{"id":2803,"date":"2013-05-15T05:10:03","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T09:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/?p=2803"},"modified":"2013-05-15T07:31:56","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T11:31:56","slug":"little-theatre%e2%80%99s-big-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/little-theatre%e2%80%99s-big-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Theatre\u2019s big impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gift makes building better than ever<\/h3>\n
\"Elizabeth

Elizabeth \u201cLibby\u201d Hall McDonnell \u201962 and her husband, James, in the theatre\u2019s lobby.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hollins\u2019 550-seat proscenium theatre was constructed in 1924 at the height of the \u201cLittle Theatre\u201d movement, a trend toward smaller, more intimate theatre that began in response to the advent of motion pictures. And it was the students who made the Little Theatre come to vibrant life.<\/p>\n

Before the holidays in December 1922, a notice appeared on a campus bulletin board: \u201cIf you have the Hollins spirit, come back after Christmas with a pledge for $30 or the $30.\u201d The administration\u2019s initial reluctance to support such an ambitious project vanished as students proved they could successfully lead the charge. The enthusiastic student body of slightly more than 300 women raised the $40,000 needed to build the facility. The New York Drama League called it \u201cthe best equipped theatre south of Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Shakespeare said, \u201cThe wheel is come full circle.\u201d A former student has shown that same vision and initiative to keep the Hollins Theatre thriving for future audiences. In 2009, Elizabeth \u201cLibby\u201d Hall McDonnell \u201962 and her husband, James, took a great interest in the theatre\u2019s pressing needs. Recognizing that today\u2019s students and future theatre-goers would require more than what the 1924 facility offered, the McDonnells pledged $3 million to transform and update the space.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the commitment from the James S. McDonnell Family Foundation, the theatre underwent a comprehensive renovation over the past three years. In addition to an accessible entrance and restroom, the gift brought new electric rigging, lighting, sprinklers, flood control, paint, carpeting, motorized blackout shades, and\u2014finally\u2014air conditioning.<\/p>\n

At last October\u2019s performance of Decision Height<\/em> (written by playwriting graduate student Meredith Levy \u201912 about the Women Air Force Service Pilots, or WASPs), the Hollins Theatre was dedicated in honor of the McDonnells. The benefactors were also inducted into the Levavi Oculos Society, which honors Hollins\u2019 most generous donors whose cumulative gifts surpass $1 million.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"1842<\/a><\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

More than 100 members of the 1842 Society and Miss Matty\u2019s Circle enjoyed a weekend last November in Atlanta. In addition to a tour of the World of Coca-Cola (pictured), alumnae and friends enjoyed a gallery talk by Susan Cofer \u201964 on her exhibition at the High Museum, a tour of Civil War artifacts at the home of Bo DuBose (father of Elizabeth DuBose \u201989), and remarks by Distinguished Young Alumna Award recipient Catherine Wannamaker \u201996. Enjoying the World of Coca-Cola tour: Donna Fuller \u201966, Suzanne Whitmore \u201960, Knox Goodman \u201856, Jo Ann Mooney \u201960, and Betty Pearson \u201962.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the commitment from the James S. McDonnell Family Foundation, Hollins’ theatre underwent a comprehensive renovation over the past three years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-2803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-giving","tag-winter-2013"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2803"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3670,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2803\/revisions\/3670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}