Leak in Sage interrupts performance
Betsy Woodruff
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News
On Sunday, a leak in the roof of the Sage Center for the Arts forced actors rehearsing for the production of "Six Characters in Search of an Author" to use a bowl, one of the props, to catch raindrops.
Senior Jeff Myers, a trombonist in the orchestra, said the leak caused problems as far back as his freshman year - sometimes during performances.
"It's a religious problem in that building, I have no idea why it's not fixed," he said.
Rich Péwé, vice president of administration, said the leaks come through explosion hatches, small hatches in the roof designed to let out smoke in case of a fire or to let fire fighters climb in.
Roofing contractors, who are currently working on repairing the roof of McIntyre Hall, cannot fix the problem because it will require sealing the hatches closed, Péwé said. He said he and Dave Billington, superintendent of buildings, are working to purchase new gaskets to do this.
He could not make any estimate about when new gaskets will arrive.
On March 8, musicians rearranged their instruments to prevent water damage during the symphony orchestra performance.
The roof began to leak during a rehearsal the day of the performance. A janitor brought in a trash can to contain the puddle. He put a towel in the bottom of it so the dripping noise would not bother the performers.
"They had to scoot a whole section of the orchestra out of the way," said sophomore Jo Burns. "I think it hurt us because we weren't used to having that gap in the sound travelling."
Michael Beyer, lighting designer and production manager, said the leak is nothing new.
"It's been happening since the building opened," he said. "They've come over and looked at it every time and they say, 'Yeah, it's leaking.' The entire building gets water all the time."
Myers remembers a leak during a performance in spring 2005, his freshman year.
"It started dripping from the ceiling onto the neck of our clarinet player," he said. "We were doing Copeland's 'Salon Mexico,' which has this giant clarinet solo. He was playing for 35 seconds, and he didn't miss a note. He slid his chair with his butt as he was sitting here, it was nuts."
Another time, the dripping sounded like someone tapping their foot, Myers said.
"It was dripping onto the riser and it was loud enough that I thought someone was tapping their foot at the wrong rhythm," he said. "I thought, they don't even have the tempo, this is horrible. I kept looking over, expecting the conductor to yell at one of the French horn players."
Senior Jeff Myers, a trombonist in the orchestra, said the leak caused problems as far back as his freshman year - sometimes during performances.
"It's a religious problem in that building, I have no idea why it's not fixed," he said.
Rich Péwé, vice president of administration, said the leaks come through explosion hatches, small hatches in the roof designed to let out smoke in case of a fire or to let fire fighters climb in.
Roofing contractors, who are currently working on repairing the roof of McIntyre Hall, cannot fix the problem because it will require sealing the hatches closed, Péwé said. He said he and Dave Billington, superintendent of buildings, are working to purchase new gaskets to do this.
He could not make any estimate about when new gaskets will arrive.
On March 8, musicians rearranged their instruments to prevent water damage during the symphony orchestra performance.
The roof began to leak during a rehearsal the day of the performance. A janitor brought in a trash can to contain the puddle. He put a towel in the bottom of it so the dripping noise would not bother the performers.
"They had to scoot a whole section of the orchestra out of the way," said sophomore Jo Burns. "I think it hurt us because we weren't used to having that gap in the sound travelling."
Michael Beyer, lighting designer and production manager, said the leak is nothing new.
"It's been happening since the building opened," he said. "They've come over and looked at it every time and they say, 'Yeah, it's leaking.' The entire building gets water all the time."
Myers remembers a leak during a performance in spring 2005, his freshman year.
"It started dripping from the ceiling onto the neck of our clarinet player," he said. "We were doing Copeland's 'Salon Mexico,' which has this giant clarinet solo. He was playing for 35 seconds, and he didn't miss a note. He slid his chair with his butt as he was sitting here, it was nuts."
Another time, the dripping sounded like someone tapping their foot, Myers said.
"It was dripping onto the riser and it was loud enough that I thought someone was tapping their foot at the wrong rhythm," he said. "I thought, they don't even have the tempo, this is horrible. I kept looking over, expecting the conductor to yell at one of the French horn players."
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