Curtain will rise in fall on newly renovated Theatre-Intime

When the lights go up at Theatre-Intime in September, audience members surely will be wowed — but not necessarily by the actors.

An organization run entirely by students, Theatre-Intime is embarking on a $1-million renovation project funded by Friends of Theatre-Intime — an alumni group founded 15 years ago to support the theater — and by the University, according to Intime president Adam Friedman '01.

"It's been brewing in the Friends of Theatre-Intime for a number of years," Friedman said. "It's finally come to fruition now."

The theater, which has not undergone a major renovation since 1933, originally was a chapel, Friedman said. As a result, the building lacks some features — such as a suitable backstage and dressing-room area — that a well-equipped theater requires.

The planned improvements, slated to begin May 22, include a reconfiguration of the lobby and box office area and renovation of the stage. The basement of the building also will be modernized, and production and administrative space will be added, Friedman said.

Intime business manager Kate Callahan '01, who will direct the first show in the renovated theater this fall, said she looks forward to the planned technological changes. "What's exciting for me is the improvements that are going to come not only to the physical structure but also to the lighting and sound equipment," she said. "There will be top-of-the-line equipment that will make our production even better."

Because the group does not regularly receive University funding, Theatre-Intime also plans to establish an endowment fund for future improvements to the building, said Bill Charrier '69, president of Friends of Theatre-Intime.

Charrier said the University usually requires campus organizations to raise funds for projects like Intime's on their own. He added, however, that this has been "a nice cooperative effort" between the Friends of Theatre-Intime and the University on the occasion of the 250th Anniversary Campaign.

"I think the interesting thing about this project and what the administration is impressed with is the degree to which the present student management have really been carrying a lot of water in defining what was really needed to be done, what the priorities were," Charrier said. "A lot of the details of the plan were student-innovated."

Vice President for Finance and Administration Richard Spies GS '72 articulated the University's reasons for agreeing to help fund the project.

"Improving the facility would be helpful for the whole cultural environment of the University," Spies said, adding that the project involves maintenance of a University building.