Update on the War Memorial Opera House Seat Replacement Project

 

Opera house interior

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

December, 2019

Email received from a very excited Matthew Shilvock brings good news: the War Memorial Opera House seat replacement project, which was originally to have been done in May-August, 2021, but was postponed, is going to be pulled in and done this year through January, instead. I called this one in May:

So I'd be on the phone to find out whether the seats (and maybe new carpeting?) could be delivered early. I'd be trying to figure out whether September to December, 2020, could be dedicated to replacing seats, with live performances starting up in January....and running through next summer, to allow SFO and SFB to perform as much of their seasons as possible.

It's a good move. I had wondered whether this would be logistically possible, given the number of seats involved and the number of people who would be working in the opera house. Hooray for the suppliers and the construction crew! 

Update with links (9/16/2020):

• Press release
• Public page about the project
• Photos
• New seat map

Looking Forward

War Memorial Opera House (left) and Veterans Building (right)

San Francisco Performances and San Francisco Ballet haven't announced cancellations....but...it's inevitable.

Also.....the Los Angeles Philharmonic and LA Opera, too.

War Memorial Opera House Seat Replacement Project

War Memorial Opera House Interior

December, 2019

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

My post last week about the opera house seat replacement project turns out not to have been too far off base. I just received this from SF Opera, over Matthew Shilvock's signature:

I hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.

I am writing today to share an update on the War Memorial Opera House seat upgrade project.

As you know, due to the current COVID-19 health crisis, both San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet have had to cancel the remainder of their 2019–20 seasons. 

In looking ahead to the seat upgrade project scheduled for summer 2021, both companies have been concerned about the additional performance loss in 2021 needed to undertake the project. After much discussion, the Opera, Ballet, and the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center have agreed to reschedule the final phase of the War Memorial Opera House seat replacement installation originally scheduled for May–August 2021. This rescheduling will allow for as much performance activity as possible in the Opera House once it is safe to re-open to the public.

While this news is disappointing, I want you to know that all three organizations are dedicated to completing this project in a timely manner. We are in weekly conversations about next steps and, while discussions are ongoing and preliminary at this time, I am hopeful that we will find a solution that benefits us all. I will keep you updated as soon as we have news to share.

Thank you as always for your support and understanding. 

With gratitude,

As I read this, one implication is that they're expecting the fall season to be truncated in some way. As ever, I am sad, but not surprised. 

If I Were the SF War Memorial and Performing Arts Center....

Interior of the War Memorial Opera House

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

December, 2019

.....I'd be thinking about re-arranging certain scheduled operations taking place in the next year at the opera house.

• San Francisco Opera fall and spring seasons (September 11 to December 6, 2020; April 25 to May 16, 2021)
• San Francisco Ballet winter-spring season (dates not yet announced, but let's try December 7, 2020 to May, 2021, if they can run simultaneously with SFO)
• War Memorial Opera House seating replacement project (May - August 2021)

The opera house seats around 3200, and during performances, there's an orchestra of 40 to 90, plus the on-stage performers, plus lighting, stage, costume, makeup, hair staff, plus ushers, plus people selling stuff at the concession stands and in the gift shop.

Let me guess that replacing the seats would take many fewer people than putting on performances and also let me conjecture that construction projects might be okayed at the state level before gatherings of thousands.

So I'd be on the phone to find out whether the seats (and maybe new carpeting?) could be delivered early. I'd be trying to figure out whether September to December, 2020, could be dedicated to replacing seats, with live performances starting up in January....and running through next summer, to allow SFO and SFB to perform as much of their seasons as possible.

This would be much easier for SFB than for SFO; the ballet is a repertory company of dancers, not a company that is highly dependent on visiting artists, most of whom are here for six weeks to rehearse and perform one work, then leave. (This wasn't always the case in opera; look at the Met archives from the 1900s to 1930s and you see singers here for multiple roles performed over several months.) But everyone's schedules are being disrupted for the next six to eighteen months, so maybe opera companies could find some way to work together on this. Or maybe everything can be recast with singers who don't have out-of-town engagements, or who have workable openings in their own schedules. Philip Skinner in a bunch of leading roles would suit me just fine, for example.

War Memorial Opera House Seat Replacement Project

Interior of the War Memorial Opera House

December, 2019

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet have just announced the schedule for completing the seat replacement project at the War Memorial Opera House, as well as other details.

Here's the very short version, direct quotes indicated by quotation marks, with the full press release below the cut.

• The seats will be replaced from over 14 weeks between May and August 2021.
• There will be more and better accessible seating.
• The opera house will reopen on September 10 with San Francisco Opera’s 2021–22 season-opening gala. (The season-opening gala will be a new feature, starting with the 2020-21 season, if you weren't already aware of this.)
• "San Francisco Opera’s summer season, typically running June into early July, will move to April 25–May 16, 2021 in the War Memorial Opera House." Details to follow in next week's s season announcement.
• "The new seats, designed to reflect the aesthetics of the Opera House, will be wider, have greater leg room, be positioned at a more comfortable height, and will reflect the latest in ergonomic support. " (Do not ask me how they will wedge in greater leg room in the Grand Tier and Dress Circle, where the front-to-back measurement of each row is a limiting factor.)
• "Sightlines to the stage from the Orchestra section will be improved by the new seat design and a subtle staggering of seats along the center aisle of the theater. "

Previously:

• News You Can Use, War Memorial Opera House Edition
• War Memorial Opera House Seat Replacement Project

News You Can Use, War Memorial Opera House Edition

War Memorial Opera House

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

I reported some time ago that the orchestra and other seats in the War Memorial Opera House were scheduled to be replaced in 2021. Now, an article in the San Francisco Chronical about retiring Performing Arts Center Managing Director Beth Murray contains the following paragraph:

Even now, as Murray packs up her office on the ground floor of the Veterans Building, the 64-year-old can look out her window and see a project she’s steered through planning and design. For instance, the original mansard roof of the Opera House, completed in 1932, will soon be replaced and so will all 1,100 seats on the orchestra level. Those jobs will require the San Francisco Opera and Ballet to shorten their seasons by 14 weeks in 2021.

“Those seats were redone, not replaced, when we renovated the Opera House,” Murray says. “Big mistake.”

She knew it was a mistake as soon as she sat down on opening night of the fall 1997 opera season. “Big mistake,” she repeats. “Those are the original frames. Have you sat there?”

Well, THAT's interesting, isn't it. I queried the press departments at SFO and SFB, which responded as follows:

From SFB:  We are looking into some very good options on the venue/programming side for that time period at the moment, but do not have concrete plans to share just yet. There is still a lot to iron out on all fronts...we have every intention to keep our patrons and media partners informed in the coming months as soon as we have more info. 

From SFO: San Francisco Opera is looking forward to the forthcoming seat replacement project (in the orchestra level) to improve the experience for our patrons in the War Memorial Opera House. 

We are at the beginning stages of this phase of the project and will be sharing updates, including information about the seats and project timeline, later this fall. 

At this time, we do not have further information to share about seat replacements in other levels of the house (seats in the balcony level of the opera house were replaced in summer 2015). 

Note: the project will not cause San Francisco Opera/San Francisco Ballet to shorten seasons by 14 weeks as stated in the San Francisco Chronicle article, as part of the work will be done during the off-season.

I'm under the impression that the Chron article surprised both organizations a bit. I would have expected the Performing Arts Center to give them a heads-up about the forthcoming article.

Thanks to You You Xia and Julia Inouye for their responses! Looking forward to whatever transpires.