Toledo Theater About Community

There was a day, maybe a century or so ago, when every Iowa town had its own Opera House.

Yes, OPERA HOUSE. Because, while vaudeville and silent movies and then talkies would come along later, operas where performed in even the smallest of hamlets as a form of culture.

In Toledo, Iowa, when the 650-seat Wieting Theatre (left and the subject of today's Ramblin' column in The Gazette) opened on Sept. 12, 1912, Verdi's opera, "II Trovatore" ("The Troubadour") an "Opera completa per canto e pianoforte" played on the stage. A poster in the theater's front lobby advertises the show. And, before the opera began, Ella Wieting, who had the theater built as a  tribute to her late husband, Philip, officially presented the $20,000 theater to the community of Toledo. It was a leap of faith on her part that the people would keep it going, a leap of faith that has proved true and beneficial to the community.

In the ensuing years it's hard to calculate how many of Iowa "opera houses" have faded to black, demolished by the ravages of time or a wrecking ball. But many Eastern Iowa communities have kept the ball rolling -- among them Elkader and What Cheer, which have very fine restored opera houses used for a handful of worthy live performances every year.

Count Toledo among those communities as it works to raise $1.2 million in local funds as well as securing state and area grants to fund a renovation of the Wieting and add more modern bathrooms. The plan is to have the renovated theater ready for its centennial -- Sept. 12, 2012.

The new theater will have 100 fewer seats on the main floor, but those 296 new seats will be 21-inches wide as opposed to the 18-inch width each patron gets now. The seats will include one of man's greatest inventions -- cup holders.

The renovation, of course, also inludes new electical, sprinkler, sound, lighting and projection systems. Old murals on the walls will be restored. The old heavy curtain, still hanging in the rafters and in great shape, will be spruced up.

While this is all fine and dandy, the real story in Toledo is the community's ability to keep the theater viable all these years through mostly volunteer  help. Volunteers operated the theater in the early years, then it was leased to private operators through the golden years of moving pictures (1931 to 1958) before volunteers once again assumed responsibility.

In 1960, when the theater reopened, upwards of 60 theater guild members and dozens more volunteers enthusiastically embraced the idea. Plays and movies continued to fill the theater on a regular basis. But, as the years ticked by, participation waned. At one time, the guild had but three members.

In 1996 -- was it really that long ago? -- I had the pleasure of watching a dress rehearsal of the production "Phil Smiley's Talent Show" based on the Iowa State Fair and its talent competition. What a grand night and performance that was, showing how this theater could become instrumental in enhancing community spirit once again.

Unfortunately, shows have been few and far between at the Wieting Theatre in recent years. But I understand Toledo's younger people have embraced the revitalization of this live entertainment venue.

While radio, TV, stereo phonographs, boom boxes, compact disc players, DVD recorders, computers and flat screen TVs have filled our homes with entertainment options through the past century, I say Bravo to Toledo. None of these options will ever replace the pleasure of watching a live performance.