• By ROBIN MILLER
• Arts writer
• Published: Nov 8, 2009

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Sometimes, it’s difficult to decide where to begin.

Does he start out talking about the play? Or does the newly renovated Burke Hawthorne Hall Theatre take precedence?

Or should he say something about how his cast, their show, is officially reopening the theater?

That’s it. The last option neatly wraps up everything for Nyalls Hartman.

He’s an associate professor in and chairman of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Department of Performing Arts. He’s also director of the play Noises Off, which opens Thursday, Nov. 12, in the Burke Hawthorne Hall Theatre.

But the play is more than just a fall production. It’s the first official production to play in the theater since it closed three years ago for renovations.

That’s not to say the Performing Arts Department hasn’t staged a theater season in that time. It simply moved its productions to the smaller Fletcher Hall Auditorium on campus.

Smaller space meant smaller plays.

“So, when we moved into the Burke Hawthorne Theatre this week, it was kind of overwhelming,” Hartman said. “Well, it was very overwhelming.”

It’s not that the theater is intimidating. Its new stadium-style seating allows for an audience of 206. It’s just the thought that the Performing Arts Department has moved back into a theater – a real theater.

And the theater is its own.

“What they’ve done with it is amazing,” Hartman said.  “They’ve removed the balcony to convert the theater to stadium seating. So, every audience member will have an intimate look at the stage. It doesn’t matter where they’re sitting.”

Renovations also have added new costume and scene shops, dressing rooms and a makeup studio.