In need of some love

Williams Auditorium performance space in desperate need of renovations

Williams Auditorium leaves something to be desired for many audience members in terms of both acoustics and comfort. Photo by: Kaitlyn Kirchner | Torch Photographer

I have been a musician my whole life, so performing and attending concerts and shows has always been something I have enjoyed. 

I love visiting different performance halls and theaters and seeing the architecture of each one. In my opinion, Ferris’ auditorium is very underwhelming and quite honestly, annoying to be in. 

Williams Auditorium is one of the few buildings on campus that students and the community both use regularly but it feels like it hasn’t been renovated since it was built. 

First off, it is nearly impossible to hear anything in this auditorium, especially during musicals. 

When I went to see Nick Offerman earlier this year, I waited in line super early so I could get a good seat three rows back in the middle. After the show, I talked with a friend who was way in the back and she said she could barely hear anything. Every seat should be the best seat in the house. 

Speaking of the seats, they are super uncomfortable. They are lumpy, bumpy and feel like they are the original seats from when the auditorium was first built. Sitting there for an entire concert or show can be painful. I can almost feel the springs in the seat wanting to pop through the fabric. 

My father came out see the musical and had to change seats because the one he had chosen was, for lack of a better word, “unsittable.” There may be 1644 seats there but there are really only a couple hundred that are halfway decent to sit in. 

Generally, I run cold, that’s just how my body temperature likes to be. But when I’m performing, whether it be a concert or a musical, the lights will warm up the stage to insane temperatures. It seems that it is just the opposite in Williams. Even when I am sitting in the audience with hundreds of other people around me, I am cold. 

Last year the university approved plans to renovate several different buildings on campus and Williams was nowhere on that list. Is it too much to ask for a good place to perform? 

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