The debate about the future of the Johnny Mercer Theatre has been raging for years and since the decision to tear it down along with the MLK Arena has recently been reversed by Savannah City Council, the arguments have now shifted to the subject of what can be done to update and improve the theater.

There are many practical and philosophical facets of the theater’s function that need to be addressed, but one that is at the forefront of discussion is the sound quality. There are many professional and audience opinions about the sound quality of the Johnny Mercer Theatre that can fluctuate from show to show.

Is there a problem with the theater’s built in sound system? Are the acoustics bad? Do traveling music productions know how to properly use the existing space?

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In my own experience, as someone who saw Bob Dylan twice at Johnny Mercer Theatre, my only assessment of the sound quality is that (as any Dylan fan can tell you) it is unfair to blame the venue for how craggy his voice sounds.

The Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra has historically performed at Johnny Mercer Theater, but with the space’s fate having been up in the air, they did not perform there last season, nor do they have it booked for any performances next season.

Amy Williams, Executive Director of Savannah Philharmonic, would like to continue using Johnny Mercer Theatre in the future, but in her and Music & Artistic Director Keitaro Harada’s opinions the theater needs to make some changes to lure them back.

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“Sound wise, the acoustics are challenging in the Johnny Mercer Theatre,” said Williams. “They’re not acoustics designed for an acoustic arts space...There are places all over the country that have been renovated for acoustic purposes and that now sound phenomenal, and are some of the best places to perform in. It’s all determined by bringing in trained acousticians that are specializing in sound for an orchestra standpoint and a theater standpoint.”

The Savannah Philharmonic currently performs in the historic Lucas Theatre, and Williams acknowledges that nostalgia for the beautiful space is certainly a draw for audiences.

“I do love hearing people talk about their memories of the Johnny Mercer,” said Williams. “I think that’s really special. They also have memories of the Lucas Theatre and their first time visiting. Theaters are nostalgic in any capacity.”

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Nostalgia and practicality of usage are two different arguments, but Williams is open to the idea of making Johnny Mercer Theatre the home of the Savannah Philharmonic, with the right improvements.

“It would be really special to have a place like the Johnny Mercer that we would be the resident company to, that we could perform in,” said Williams. “Having a space like the Johnny Mercer that is designed for a large orchestra on a stage, that would be something really cool to have in Savannah. There are just some logistics that need to be worked out first.”

Paul Mazo, an event designer and producer at Stage Front has decades of experience working at the Johnny Mercer Theatre. In an op-ed published in this paper on May 6, Mazo made his case for saving the theater, along with his personal assessments of its strengths and weaknesses, and what changes could be made to improve it.

“The argument about the Johnny Mercer Theatre has been going on for quite some time,” said Mazo. “I’ve been sitting back and watching and waiting, and watching and waiting, and figured it’s time to throw mine out there. I tried to write it from a realistic view. Not particularly biased in one way or another, other than I’ve been in the theater countless times and know it’s potential and capabilities. Thank God the current city council has decided they are going to keep it.”

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One complaint about the theater is its sound system. The 15-year-old single rack of speakers that hangs above the middle of the stage produces mono sound that works fine for stand-up comedians that merely need their voices amplified, but is completely unacceptable for modern music productions.

“The PA was designed for community events,” explained Mazo. “It was never, ever meant to be a performance system. As a performance system it is mediocre at best.

“A lot of the acts that are touring, especially the concert like acts, are traveling with their own production. They want their own consoles, their own speakers, their own system. There’s nothing that the in-house system is going to do to satisfy the lion’s share of those.”

A new sound system can and should be put into the theater, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that traveling productions and engineers will not continue to use their own sound equipment.

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“When the musical acts come in, either we’re bringing in something to support them, or they’re traveling with their own equipment,” said Mazo. “And the good news is the system is set up to be able to pull the hanging points down very easily, drop it down, hang the new PA, push a button, and it goes back into the air. It’s really an easy thing to do for the road acts.”

“But if I had my druthers, we would keep the current mixing console because it is still decent quality to do most things, and I would take down the single hung PA and put up a stereo system and add a couple subwoofers, or bass speakers, to reinforce the low end.”

Victory North recently updated their venue with a state-of-the-art Meyer sound system, which happens to be the audio brand that the Johnny Mercer utilizes. A new sound system would be the easiest improvement to make to the theater.

But, then there is the controversial subject of the acoustics. Do those need to be updated?

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“That is an interesting question,” said Mazo. “There are as many opinions as there are people about the acoustics at Johnny Mercer. What I can bring to the table is that when that place was designed, it was designed as a concert house with symphonies in mind.”

Johnny Mercer Theatre currently houses large acoustic pods, commonly called “clouds” on the ceiling and running down the walls on either side that redirect sound back to the audience. There is also a 25-foot fiberglass orchestra shell that goes behind the orchestra for the same purpose.

“Acoustic music, believe it or not, sounds the best in the Johnny Mercer,” said Mazo. “When you get concert acts in there and the engineers don’t understand the room, that’s the biggest problem. It’s not the acoustics of the room, it’s the people driving the PA, and they push that PA so hard to reach the back of the room and it turns to mud. If you take the same PA and bring gain down instead of making it louder, and work with your band to control the sound coming off the stage, that is the time where I witnessed the sound sounding the best.”

“It’s really about the technique of letting the room sound good on its own and not trying to over power it.”

Other issues with the theater stemmed from the adjacent MLK Arena. For example, sometimes booking has led to the roar of a monster truck rally or rodeo bleeding into the theater across the lobby during a concert. But that issue would be resolved with the removal of the arena.

“That’s just physics,” said Mazo. “You can’t stop sound from going through walls. With the decibel level of monster trucks, and the theater being literally across the lobby from something like that, you’re going to hear it.”

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Mazo and others believe that the theater is an essential part of Savannah’s entertainment options. Several venues of various capacities have opened in recent years including Victory North, District Live, and Enmarket Arena, but there are no theaters comparable in capacity or utility to Johnny Mercer Theater.

“The theater is necessary because we don’t have anything that size that people can make money with,” said Mazo. “You can’t make money in the 1,150 seater in SCAD’s theater. You can’t make money on an 1,150 seater in Trustee’s. You certainly can’t make money in the 400 seater at the Cultural Arts Center. That’s what’s available. The 2,500 seater actually allows theater oriented acts to make money from selling 2,500 tickets.”

Mazo understands the complicated arguments for and against Johnny Mercer Theater’s sound, but he is able to encapsulate opinion on the subject in simple terms.

“If you realize what it’s used for and how to use it, it doesn’t suck. If you use it outside of the scope of what it’s for, it sucks.”