After several years of construction, SUNY Oswego has completed a major phase of its renovation of Tyler Hall, which houses part of the college's school of communication, media and the arts. Theatre professor Jonel Langenfeld said she's excited and relieved to be back on this stage. Her department has been housed in an adjacent building for two years, making use of temporary classrooms and performance venues.
"These things are put together as best as they could be for a building that is not designed to be a theater, or a lab theater space, or a performance space," Langenfeld said. "It's going to get rid of a lot of headaches. I can say there's a lot of joy for those that are back in that building working on the show."
Langenfeld is directing the iconic "The Wizard of Oz," one of the first shows ever produced in the nearly 50-year-old Waterman Theater, for Tyler Hall's grand reopening this month. Dean of SUNY Oswego's College of Communication, Media and the Arts Julie Pretzat said the theater and Tyler desperately needed the $22-million upgrade.
"In particular Waterman Theater - we had gear in there that was not much updated since it was installed so what we were teaching out students was history of theater technology," Pretzat said. "We have totally gutted that theater and put in state of the art everything, so our students are going to be working with the technology that they’re going to find if and when they go out into the professional world."
Equipment that is already being put to use by theatre tech major Nicole Marlowe, the stage manager of the "The Wizard of Oz." Marlowe commands the room with a new stage manager console that allows her to make announcements and watch the stage and backstage from video monitors. She expects it will help her be more competitive once she graduates.
"The more experiences that you get, especially with technology, is very important," Marlowe said.
Musical theatre track major Alexandra Matsu, who is playing the Wicked Witch of the West, said that as an actress she has to perform her craft in any setting. But Matsu admits that there are some benefits to being back in a proper theater.
"Our dressing room is on the same floor so we don’t have to go as far to get to the stage," Matsu said. "It feels more real. It feels better."
It's not just the theater students who are benefiting from the renovations. There's a brand-new exhibit hall
for the Tyler Art Gallery and state of the art acoustically sound rooms for the college's instrumental and vocal performance students.
To commemorate the changes, the college is planning to roll out the red, or yellow brick, carpet for the community and its alumni. There will be tours, an art exhibition and the debut of "The Wizard of Oz."
Pretzat said Oz, which Oswego alumni often to refer to their alma mater as, was a good choice because for many on campus and abroad, this is about finding their way back home to Tyler Hall.
"I performed all of the time on Waterman Theater," Pretzat said. "I conducted the choirs here, directed the Oswego Opera Theater, did many of the musicals, so Waterman is my home. There’s a personal stake in this project because I know that building so well."
