As E.J. Thomas turns 50, here's a look at how the performing arts hall came to be
On a recent weekday at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall in Akron, production manager Joe Shannon was spiffing up the storied venue by applying a fresh coat of paint to railings inside the house. An elevator door was also framed with drying paint, and cleaning of the hall's full acre of carpet would start soon.
Outside, on the Clara I. Knight Plaza, crews poured fresh concrete near the morning glory fountain. The water was turned off as work continued in preparation of E.J. Thomas Hall's 50th anniversary celebrations Sept. 29 and 30, which will include an Akron Symphony Orchestra performance and Kristin Chenoweth in concert.
Anniversary events: E.J. Thomas Hall to celebrate 50 years of joining community through arts, cultural events
The seven-story hall, which opened in October 1973, was described then as a sculpture in concrete, glass and steel — one of the world's finest multipurpose halls in terms of design, acoustics and creative mechanisms.
Its opening, delayed multiple times due to construction issues, was the culmination of a town-and-gown effort led by the University of Akron's 10th president, Norman Auburn. The hall was named in honor of Edwin J. Thomas, former chairman and CEO of Goodyear and a university trustee since 1952.
E.J. Thomas Hall, which sits on 3 acres on the western edge of UA's campus adjacent to downtown, created a bridge between the UA academic community and the citizens of Akron to enjoy lectures and live performances.
"The opening of the Edwin J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall is another evidence of the splendid town and gown relationship in Akron. This majestic structure will now serve as a cultural bridge, linking together a thriving community and a great University," remarked President Emeritus Auburn in the hall's printed opening program.
Fifty years later, E.J. Thomas Hall continues to foster arts and culture among the UA campus and Akron community.
1973 gala opening for Akron’s ‘monumental new pride and joy’
The hall had its gala opening with two sold-out concerts Oct. 9 and 10, 1973. Guests arrived in black tie, sweeping up the concrete stairs past the morning glory fountain to the terraced main entrance. Inside, they milled about the vast lobbies carpeted in red wool and marveled at the 27 cylindrical counterweights hanging from the Goodrich Lobby.
The day of the Oct. 9 opening, Sir Rudolf Bing, former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, gave a keynote speech at a dedication luncheon, and E.J. Thomas presented the keys of the $13.9 million hall to UA's 11th president, Dominic Guzzetta.
The Akron Symphony Orchestra, one of the two resident arts groups of the hall in 1973 along with Heinz Poll's Chamber Ballet that later became the Ohio Ballet, performed on both opening nights under the baton of Louis Lane.
The performance included Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the world premiere of “Initium,” an original work by Mexican composer Carlos Chavez commissioned by local women's group Witan in honor of the new hall.
"America has been experiencing a new appreciation of the arts so broad that some have called it a 'cultural revolution.' Akron now may assume its proper role of leadership in this awakening," Edwin J. Thomas was quoted saying in the hall's opening program.
A front-page Beacon Journal article the day after the hall's opening called it an "impossible dream" with "cathedral-like grandeur" that had become UA's "monumental new pride and joy."
"Thomas Hall is one of the most striking, imaginative, clean-lined, daring and dramatic facilities ever built in the U.S.," the newspaper's music critic, John von Rhein, wrote.
It even earned a nod by famed architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable in the New York Times, where she praised E.J. Thomas Hall as a "superb structure.”
Design features made E.J. Thomas Hall a ‘marvel’
Two days before the hall's opening, a Beacon Journal special section article described the "imposing, angular building" and "uniquely flexible structure" whose marvels included a movable ceiling that allows the fan-shaped auditorium to be configured with one, two or three levels of seating.
In this auditorium with continental seating — no aisles on all three levels — no seat is more than 132 feet from the stage. The stage itself rises 82 feet to the grid ceiling. The hall has acoustical curtains and an orchestra shell.
Under the stage, two levels below ground, there's a rehearsal room the same size and shape as the stage that's completely sound-insulated and can seat an entire orchestra.
The building's architecture is dominated by a "great wall," an 8-foot thick bulwark that sweeps to the rear of the structure. It's 90 feet high and 585 feet long, creating an acoustical barrier to the sound of trains passing on the tracks behind the building.
The hall's opening program extolled the innovative ceiling design by George Izenour of New Haven, Connecticut, and the acoustic design of world-renowned acoustical consultant Vern Knudsen of the University of California at Los Angeles. The building was designed by architects Caudill, Rowlett and Scott in Houston with Dalton, van Dijk, Johnson and Partners of Cleveland (van Dijk was also the architect for Blossom Music Center, which opened in 1968).
Akron's new performance venue was considered an architectural masterpiece for its sound-reflecting, movable ceiling, composed of 3,800 interlocking steel panels, suspended in curved sections from a network of counterweights and cables. The ceiling panels were treated with a special paint to enhance sound dispersal. In 1973, it was one of the few structures in the world to use movable suspensions to control volume and seating arrangements.
Izenour called it "the most flexible building of its kind in the world."
The hall's 44-ton ceiling, supported by 13 miles of cable and suspended by 27 chrome counterweights, can close off either the Flying Balcony or both the Flying Balcony and Grand Tier to transform the auditorium into one, two or three levels, seating 900, 2,400 or 3,000. The entire ceiling transformation takes about 15 minutes to complete.
In the Beacon Journal's 1973 special section, stage manager Lanny Glenn said, "We've had a few calls from older ladies who think the ceiling might fall down. This is, of course, nonsense. It is absolutely safe."
That's because the 27 counterweights balancing the ceiling have an aggregate weight three tons heavier than the ceiling. In the unlikely event of cable slippage, the ceiling would go up, not down, Glenn said.
The ceiling was controlled by what was referred to in 1973 as computerized circuity backstage. Today, hall operations manager Margo Ohlson said the original circuitry for the roof operation, which is analog, needs technical upgrades.
"It's 50 years old. It needs an upgrade," she said.
Because of E.J. Thomas Hall's complex ceiling design, installation and successful operation led to numerous delays, with construction taking nearly four years to complete after the July 30, 1969, groundbreaking ceremony.
The cornerstone for E.J. Thomas Hall was laid July 21, 1971.
To finance the $13.9 million E.J. Thomas Hall, Auburn was instrumental in UA's first-ever capital campaign, Challenge '70, which was tied to the university's 1970 Centennial Celebration. It was originally forecast to cost $7 million in the late '60s, the Beacon Journal reported.
The hall was partially paid for with more than $7 million in fundraising from Akron citizens, local and national foundations, and area, state and national businesses in Challenge '70, as well as from thousands of donations. Goodyear contributed $1.25 million.
Today, Ohlson marvels at how the community came together to make E.J. Thomas Hall a reality.
"What those people came together to do, I don't know if you could do it again today," she said.
Akron's need for E.J. Thomas Hall
A home for the arts was sorely needed in Akron considering performances were held at the Akron Armory, which wasn’t built to be a concert hall.
Mark Auburn, son of the late Norm Auburn and retired dean of UA's College of Fine and Applied Arts, remembers being a 20-year-old college student sitting at the breakfast table when his mother, Kay, told his father that choreographer Poll's Chamber Ballet, which would be based in Akron, needed a place to perform.
"Norm, we have to have a place for these kids to dance," Mark remembers his mother saying in the late ‘60s.
Mark and wife Sandy Auburn remember attending E.J. Thomas Hall's gala opening concert with his parents.
"It was a big party. This was a big deal," Sandy said.
Over the years, they've enjoyed seeing author Ray Bradbury, actor John Lithgow and political commentator Molly Ivins speak at E.J. They also saw P.D.Q. Bach (Peter Schickele) rappel down from the grand tier in 1974 and have attended many concerts at the hall as longtime Akron Symphony and Tuesday Musical subscribers.
"I cannot imagine life without live performance," said Sandy, who met Mark while they were doing a summer theater show on campus as UA college students.
Stars at E.J.: A look at 50 years of famous entertainers, speakers at E.J. Thomas Hall
Going to E.J. Thomas Hall to hear world-class lectures and see the symphony has enriched the couple's lives and allowed them to meet new audiences and stay connected with the community, Mark said.
"E.J. is a kind of secular cathedral that is shared by the whole community, and coming to it inspires a sense of awe and wonder. The university has a huge responsibility to use this community cathedral as a meeting place and a place to expand consciousness," he said.
Dark period at E.J. evokes changes, improvements
E.J. Thomas Hall was shuttered briefly in July 2015, when the University of Akron eliminated 213 positions, including the entire hall staff, as part of a three-year plan to trim $40 million under former President Scott Scarborough.
At the time, UA had been spending $2 million a year to subsidize events at the facility and could no longer serve as an events promoter. Three E.J. employees later returned, and programming resumed with consulting help from the Akron Civic Theatre's Howard Parr.
Playhouse Square also took over the hall's Broadway in Akron seasons beginning in 2015, and it’s going strong today.
Major improvements to the hall in recent years include new wood-paneled walls in the lobbies (in keeping with its 1970s style), changing the lobbies’ light bulbs to LED lights and replacing the carpet on two occasions.
E.J. Thomas Hall now operates with a mix of outside rentals as well as performances that the university presents, which means the hall takes part of the financial risk of a show, Ohlson said. Since a deal was inked with the Civic's Parr in 2021, E.J. Thomas Hall, the Civic and Goodyear Hall collaborate on booking, operations and strategy among the three performance venues.
The hall's continued mission is to provide a mix of Broadway, dance, lectures, music and more at a destination venue that's easily accessible. Last season, 120,000 people came through its doors.
One of the goals at E.J. Thomas Hall is to bring in younger audiences, with events including a Taylor Swift Laser Dance Party Sept. 23, standup comedian and podcast star Theo Von Oct. 7-8 and Sons of Serendip of "America's Got Talent" fame Oct. 25.
"It's all about getting that right balance so there's something for everyone all the time," Ohlson said.
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: E.J. Thomas Akron Ohio: Storied performing arts hall turns 50
