springs Community Theatre will present Cole Porter's Anything Goes, directed by Peter Fitzgerald.

Guild Hall's official grand re-opening is set for Memorial Day weekend, kicking off Friday, May 22, when Alec Baldwin hosts the inauguration of the first-ever Guild Hall summer series of films for the Hamptons International Film Festival. On May 23, they bring out more star power with "An Intimate Evening with Liza [as in Minelli] featuring Billy Stritch." That Sunday is a community day, with eight hours of local bands in the theater, crafts for children, and a picnic in the restored gardens.

The weekend is a perfect microcosm of Guild Hall's mission: to offer top-notch live events and theater with internationally known A-listers for the most discerning theatre goers, events for families and children, and performances featuring local artists. An unusual center, serving the varied members of a most unusual community.