This production was most unusual in its circumstances. This was the fourth major facility that I have opened in my career. In each case, there were many political pressures associated with the inaugural productions, and in each case there were many unanticipated technical headaches. This experience was no exception. 

The $40,000,000 Kenneth King Center for the Performing Arts was to have been fully functional by August, 2000. By November, when we were scheduled to present Private Lives, the facility was still very far from completion. In fact the opening week of performances had to be canceled as the fire suppression systems were not properly yet operational.

One unique feature in the design of the space was that the entire orchestra seating area of the theatre is itself built over a fully trapped area. The idea is that this proscenium theatre could be converted into a black box style of space. Due to various construction problems this house area was not ready for any human occupancy until two days before we opened. This meant that neither the director, nor myself as lighting designer, was able to view the show from the house proper until dress rehearsal! 

The shop too was never completed, so building of the set had to happen in various found spaces. Lighting had to be rented as no fixtures were yet in stock at the facility. Even the seats had not yet arrived. For the gala, audience members had to sit on stacking chairs! 

In normal circumstances I would have chosen to do a much simpler design but a lot was riding on being able to present a gala fund raiser to be attended by the media and the important people of Denver. A given was that the production had to show off the space in grand fashion.
The set is really quite traditional. It is largely a simple box set. However in our circumstances this style of setting was a very un-traditional choice. This marked the first true-theatre home of the program at The University of Colorado, Denver. Since the formation of the department, all shows were presented in a small black-box theatre, or outside in various theatres carved out of found spaces. This was the first opportunity for students to work on a production in a traditional house with traditional stage machinery and rigging. The students had never worked in the idiom of the box set. So in choosing a traditional form, I was working as a teacher to expose students to a form, not before encountered in their own experience. 

There was one more unusual circumstance of pressure on us in the presentation of this work. The major donor was Donald Seawell the Chairman of the Board of The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (and board member of The Royal Shakespeare Company in London) The choice of Private Lives to open the theatre, was made in honor of his wife, Eugenia Rawles. Eugenia had appeared on Broadway in the revival of Private Lives with Tallulah Bankhead. The Seawells had been personal friends of Noel Coward.