Hutton Honors College

BACKSTAGE, ONSTAGE, and BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOUR
of THE MUSICAL ARTS CENTER
Indiana University's premier opera and performance venue

***Thurs., Sept. 28, 2006, 5-6 p.m.***

The Musical Arts Center, known as the MAC, is the Jacobs School of Music's premier performance facility. The house features bold colors and textures, European-style seating for 1,460, and acoustical design and technical capabilities that are among the best in the nation. The main stage is one of the finest in the world, comparable in size and technical standards to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. To the back and the sides of the main stage are wagon stages that can be used to shift scenery between acts of an opera or to enable the set up of an upcoming opera. The rear wagon stage contains a turntable that spins and can accommodate two to three different sets for a particular opera. The “fly space” above the stage is 10 stories high and is used to store backdrops, flat scenery, and hanging battens that can be “flown” in an out as neede

The backstage area occupies more than half of the building and provides state-of-the-art technical space for producing seven to eight fully staged operas a year and three ballets. The venue is also used for concerts that range from big band and modern jazz to Beethoven’s Ninth

Tridib Pal, MAC house manager, will give you a tour of the facility, from the public spaces, to the stage where musical stars and stars of the future perform, to behind-the-scenes shops where sets and costumes are designed and built on site. With performances of Don Giovanni the weekend before and after the tour, you will be able to see C. David Higgins newly designed sets for Mozart’s great opera up close, as well as the sets for Hansel and Gretel that are “waiting in the wings.” You will see the costume shop where the costumes for The Nutcracker ballet and many other productions are created.

Whether or not you have yet seen a performance at the MAC, you will find much to amaze you backstage, onstage, and behind-the-scenes.

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