BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - Mark Halstead doesn’t remember the Palace Theater in its heyday.
Halstead, executive director of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, grew up in Bridgeport but by the time he was born the theater, and the city, was in a downturn.
“I unfortunately grew up while the city was declining,” he said.
Today, the theater is a moldy, crumbling mess. The city put a roof on the structure to make sure it doesn’t fall down, but that’s about all the refurbishment the 1920s-era theater has seen.
That didn’t daunt Eric Jacobsen, who saw the building and, perhaps against all expectations, thought it would be the perfect venue in which to play some music. He called it “the most steampunk venue I’ve ever been in.”
“Like any wine glass or dinner plate sets the mood of the meal, a venue sets the mood of a listening experience,” Jacobsen said.
And so, the Greater Bridgeport Symphony moved for a day into the Palace. It was, according to Halstead, quite the undertaking.
There were, for example, no working bathrooms. So there had to be a system to bus any musicians or crew members up the road to nearby facilities.
“We can’t go into a space with no electricity and no heat,” he said. “The load-in and load-out, the chairs, the instruments. It’s a big production.”
The theater itself seats 3,500 - “that’s two-and-a-half times the size of the Klein,” according to Halstead - but the idea was to get it on video. With no actual, live audience, the symphony took up temporary residence in the lobby.
“I go in those spaces and I look at them for certain characteristics how they are formed,” said Halstead, who trained as an architect. “Eric walks into a space and he’ll understand the acoustics at a much more intrinsic level.”
Though he said the “quality of the sound is very good,” for Jacobsen, the acoustics were only one aspect of the experience.
“This venue was about finding the moment,” he said. “The purpose of this moment was to capture something truly aesthetically gorgeous. This particular venue offered just that.”
Jacobsen said the dilapidated nature of the theater offered “the juxtaposition of shabby chic,” which said “is so apparent in our culture.”
“Is there anything more powerful than experiencing an enlightening moment when you are down in the ditch? The theater offers this incredible juxtaposition of the history, the forgotten,” he said. “That made a perfect picture for this piece.”
The piece selected was Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending,” which made sense from a timeline perspective, according to Halstead: “That music was written in 1920 and the theater is from 1922 so they are contemporaries.”
Featured for this event was Colin Jacobsen, a virtuosic violinist and brother to the symphony’s music director. Eric Jacobsen said the brothers do disagree on musical matters, but that it informs, rather than detracts from, the final product.
“We definitely have differing opinions on things musically,” he said. “That’s why we work together so well.”
For the video, Jacobsen placed his brother high above the symphony.
“Colin was filmed in the balcony,” Halstead said. “Colin was there, I think, close to eight hours and never stopped playing.”
As unique as it was, after the film was released it went somewhat viral, at least among classical music circles.
“This video which has now gone to a really large audience,” Jacobsen said. “It’s actually gone from Bridgeport to everywhere.”
It was such a success that Jacobsen is looking around the city for his next unexpected venue. As of publication, he hasn’t found what he’s looking for.
“We’ve looked at some churches,” Halstead said. “He hasn’t found one edgy enough yet. What that means, I’m not quite sure. He’s had his mind set, too, on using some of the old industrial places.”
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