Ceiling fell Dec. Expanded edition with notes Chapter 18, The Birth of a Music Center Seven months later, on Labor Day, September 4, , the magnificent Eastman Theatre, not quite completed, welcomed movie patrons for the first time.
They saw a film, "The Prisoner of Zenda," listened to the theatre orchestra and vocal selections, and watched a ballet performance. Admission fees ranged from twenty cents to one dollar. Starting in and continuing for nearly four decades, the Rochester Federation of Churches conducted its annual Thanksgiving Day service in the Theatre; it was also used for big civic and community gatherings and for the graduation exercises of Rochester high schools.
Similarly, from onward for thirty years, University Commencement ceremonies were staged in the Theatre, and it was the setting for occasional all-University convocations and for the installation of three University presidents.
The walls of the spacious, gracious, oval-shaped lobby of the Theatre were finished in Botticino marble, interrupted by six black marble columns and doorways leading to the auditorium. Half a dozen mural paintings decorated the lobby, one a copy of "The Reconciliation of Venus and Psyche," commissioned originally by Napoleon I. Travertine stone, imported from Italy, covered the floor, on which were placed seats of carved marble and a matching table.
Two circular panels adorned the slightly domed ceiling, and two chased bronze tripods and electrical fixtures attached to wall pilasters supplied light. An ample foyer led into the, majestically proportioned auditorium, which could accommodate 3, patrons--l, on the first level, over in the mezzanine gallery Eastman reserved seats for himself and his personal guests here , and nearly one thousand in the grand or upper balcony.
To the rear of mezzanine and balcony, extensive foyers were provided, along with smoking, powder and cloak rooms. An elegant stairway gave access from a west side foyer off the main floor to the promenade corridor above. Throughout the Theatre comfortable upholstered seats were installed; no boxes or posts prevented a full view of the stage, and acoustic and ventilation arrangements were as perfect as scientific ingenuity could make them.
To enhance the charm of the vast auditorium, the walls were embellished with eight mural paintings, depicting ensembles of figures symbolizing the varied types of music set against backgrounds of Italian landscape. Four colorful panels on the left wall looking toward the stage represented festival, lyric, martial, and sylvan music--the handwork of Ezra Winter, an artist of national renown, who had general supervision over the color schemes and decorations of the entire music center.
On the opposite wall, paintings by Barry Faulkner, an older and gifted decorator, symbolized sacred, hunting, pastoral, and dramatic music. Bas reliefs above the murals, in the form of children and musical instruments, were created by the sculptor Paul Jennewein, trained at the American Academy in Rome. Higher up the cornice was decorated with arabesque patterns of harps and shields, scrolls, and winged sea-horses. And, Eastman is turning in his grave over the additions of boxes, for the elite, to his theater.
Gloriously, the new Hatch Recital Hall has world class acoustics and a beautifully matched new Steinway concert grand. It is a exquisitly handsome minimalist space, as well. The Eastman Theatre and the Eastman School of Music stand as testimony to his generosity and foresight, which has continued down through the years thanks to Eastman Kodak. George Eastman generously endowed the School, which for almost 90 years has been producing countless performing musicians, teachers of music, and many other creative practitioners of the art of music.
I am one of them, a graduate of the School, classical musician, and college professor of music for many, many years.
Where were the audiences supposed to come from, and keep coming from, to fill this outsized house to anywhere close to capacity? In fact, the recent renovations of the hall, now known as Kodak Hall, have reduced the number of seats by several hundred, as if to acknowledge that the original plan resulted in an overbuilt house. I did not mean to say or imply that all these were the direct, or indeed the only, reasons for his suicide, but I will maintain that they were contributing factors.
The first edition of that work contained a number of editorial howlers, corrected, I hope, in the second, which I have not seen. Why wait?
I attended the University of Rochester and studied at its Eastman School of Music during the period In the pit was an orchestra to accompany the silent films of the era.
Many of the orchestra members also taught at the adjoining Eastman School of Music. The orchestra was long gone, a victim of the talkies and the Depression. As for George Eastman, the failure of his dream was evidently more than he could bear; he committed suicide in March , in his mansion on East Avenue today the home of the International Museum of Photography.
I have just joined the site and love that it is designed to preserve the history of theatres. I have been trying to find pictures of many of the local demolished and current theatres as well as possibly blueprints to see what went into building them. Entrepreneur George Eastman — , the pioneer of popular photography, completed his Colonial Revival mansion on East Avenue in Rochester in and resided there until his death. He bequeathed most of his assets to the University of Rochester, expressing a desire that his mansion serve as the residence for the university president.
The large house, measuring 35, square feet, proved far too large for this purpose, especially without a large service staff. The institution altered its name several times over the ensuing decades, but its mission has remained steadfast: to collect, preserve, study, and exhibit photographic and cinematic objects and related technology from the inception of each medium to the present.
The magnificent theatre, which originally contained 3, seats, was built by George Eastman as a center for music, dance, and silent film with orchestral and organ accompaniment. The hall features a majestic chandelier, containing 20, individual pieces of crystal from Italy and the Czech Republic.
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