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Media Relations

Two centers, one door

The Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center and the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center

Ever wonder where to see cutting-edge, professional-caliber theatre on the Indiana University Bloomington campus? Or where one might experience dance, music and art in the African American tradition?

Combined in one building and located at 275 North Jordan Ave. in Bloomington, Ind., the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center and the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center have been neighbors and partners in promoting the arts and diversity for many years. Since it opened in January 2002, this dual facility has been instrumental in preserving these two organizations and the work they generate to fulfill their respective missions.

Theatre and drama have been part of the IU campus since the 1880s. The original University Players were formed in 1929 by English faculty member Lee Norvelle, and the theatre wing of the University Auditorium opened in 1941. The Department of Theatre and Drama was established in 1971 with R. Keith Michael as chair until his retirement in 1996. Leon I. Brauner stepped in soon after to welcome the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center and the new opportunities it would afford the department.

Current Chair Jonathan Michaelsen took over in July 2004. He said of the facility, "We have an educational mission to fulfill, which can benefit from the rich diversity found across the hall. Creating a strong connection with the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center will only serve to improve awareness and understanding of differing cultural backgrounds."

The Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center is beautifully designed and provides state-of-the-art technology, expansive and well-planned workshops, spacious directing and acting studios, and two vital theatres. This center also includes classrooms, studios, theatres and offices for the Department of Theatre and Drama. It provides the department with innovative and much-needed performance spaces in a setting commensurate with its talents and array of offerings.

The Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center houses the 443-seat Ruth N. Halls Theatre, a proscenium theatre that hosts four season productions each academic year in addition to a university faculty dance concert. Guest lectures and presentations are also frequent occurrences in the theatre. With an orchestra pit that can seat 30, the Ruth N. Halls has been the venue for large musicals as well as more intimate theatrical pieces. Its large side stage provides a scenery construction and paint area immediately adjacent to the scenic studio for larger shows and projects. For the first time, the African American Choral Ensemble's Spring Concert will be held in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre, bringing both the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center and the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center together in a joint performance project.

Dr. Charles E. Sykes, executive director of the African American Arts Institute and Multicultural Initiatives, said, "When this facility was built, an environment was created that promotes collaborative projects, like the upcoming Choral Ensemble concert, and relationship-building, which was not as feasible before. Now that both centers are coexisting, we are all realizing that there are still so many more potential projects that can and must come to fruition in the next few years."

The Wells-Metz Theatre is a 236-seat flexible venue, which is home to four season productions each academic year. An intimate space with the audience as close as five feet from the action, the Wells-Metz has been the location of musicals and large Shakespearean productions as well as small cast shows. With a full-stage trap room and overhead tension grid, the theatre has become known for its environmental productions with performers playing throughout the space from trap to grid. The Wells-Metz also hosts important events as part of Freshman Orientation. The Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center also boasts a black box theatre (the original University Theatre) -- used for independent student productions -- and an art gallery on the mezzanine of the expansive lobby where theatre artists can display works relating to the current productions.

Facility Coordinator Lorenzo Dilworth said, "People call this building many different things and by many different names. What they do not realize is that the building has no name but, instead, houses two great centers and has so much going on inside. According to my records, over 53,000 people used the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center last year alone."

The Black Culture Center (affectionately called "Black House" by many) was created in 1968. The center focused on supporting the teaching, research and service missions of the university while also providing a positive and hospitable social environment for African American and African students, faculty and staff. In 1972, the center was relocated to a former fraternity house on campus and was renamed the Black Culture Center. Another name change came in 1997 when the center became known as the African American Cultural Center.

A few years later, plans were made to construct a new facility. The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center was dedicated in honor of the first male and female African American graduates of IU, Marcellus Neal and Frances Marshall. Well-loved African American actors Rubie Dee and Ozzie Davis were the keynote speakers at the opening ceremony for the new building. The Black Culture Center houses the African American Cultural Center Library, the African American Arts Institute and its performing ensembles, and the Office of Diversity Education, providing a collaborative environment that is at the heart of the academic enterprise. The Grand Hall and Bridgwaters Lounge are available for meetings, banquets and other events and programs.

"The bonus feature of this building is that [Chair] Jonathan [Michaelsen] has been instrumental in helping two separate entities work together in one space," continued Dilworth. Production Manager David Grindle noted that the facility also "allows for each center to capitalize and expand on the offerings of the other."

The Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center offers students the chance to see shows for free by ushering, auditioning for any of the productions as long as they are registered through IU, participating in backstage work if they enroll in certain technical courses offered by the department and working in the administrative offices through assistantship and internship opportunities. Similarly, the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center gives students the chance to work for the Office of Diversity Education and the African American Arts Institute through assistantship and internships opportunities. Additionally, they can view performances and workshops for free if they volunteer to usher or assist staff members, and research both theatrical and cultural topics of study in the extensive library located between the two centers.

"Sharing a building gives everyone the opportunity to interact more than ever before and constantly share ideas while passing each other in the hallways. There are no walls or divisions keeping us from each other anymore," said Charles Sykes.

Director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Oyibo H. Afoaku said, "We must see this building in a positive light. It offers us all a chance to walk together on our path of cultivating art and culture. We see ourselves in so much of what the Department of Theatre and Drama does, and vice versa, and it has been a blessing to work with such wonderful people. It is my hope that we can continue to work hard to do even more for each other."

For information about upcoming auditions for and performances of The Birthday Party and Urinetown at the Department of Theatre and Drama, go to http://www.theatre.indiana.edu. To learn more about upcoming auditions for and performances by the African American Arts Institute's ensembles, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~aaai.

For general information about events taking place within the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, go to http://www.nmbcc.indiana.edu.

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