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By David Burke | Sunday, October 29, 2006 |
Larry Fisher/QUAD-CITY TIMES Renovations to the Adler Theatre include an expanded stage area which will allow the theater to attract more Broadway plays and concerts.
Judy McNamara, chair of the opening night committee for the Adler, holds a picture of actor John Barrymore, who once appeared at the theater.
Judy McNamara has her own collection of tales from what’s now the RiverCenter Adler Theatre.
Like the time in 1934, when the preteen Judy waited outside the stage door to meet actor John Barrymore, who was starring in a comedy there. She now realizes Barrymore had to be awakened from a drunken stupor to give her an autograph but still treasures his signature in a scrapbook.
Or the time she waited to get an autograph from theater great Catherine Cornell, who stepped from center stage before the curtain pulled to give her young fan an autograph, accept a rose that young Judy had brought, and offer the pint-sized fan a seat in the front row.
Or the time magician Harry Blackstone called her up on stage to be part of a magic trick, in a show that preceded the movies that were screened at the Adler, then called the Orpheum, in the early part of the 20th century.
“Whenever my parents couldn’t find me, they knew where I was,” said McNamara, now 80. “My mother would say, ‘I wonder where Judy is?’ and my father would say, ‘I wonder what’s showing at the Orpheum?’ ”
The Orpheum, which became the Adler in 1986, marks its 75th anniversary this year, and beginning this week officials will show off its $9 million makeover. After 15 months of construction, the theater will reopen with an extended stage — increased from 29 feet to 41 feet in depth — a new loading dock, state-of-the-art improvements to the sound system and new, expanded dressing rooms.
The renovations, which began with funding from Vision Iowa, will allow the Adler to bring in a wider array of Broadway shows and concerts. As touring Broadway shows became larger through the years, the Adler could not accommodate all of their scenery, and many set pieces were left in the alley or on the trucks.
While other renovations — such as the Adler’s 1986 facelift — were apparent to the audience, it’s not the case with the newest project. Aside from some paint touchups and polishing the brass and marble in the theater’s entrance, most changes won’t be visible to the theater-going public.
“We were very cognizant that we needed to be very clear and concise with our message about what the renovation was going to be about,” said Rick Palmer, executive director of the RiverCenter and Adler. “When the public comes back, it’s not going to be about what they see in the theater as much as what they see on the stage.”
McNamara, a member of the RiverCenter Adler Theatre and River Center for the Performing Arts boards, is among those organizing an opening reception Thursday night, similar to her role in the 1986 remodeling.
“Then we had something for the public to see and understand,” she said. “This is a whole different thing. This, they’re going to appreciate from their seats — when they hear the better sound, when they see that (they don’t) have to leave half of it on the truck. We just have to keep telling them that. If they come in thinking they’re going to see new seats or new carpeting or new everything, that’s not where it is. It’s been a marvelously complicated deal, but that is the deal.”
The ability to expand the stage sprung from the city’s purchase of the Mississippi Hotel next door.
“We are the same depth as most Broadway show houses,” Palmer said. “When a producer goes to put a show together and creates it, they don’t necessarily know where they’re going to play. They’re factoring in a 40-foot stage depth.”
The big time
Gary Zabinski is director of operations for Jam Theatricals, which books the “Broadway at the Adler” series that includes eight shows in the 2006-07 season. Zabinski said the Adler can now compete for the rights to the likes of “Mamma Mia,” “Hairspray,” “The Producers” and “Monty Python’s Spamalot.”
“From what you now have, it will appear the Adler would be able to support virtually every touring show that’s out on the road,” Zabinski said. “In the past, we couldn’t entertain the possibility of even contacting the tour and routing through the lovely theater in Davenport, Iowa.”
An improved loading dock will be beneficial for touring Broadway shows, which Zabinsky said now have as many as 22 trucks full of equipment, scenery and costumes.
“Obviously a key to this is being as efficient as possible,” Palmer said. “These shows come in and out in sometimes one day. Anything you can do to be efficient and effective pays the bottom line of making this a viable choice to produce.”
The expanded stage also will help local groups, Palmer said. He points to a planned March 2007 collaboration between the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra and Ballet Quad-Cities, with both sharing the stage.
“That never would have happened before,” Palmer said. “It wouldn’t have been physically viable.”
More concert opportunities
A larger stage and better backstage area, including dressing rooms several times larger than the previous, will mean better concert offerings as well.
The only concert Palmer can announce so far is the Doodle Bops, based on a Disney Channel kids show.
Palmer said the Adler has been trying for years to get Harry Connick Jr., and previous space restraints kept that from happening.
“They turned it down, not because they didn’t want to come to this market, but because of the stage size,” Palmer said. “His orchestra’s not in the pit, he wants them on stage. In the past, we couldn’t do it. Now, when he’s out and touring again, he’s on our target list.”
Jam also is one of several promoters which book concerts at the Adler. Although concerts weren’t his expertise, Zabinsky said there would definitely be an increase in those as well.
“I would think the Adler has increased its potential for concerts from maybe 70 percent to 95 percent of the acts that tour on the road,” he said. “This will now make the Adler a much more sellable commodity out there to promoters across the country. They can look at it and go, ‘Hey, nice theater, great location, good demographics — and it’s big enough’.”
Greg Schermer, president of the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts Inc., the governing body of the theater and its adjacent RiverCenter, said project funding was possible through federal tax credits, state historic tax credits and new market tax credits. No local fundraising was needed, although he said a campaign would likely take place in the near future for surplus funds to help carry the theater into the future.
“Our expectation is on Nov. 4, when the doors open, we will have completely paid for the project for the Adler to be renovated,” Schermer said.
Schermer, vice president of interactive media for Lee Enterprises, is the son of Lloyd Schermer, who headed the 1986 campaign. The theater was renamed at that time in the memories of E.P. Adler, former president of Lee Newspaper Syndicate, and his son, Philip D. Adler, former president of Lee Enterprises.
Greg Schermer said the construction was part of Lee’s downtown endeavors that included the Quad-City Times building.
“Lee’s involvement in downtown redevelopment began with the volunteer effort that was the Adler,” he said.
An open house on Thursday will show off the new stage, dressing rooms, loading dock and sound system — what the general public won’t be able to see when they walk in the theater doors beginning next weekend.
“The circumstances are that once we’re in here for a paid show, those areas are going to be in use and off limits to the general public for, obviously, a number of reasons,” Palmer said.
Palmer said the 15-month construction phase went very smoothly, but it’s something he wouldn’t want to repeat any time soon.
“I am looking forward to getting back into the event production business,” he said. “I am certainly looking forward to getting back to presenting shows, and doing what we were built for.”
David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.
ABOUT THE RENOVATION
The RiverCenter Adler Theatre reopens later this week, in time for its 75th anniversary.
A 15-month, $9 million renovation project has been completed, including a deeper stage, a new, expanded loading dock, new dressing rooms in the basement, computerized rigging equipment and an improved sound system. Although most of the changes can’t be seen from the auditorium, organizers and those in the industry say it will increase the number of Broadway musicals and concerts that can play at the Adler.
SEE THE CHANGES
The RiverCenter Adler Theatre will host a free grand reopening and 75th anniversary celebration on Thursday, Nov. 2. A reception begins at 5 p.m., with music by a Quad-City Symphony Orchestra string trio. Mayor Ed Winborn, Paul Westlake from Westlake Reed Leskosky, Perry Gere of Gere Dismer Architects and RiverCenter for the Performing Arts president Greg Schermer will speak from 5:40-5:50 p.m. An anniversary cake with 75 candles will be lit at 5:50 p.m. A Quad-City Symphony Orchestra woodwind quartet will perform at 6 p.m., followed by Opera Quad-Cities at 6:15 p.m. and Ballet Quad-Cities at 6:30 p.m. Tours to the public will begin at 6:45 p.m.
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