The Lab Theatre is a 120-seat thrust stage used for class productions, classes, and special events. The auditorium is also equipped for both 16mm- and 35mm-film projection. The main auditorium is a 600-seat-proscenium stage with an orchestra pit, fly loft, and trap system. The complex opened in 1970 (the dedication was November 13) and housed the main auditorium, the Lab Theatre, technical shops, the box office, and staff offices. Groundbreaking for the $2 million Clarence Brown Theatre complex was held May 17, 1968, and was attended by Clarence Brown and his wife, Marian. Soper and others continued to press the need, and in May 1967 the Student Government Association Senate passed a proposal to utilize student activities fee money to repay bonds issued to build a new proscenium theatre on campus, and the board of trustees then approved the plan. In 1956 Vice President Andy Holt sought donors to make a proscenium theatre possible, contacting among others, Paul Mountcastle and the Rich’s Foundation with requests for $100,000, but both declined. He suggested issuing bonds to be repaid as the loan for Carousel had been repaid, or solicitation of donors.
Paul Soper, head of the theatre program, wrote President Brehm in early 1954 advocating construction of a proscenium theatre on campus, which he estimated would cost $125,000 to build.
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