Acoustic Engineering in music venues has a few basic rules that architects rely on: the size, the shape and the materials on the reflective surfaces. So planning ahead is crucial, but even after the hall is finished, acousticians can sometimes tweak the room by modifying the surfaces and even the shape. A proscenium may or may not help the sound of opera singers or orchestras on stage and new halls are trending towards leaving out the proscenium in an attempt to remove the theatre’s Fourth Wall. The Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood has no proscenium or window as it includes the audience in the space. Opera Bastille in Paris attempts to erase the frame and draws the audience in with the plain arena shape that offers no balconies , no presedential boxes, and all the seats offer the same comfort and unfettered view of the stage and supertitles. Opera Bastille and Seiji Ozawa share the quality of a less formal atmosphere, a space for the people, not for dignitaries or crowns. More in the show notes at https://accelerandocast.com/show_notes/