Harvard faculty and administrators say they had hoped the ART's presence as a professional company in the Loeb would be an asset for undergraduate theater beyond the curriculum.

"In bringing the ART, we felt that we were importing a degree of professionalism which should be accorded to the Loeb," says Glen W. Bowersock '57, associate dean of the Faculty for undergraduate education when the ART contract was negotiated.

But student opinion about the ART's contributions to Harvard dramatic arts beyond the curriculum varies tremendously.

Some view the ART's presence as a valuable opportunity for students to receive instruction from professionals, gain access to the production resources of a theater company, and in some cases, work directly on ART productions.

John B. Weinstein '93, director of Into the Woods, sought advice from ART Director Robert Scanlon and ART Institute graduate student Timothy Banker as part of the ART's buddy system.

Although he never met with Scanlon, Weinstein says his conversations with Banker were very helpful.

"Much of his advice was really useful and a lot of his suggestions we followed through on. Had I done it again I would have had him come in even earlier because it was very helpful," he says.

"Having a professional company in residence is definitely a benefit to the students for a million different reasons," Talbot says. "Everything from the actual facility being kept up, the costume shop is stocked and functioning, the wood shop, helping at the box office."

Others, however, complain of feeling estranged from the Loeb--which was originally built for student theater--and say ART workers have little regard for student productions. Some undergraduates say there is tension between students and ART professionals, whose primary commitment is to produce their own shows.

"It is very antagonistic always space contraints and ART people not being very trusting of students," Talbot says.

"They don't have the time," says Diana R. Graham '94, a member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Players board of directors who co-produced Into the Woods earlier this year. "And the reason is that it's not their priority. Their priority is to do their own shows."

Adams House drama tutor Arthur F. Shettle also says students have approached him about "bad experiences with the ART."

Even Fox and Uphoff acknowledge that students feel alienated and neglected at times. Both say approaching one of the professionals may be intimidating but that the ART employees are always willing to help.

"I've heard complaints that the Loeb is a student theater and that the ART is almost trying to get students out of the building," Fox says. "But I think that it's the attitude that perpetuate the problem."

Brustein acknowledge that problem occasionally arise, but he attribute them to the natural competition arising from the existence of student and ART groups in the Loeb.