Etiquette says it's rude to interrupt a performance either at the beginning or after an intermission.
But ask any woman who's stood in line at Abravanel Hall's rest-rooms, and she'll tell you, bad manners aside, it can't be helped."Almost singular among the criticism of Abravanel Hall has been the need for additional women's restroom facilities," said Marian Iwasaki, director of Salt Lake County's division of fine arts.
Salt Lake County officials hope to alleviate that problem by tripling the size of the women's rest-room. The $1.8 million addition will also double the size of the men's lavatories, expand the size of the box office and add a second floor on the building.
The expansion was announced at a press conference Tuesday in the lobby of Abravanel Hall. The hall has been hailed as one of the state's most elegantly designed buildings.
That design, say some unhappy patrons, will be compromised if the expansion goes forward as planned.
"It's too large for this site," said Ray Kingston, a retired architect who used to work for the company that originally designed Abravanel Hall. "It's beginning to bulge into surrounding areas."
He said county officials should have produced a model of the planned expansion and left it in the lobby so patrons could peruse it.
Also unhappy with the plans is Carolyn Abravanel, whose late husband, Maurice Abravanel, the hall is named for. She wrote a letter to Iwasaki saying the addition has been rushed and asked her to slow down renovation plans.
"All one has to do is drive around Salt Lake City and County to see the mistakes that have and are being made," Abravanel wrote. "Don't let this addition to Maurice Abravanel Hall become one of `them.' "
County officials counter the addition hasn't been rushed and is, in fact, long overdue.
The second floor will be a meeting and reception room, which officials say will provide "a much needed facility" for things like pre-concert lectures.
The box office expansion will allow space for the county to sell tickets to performances at other places, such as Capitol Theatre.
Kingston asked Commission Chairwoman Mary Callaghan why the other tickets had to be sold at Abravanel Hall if space was already so tight.
Callaghan said it was the responsibility of county officials to make the arts accessible to all people, and the home of the Utah Symphony was probably the most visible and visited.
Iwasaki agreed.
"I think we're losing patrons when people have to go to the venue (where the performance is located) to purchase tickets," she said.
Despite opposition, the addition is already under way. Officials want it completed by the time the 1997-98 season of the Utah Symphony begins.