As the Wichita Symphony Orchestra rehearsed “Rhapsody in Red, White, and Blue” last month, some musicians on stage were wearing coats and gloves. Because doors elsewhere in Century II had been opened for an RV show, the building’s heating system couldn’t keep up. Had the temperature in the Concert Hall gone much lower, rehearsal would have had to be called off.
Timothy Storhoff, the symphony’s executive director, described the coats-and-gloves rehearsal as an example of the issue that Century II’s users often navigate. Shortcomings of the building impose operational costs, limit programming and force workarounds that audiences may not always see.
“People come and have a great show, a great experience — at least we work really hard for it to happen — so our goal is that people are not thinking about the deficits of the space when they come,” said Angela Cassette, the managing director of Music Theatre Wichita. “But I also think that makes the issues feel less urgent than they really are.”…