TCR renovations render me speechless so hear what others have to say

By Diana Nollen

My Feb. 11 tour of renovations at Theatre Cedar Rapids left me speechless. And that ain't easy to do!

The theater came to its new home in the Iowa Theatre Building in downtown Cedar Rapids in 1983, and after the initial renovation, it basically just had some cosmetic tweakings before the Floods of 2008 changed everything in an instant.

From the moment I stepped into the outer lobby, or vestibule, and saw the new Box Office digs, new paint job and renewed architectural details, all I could utter for the next two hours was "ohmigod."

The restoration is amazingly beautiful.

I used to know my way from top to bottom in the dark. I spent 10 years hunched over a sewing machine in the basement and even more years giving Youtheatre students tours from the basement to the third floor so they wouldn't get discombobulated going from class to class.

But I've basically been away for a decade. All the nooks and crannies I once knew so well were submerged when the Cedar River's epic surge June 11 to 13, 2008, poured in through the building's basement and rose up and over the TCR stage and first seven rows of mainfloor seating. So much was destroyed in the water's unforgiving wake.

The community theater's volunteers were among the first responders, piling sandbags around the lobby entrance before the waters hit. When the waters began to recede, they returned to help carry items drenched in murk to the curb, awaiting their final resting place on Mount Trashmore. Such a sad ending for so many costumes, equipment, furnishings and items stored in the basement.

"From Moment 1 -- D Day -- the (volunteer) response was fast and passionate and deliberate," says Casey Prince, the theater's managing director. "As (the staff was) trying to fight the coming flood, in that moment where we felt like we're in this alone, suddenly dozens and dozens of people started showing up. Some were my friends, others I never saw before in my life. They saw it on TV and wanted to do something. It was amazing."

The bulk of the muck-out work was left to the professionals, but Prince says it was important to let the volunteers help remove seats, costumes and the stage floor.

"We would have left it all to the (professional) crew, but those things felt so personal," Prince says. "There was an obvious interest and desire by the volunteers to help that it didn't seem right not to permit the people who had a personal attachment to help with that. (The damage) was so devastating, it allowed people some solace to say at least they got to walk a costume they were familiar with out the door.

"It really was devastating. (The renovation) is like a total rebirth in so many ways. It was bad and broken after the muck-out, like a giant open cave."

The volunteers soon returned, turning their attention to helping the theater continue its mission to bring entertainment and educational opportunities to the area. They rehearsed and performed in schools and the Grant Wood House on Second Avenue SE, then helped create a theater in a former movie house by Lindale Mall that became TCR Lindale from October 2008 to Jan. 24, 2010.

"Tons of people came to help build TCR Lindale, then helped us move out," Prince says. "Fifty people came today (Feb. 11), helping us move our offices" to new quarters on the Iowa Theatre's second floor.

Back to my comments: After all the work by legions of volunteers, the theater's staff, OPN Architects, Ryan Companies and all the subcontractors, I predict more people like me will be rendered speechless when they walk through the doors for Friday night's gala -- and every night after that for years to come.

For me, the most satisfying thing is that the basement is no longer creepy. It's beautiful and inviting, with fresh paint on the walls; a totally revamped floor plan utilizing parts of the basement I had never seen, occupied by tenants before the flood; and lovely new facilities for the casts and crews who spend so many hours in the makeup room, dressing rooms and green room during shows.

But enough from me -- here are comments from others I interviewed for my print and digital package on TCR moving home:

LESLIE CHARIPAR, TCR artistic director and director for "The Producer"

"It wasn't that complicated in the old days to learn your way around the basement. That learning curve is back to zero. We've added so much space. I've been a little emotional lately because it's just starting to settle in how lucky we are. We've always been lucky to have that building. Now to have that building in its renovated status, it's not how theaters are normally. It's going to be the coolest place to work."

"Have you ever seen (administrative and finance director) J. David Carey giddy? The funnest part is watching people who have been here since the beginning. They didn't think they'd see the day when this building reached its potential.

"I hope that people understand how grateful we are for what we've gotten and how this project has worked out. When people see how beautiful this building is, we think it's five times more beautiful because we know where it came from and we get to work there every day."

TREVOR DEBTH, actor in "The Producers"

"It's hard to pass up the opportunity of 'The Producers' and the building reopening the theater. It's an exciting time down there. What a great show to do it with. All those elements are combined for a pretty exciting experience."

"Going into the building for the first time Monday (Feb. 8) was pretty unbelievable. It's surreal for me -- I essentially grew up there. I've been doing shows there since I was 11 and know the place pretty darned well. To see the changes and have this new perception of space, to try and recall what your perception was before and now to see the comparison is surreal."

 BRAD FRITZ, OPN architect, TCR Volunteer Board chairman, Board of Directors member, "The Producers" cast member

"(OPN has been) big supporters of the theater. Bradd Brown is on the Board of Directors. I'm on the Volunteer Board and Board of Directors and an actor at the theater. All of the staff here are patrons of the theater. To have a project that we have such an attachment to on a more personal level is very important to us. It gives us a bigger sense of pride. We throw ourselves into projects like this. We want to see them done well -- that's important not only to us but to other people, as well."

"One of the most important elements was to get TCR back up and running downtown. It attracts over 30,000 patrons annually, which helps restaurants, businesses and bars. The overall vitality of the downtown is going to be bumped up a huge notch when this theater gets back up and running."

BRADD BROWN, OPN Architects principal, TCR Board of Directors vice president

"This is my eighth year on the board. To know the quality of the productions the theater puts on, I'm overwhelmed with what has been accomplished. I'm excited to see the community's reaction. ... We get fired up over buildings opening. Opening nights validate all your hard work."

PAT DEIGNAN, TCR Board of Directors past president and Board of Trustees vice president, instrumental in working with FEMA for the theater's flood recovery funding

"It's gorgeous. It's just amazing that it's actually coming together. It looks better than I expected. It's amazing what contractors can do to take an old building and make it look new while preserving its heritage and historical points. A key part of working with FEMA is that they were very particular for the funding

going to preservation. We worked closely with the State Historical and Preservation Office to make sure we were doing the right things."

He says TCR is important as an institution and the Iowa Theatre Building to the fabric of Cedar Rapids because "it's the arts. Theater is just one of the oldest forms of communication and the arts is one of the things that came back in stages after the flood. The arts are fundamental -- we all need to express them. What the volunteers do on stage and on boards, managed by a professional staff, TCR does for the benefit of the community and the volunteers. There's so much ownership. That's a great feeling to engender. One of the hallmarks of Theatre Cedar Rapids is that everybody feels they have a little bit of ownership and that's a great feeling."

TIM BOYLE, TCR Board of Directors president, "The Producers" cast member

With the grand reopening, he says he's looking forward to "just that moment when the overture kicks in, the lights go down, the curtain comes up and the music starts. Each of those people in the audience and each of us cast members will have a slightly different reaction. It'll be a tingle, it'll be a buzz. ... It's going to be fun, dramatic and meaningful to the city, but it's that moment, you know."

JOAN SAMMONS, TCR administrative assistant for nearly 32 years

"1983 was a harried move. The building was still being completely finished. We were vacuuming the lobby and stairs almost as the first patrons were coming in. We're not expecting that (this time around). The auditorium is done, the seats are in and we have a professional cleaning company coming in."

"I love the fact that we covered up some historical things when the '83 renovation was done and we've found them again. Finding those chandeliers that were original to the building was wonderful. It's beautiful -- the restoration is just incredible."

She says that volunteers and others getting a preview of the renovations are reacting the same way I did.

"Everyone is just speechless. The volunteer areas are just so improved."