Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, located in the heart of Pittsburgh's Cultural District on Penn Avenue is near PPG Place, CNG Tower, Fifth Avenue Place, and Gateway Plaza. Now the home of the world-renowned Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, the hall is visited by more than a half-million people every year. About 200 shows are staged each year. A sold-out performance holds 2,676 people. The building has been operating as Heinz Hall for about 35 years, but it was previously the Loew’s Penn Theater.

History

Originally built as the Loew's and United Artists' Penn Theatre, construction of the building was completed in 1927. Motion picture business magnate and pioneer Marcus Loew engaged the architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp to design the movie palace. The Grand Lobby was particularly impressive, with its convert|50|ft|m|sing=on-high vaulted Venetian ceiling, massive ornamental columns, marble staircase, bronze and crystal chandeliers and silk drapes."A History of Heinz Hall," [http://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/pghsymph.nsf/web/history.html Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra] ]

Like many 1920s-era film palaces, Loew's Penn fell on hard times in the 1960's. Competition from television and suburban theaters along with high maintenance costs for the opulent building put a squeeze on profitability. The theater was forced to shut its doors in 1964 and was scheduled for demolition. Henry J. Heinz II and Charles Denby, President of the Pittsburgh Symphony Society, together with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Allegheny Conference and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, purchased the site and rescued the theater for the purpose of creating a new home for the Pittsburgh Symphony.

From 1967 to 1971, the building was extensively renovated. While the basic architecture of the building remained unchanged, the entrance was moved outwards and faced with a convert|40|ft|m|sing=on-high arched window. The one-ton chandeliers were rebuilt and their crystals replaced. The original polychrome decor was replaced by a brilliant white and gold design. Ornamental elements in the auditorium were replaced by acoustical baffles to convert the former movie theater into a lively sounding concert hall. The back of the building was extended, adding almost convert|30|ft|m to the stage, and making space for dressing rooms, a music library, and rehearsal rooms.

The Grand Opening of Heinz Hall was on September 10, 1971.

In 1982, the Heinz Foundation sponsored the creation of Heinz Hall Plaza and a four-story addition to the hall.

In 1995, Heinz Hall underwent a further four-month, $6.5-million renovation, including a new orchestra shell, acoustical risers, new butterfly sound reflector, heating and air conditioning improvements, fresh paint, wallpaper and gold leaf and auditorium seats refurbishment.

Before Heinz Hall

Heinz Hall almost never existed because plans were being made for an entire $40 million cultural complex in the Upper Hill District, above the Civic Arena. This plan fell through when a new stadium for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates took top priority. The Howard Heinz Endowment paid $850,000 for the closed and vacant movie house known as Pittsburgh’s “Temple of the Cinema” in 1967. The Heinz family would also fund the multimillion dollar renovation for the performing arts center that would house all local production companies.

Henry John Heinz was an active contributor and a major force in the development of downtown Pittsburgh, particularly the Cultural District. Called a “generic philanthropist” by a friend, H. J. Heinz donated to the arts, healthcare, education, historic preservation, and was an active contributor all over the city. Carol Brown, president of the Cultural Trust said (about H. J. Heinz), “He was a man of great taste. He expected the best, and he expected his standards to be met." [Brignano, Mary. Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera: How the Dreams Came True. White Oak Publishing: Sewickley, PA, 1996.] Heinz was an especially strong force in the arts, all while running the well-known company his grandfather founded.

Loew’s Penn Renovation

Marcus Loew’s movie houses were built with only the finest and most expensive materials of the time. As patrons entered the spectacular building they would see the marble staircase that leads from the Grand Lobby upstairs and stand in awe as they looked up at the convert|50|ft|m|sing=on Venetian ceiling, supported by massive columns. The enormous bronze and crystal chandeliers are convert|15|ft|m each and weigh over a ton. The many draperies and hangings decorating the building are imported silk damask. These “palaces” were all similar in design.

The Loew’s Penn Theater suffered a bittersweet ending like many other movie houses at the time. As the popularity of television soared, movie theaters were losing business and being forced to close. The Loew’s Penn closed its doors in 1964. The movie theater sat empty for five years and was almost demolished to make way for a parking lot. The Heinz family stepped in to save the old movie house, and the transformation began.

Refurbishing old movie palaces was a much more cost effective plan as opposed to building a new performing arts complex. Although much of the grandeur of the Loew’s Penn still remains, Heinz Hall is simple while still remaining elegant. It took three years for the $10 million renovation to be completed, most of the work being done by local craftsmen and artisans. The 24-karat gold leafing alone took 18 months for two local craftsmen from the A. J. Vater Company to complete. The crystal chandeliers are still the originals from the Loew’s Penn, but they have been dismantled and redesigned with new crystals. Once a year, usually over the summer, all of the chandeliers are lowered to be cleaned and re-lamped. The orchestra pit is powered by a hydraulic lift and is able to hold 80-85 musicians. A new five story wing was also added in the back of the building. It added convert|25|ft|m to the stage and has a lot more dressing rooms and soundproof rehearsal rooms. The main rehearsal room has the same dimensions as the stage, so it is perfect for conducting thorough rehearsals. The fan reflector proscenium helps project sound further, making Heinz Hall a “good throw.” [“Recycled Centers.” "Time", 27 December 1971 (accessed 14 November 2006), .] However, the auditorium's design - not intended for music, but for films - interferes with the acoustics heard in halls designed specifically for orchestral and musical performance. The same can be said of the neighboring Benedum Center. The false proscenium, added in 1987's renovation, interferes with singers' projection in both operatic and musical theatre performances, leaving a rather long reverberation time and creating difficult hearing conditions.

The most expensive seats are in the dress circle of the balcony where sound quality is best. However, the premiere boxes of the Grand Tier are among the worst seats for the Symphony's performances due to their depth underneath the overhang of the balcony. The orchestra’s previous home, the Syria Mosque, was drab and sound quality was poor. Another one of the Loew’s movie house features that makes Heinz Hall great for concerts or shows is there is not a bad seat in the house. Even at the outermost edges, the audience can still see. In 1995 Heinz Hall underwent a $6.5 million renovation in which new additions were made to make a visit to the theater more enjoyable. [“A History of Heinz Hall.” Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (accessed 31 October 2006), .]

Grand opening

William Steinberg conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony at the hall's inaugural concert on September 10, 1971. Two days later Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (CLO) had its opening night in its fourth home. Newspaper articles on the opening are nearly impossible to find because the "Pittsburgh Press" was on strike at the time. Among the celebrities in town for the event were Charlton Heston, James Earl Jones, Agnes de Mille, and Gregory Peck. The dedication speech was given by H. J. Heinz II.

Other places within the concert Hall

In February 1978, plans were announced for the construction of a garden beside Heinz Hall, and the building housing Woolworth’s was soon demolished. The Garden Plaza opened May 7, 1982. During spring, summer, and early fall the Garden Café is open for lunch on weekdays. Also, during intermission guests can go out to the plaza to see the waterfall and water sculpture, "Quartet". Another place to have a special event is the elegant Mozart Room. A reservation is needed, but it is open for pre-show dining or a private function. The Mozart Room and the Garden Café are catered by Truffles and Flourishes. [“Dining at Heinz Hall.” Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, (accessed 2 December 2006) .]

Events

The 1986-87 season was exciting with three anniversaries occurring simultaneously. While the PSO celebrated its 90th, the Pittsburgh Symphony Society celebrated its 60th, and Heinz Hall had its 15th. The 1987-88 season was the beginning for the second performing arts center to open downtown. The Benedum Center (formerly the Stanley Theater, another old movie house) became the new home of the Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Civic Light Opera, and Pittsburgh Dance Council.

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts is known for its grandeur and excellence as a concert hall and showplace, making it a great place to spend an afternoon for a matinee or an evening performance. The PSO offers a wide array of musical performances, such as classical, Pops concerts with Marvin Hamlisch, Symphonies with a Splash, Fiddlesticks and children’s concerts, and more. In between the orchestra’s many performances, Heinz Hall also hosts Broadway tours, speaker’s series, and is a great place for a special event.

Heinz Hall has hosted a number of important people and events. Graduations, proms, even a wedding engagement have taken place there! A memorial concert for Pittsburgh native, Fred Rogers was held in 2003 after his death. In 2004, local musicians came together with special guest, Bruce Springsteen, for the Flood Aid concert to help local residents after many neighborhoods were flooded from Hurricane Ivan. The December 2nd concert was sold out. Marvin Hamlisch conducted a four-part pops concert in 1995 that aired on PBS. A segment of the Doo-Wop series has also been taped on the stage. Heinz Hall was briefly seen in the 1991 movie "Bob Roberts", directed by Tim Robbins. It really made its movie debut in the 1998 TV movie "The Temptations". Most recently, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the Steelers’ Max Starks “competed” in the Broadway musical, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". Taped on the stage of Heinz Hall, composer and songwriter Burt Bacharach was on NBC’s "Today" show December 5, 2006. Heinz Hall is an important part of the arts in Pittsburgh and continues to make history.

References

*“Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts.” "Cinema Treasures". 2005. Cinema Treasures. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2758/.
*“Loew’s Penn Theater.” "Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections". 2 Nov. 2006. http://images.library.pitt.edu/.
*Naylor, David. "Great American Movie Theaters". Baltimore: The Preservation Press, 1987.
*"American Picture Palaces: The Architecture of Fantasy". New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1981.
*“Who's Who: An Explanation of Some Historic Names Visitors Will Hear Again and Again in Pittsburgh.” "Visit Pittsburgh.com". http://www.visitpittsburgh.com/static/index.cfm?contentID=169] .Heinz Hall was in a scene transition on the Disney series Hannah Montana.