This famous southern theatre played host to many of the 19th and early 20th centuries’ most famous actors and stage personalities. It was built in a time when illuminating gas lit the stage and when scenery consisted of painted backdrops and wing pieces. Equipping it to support 21st century production requirements began with the insertion of new structural elements into the antique fabric of the building. The first of these was free-standing steel grid and its supporting structure, the second was a larger and deeper orchestra pit with its own lift. For the latter, special care had to be taken in pit design to produce the best overall orchestra sound. Making the pit deeper, and recessing it partly under the stage accomplished this goal, but presented structural challenges since it was necessary to work in unstable soils near the building footings.

Other extraordinary challenges included replacing the rope and sandbag rigging with a modern counterweight system. Working around existing obstacles that could not be moved and under the gambrel roof of the fly tower required ingenious use of muled head blocks and other kinds of specialized rigging equipment. The production sound and stage communications systems needed to be shielded from radio frequency signals that came from a nearby radio station. The many long runs of copper wiring that might have been used were replaced by a fiber-optic signaling system that also has the capacity to increase signal circuits of any type without running additional conduit and wire in the future.