Celebrated Drama Department Acquires State-of-the-Art Technology

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (May 23, 2000) Auerbach + Associates of San Francisco and New York is the theatre design consultant for the new Purnell Center for the Arts at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The new theater was officially dedicated in May. The new center is home to the celebrated Carnegie Mellon Drama Department, Visual Arts Gallery and Media Center.

The $36.2 million center includes the 500-seat Chosky Theatre, an experimental studio theatre, a television production studio, rehearsal and teaching studios, and full production support facilities that were previously located in several different buildings on campus. The architects for the project were DDF (Dennis, Domianos and Fisher), in a joint venture with architect John Sergio Fisher.

CMU is noted for its classical theatre training and its acting and directing programs that have produced hundreds of talented performers, directors, designers and playwrights to the industry. Famous alumni include Rene Auberjonois, Steve Bochco, Barbara Bosson, Ted Danson, Holly Hunter, Jack Klugman, and Michael Tucker.

The move from the Kreske Theatre, where the Drama Department performed for almost 90 years, to the Chosky Theatre, is a long-awaited fulfillment of a dream for new facilities that have been planned and anticipated for over forty years.

Auerbach + Associates' President S. Leonard Auerbach, a CMU Drama Alumnus who recently received the CMU 2000 Alumni Merit Award for his contribution in the field of theatre design, said, "I am proud to have been able to help provide the facilities necessary to continue to train the exceptional talent for which CMU is so renowned. This has been a personally rewarding project because it has been a way for me to return to CMU and share the background I received there."

Auerbach received his degree in stage and lighting design and his graduate degree in theatre architecture from CMU. Auerbach + Associates has consulted on the design of several hundreds of theatres, and has earned a reputation for leading the industry with the development of far-reaching new production and performance technology.


Auerbach + Associates' work for CMU's new proscenium theatre affords expanded performance opportunities and features the latest theatre technology, including a fully rigged fly-loft, trapped stage, orchestra pit, and a state-of-the-art theatrical lighting network communication computerized control system. Lighting positions are accessible throughout the theatre and from a tension grid that is a primary architectural feature of the space. The lower audience seating is on modular platforms that can be realigned into a thrust stage. The stage can be configured to meet each production's specific needs.

In addition to the Chosky Theatre, there is a flexible studio that can be configured in the basic arena, end stage, and thrust forms as well as into a myriad of free-form audience/performer arrangements. The video studio is designed to be a flexible space for film and television classes. Post production studios are also provided.

"The lighting lab is one of the best in the world, with the ability to mock up and test a full range of lighting and control equipment," Len Auerbach said. "The lighting lab is interfaced with the main lighting control system network and has independent power and control. This is the foremost training facility of its kind."

Auerbach + Associates Project Manager Mike McMackin, also a CMU graduate, said "The production facilities, including a scene shop, costume construction, and paint and properties, have been carefully planned to respond to the demands of the faculty and the teaching program."

"The old Kreske Theatre in the College of Fine Arts with its baroque style and extremely challenging small dimensions will certainly be missed," said Auerbach. "Just think of the talent that has graced its stage over the past nine decades and now think of the talent that will find the Purnell Center as its birthing place for the future. That's damn exciting!"