Harvard business reports (1930)

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534 HARVARD BUSINESS REPORTS the smaller theaters did not maintain orchestras and stage shows such as were presented by the de luxe theaters. The de luxe theaters, on the other hand, did not furnish the opportunity for close contact with theater patrons. It would be difficult without great expense to transfer students to and from the various theaters in order to provide them with experience in the management of all types of theaters. Many of the executives believed that the proposed school, in addition to solving these difficulties, provided the most comprehensive form of training possible. The curriculum for the school could be studied carefully and arranged to include any desired subject. Each subject could be allocated the amount of time that its importance warranted. By combining the use of lectures, textbooks, problems, written reports, and some supervised work in theaters, all types of subjects could be covered effectively. The proposed school could be located in New York City, the center of showmanship of the United States. Thus the students would benefit by observing the methods of America's leading showmen and by personal contact with the company's best showmen. In New York, students would find available every type of theater and every class of showman. The school was further favored because it would provide instruction on certain phases of theater operation which ordinarily could not be gained through practical experience. A manager actually engaged in the operation of a theater might acquire such information only at the expense of great effort either by delving into books or by tedious inquiry. For example, gaining a knowledge of theatrical mechanical equipment was subject to several limitations. The cooling, heating, ventilating, projection, and sound reproduction equipment all required the supervision of the theater manager, but in many instances were of such a complicated nature that no amount of ordinary observation would teach anything about their construction or operation. Furthermore, union regulations restricted any attempt that might be made to learn about such equipment. A regulation of the projectionists' union, for instance, prohibited the presence of the manager in the projection room. Motion picture theater law was another field in which few men would acquire knowledge while engaged in the tasks of theater operation, unless they were actually confronted with legal difficulties.