Playhouse st Jlofe'
ByIevaAugstums
Staff Reporter
After four months, the curtain has
risen again at the Lincoln Community
Playhouse.
The playhouse, 2500 S. 56th St.,
closed its doors to the public June 24
and allowed Brager Construction to
take over the director’s chair for its lat
est production: renovation.
A project made possible through
the 1996 capital campaign, A Time to
Act, raised $750,000 through commu
nity support and donations to remodel
the 26-year-old building. Part of the
money, $300,000, was used to pay the
playhouse’s debts for past projects.
The remaining money, a $450,000
birthday present in honor of the play
house’s 50th anniversary, literally
brought down the house with jackham
mers, ladders and construction work
ers scattered throughout, Rod
McCullough, executive director of
LCP said.
The season premiere performance
of “The Secret Garden” on Oct. 31
marked the end of renovations.
“The mainstage was finished only
1 Vi hours before curtain,” McCullough
said. “A little pressed for time, yes, but
the final results were worth the stress.”
Renovations include a larger entry
way, an expanded lobby, bigger doors,
new restrooms, new heating and air
conditioning units, new ceilings, new
carpet, a fresh coat of paint, new lights,
reupholstered and cushioned seats and
additional seating for handicapped
persons.
McCullough said the main reason
for the remodeling was to take care of
the heating and air flow throughout the
building. The addition of other items,
such as automatic doors.and additional
bathroom stalls, were added in the
process.
“We wanted to do as much as we
^v#'-—----£-,•
7^5 reassuring that there is still great *
support and concern for the fine arts”
Rod McCullough
executive director, Lincoln Community Playhouse
had,” McCullough said > -'
lle *aid 62 perceiffof the pfey-r
house’s bu^et is raised from ticket
sales, tuition and coMce$ssiohXXIte
other 38 percent comes
rnunity. •» - *
i^We are very thankful for the genf
erou»,community we have,? said
McCullough. “It’s reassuring that there
is^ill great support and concern for
thefg^ags.” _ f -
Major contributors for Alfaeta
Act include Dale Jensen, National
Bank of Commerce, Woods CtSraroie
Fund, The Acklie Chgm^ble
foundation, Altant Communicatrons,
Ameritai and die Rogers FSotmSpn.
Beginning as the Circlet!^eatre,
LCP has been serving the cbcp&unity
since 1946, and had to r^ggjHpif'i^
times in search of more sp^^^S X :
“The playhouse haabeeii ipiised
here on 56th Street sino^^72/'
McCullough said. “Until thetecent
renovations, nothing has been ehan^ed
since then”
McCullough said some coiistruc
tion was done when tjkd ChwfreAi
Theatre opened in 1980, but bosignif
icant changes were made to the bidd
ing and Mainstage Theater.
Playhouse employees and patrons
felt Vision and anxiety throughout the
summer, McCullough said- Many of
the summer workshops, including the
ater^ lasses and the Theatre Arts
Acddenty, were relocated 15 The
Wagon Train Project, 517 S. Seventh
^ “There was a sligfrtincc^efifsnce
placed on the, cdirilmmrty ”
McCullough said. “Howev^ j j|i
pation was high, and actual^ykhe
enrollment for our summer programs
ovelffpwed onceagam.” j?*, >: ^ <
Tryouts and rehearsals fof^he
199.7-98 season wdre also affected by'
the renovations. r *
Ken McCartney, a University of
i Nebraska-Lmcoln freshman pre-med
and biochemistry major and LCP actor
in “The Secret Garden,” gaid it was
awkward trying out and rehearsing on
a stage that was in an auditorium with
no carpet or chairs.
“We had a hard time with
rehearsals,” McCartney said. ‘“The
Secret Garden’ is a musical, add trying
to learn lines and sing in a large empty
ftoom was extremely difficult. IfVas
like a large echo chamber.” j
■ The whole construction process
was hard for everyone, but overall the
cast and production crew did well,
McCartney said.
“I realize opening one’s mouth and
swallowing duk wasn’t the best situa
tion,” McCullough said. “But we tried
to accmrim^^^production members
Beth Whitaker UNL biological
science research tfehnologist and LCP
season-ticket holder, aild'dte renova
tions help make the-tjfeater more
impressive and up to date. «:*
. “The renovations have givgn the
playhouse a nice, frdsh Took,”
Whitaker said. - i
• *<
i
Robbery
Four people leaving a house
Saturday night were held at gunpoint
with a shotgun, and one man’s wallet
was taken.
The 20-year-old Papillion man
that he and three
shotgun approached them, pointed
the gun at them and demanded
money. 1
IJe Papillion man gave the man
with'the gun his #allet - a $37 loss -
and the man forced the group into the
Thdjta^n described the gunman as
a black man, 5 feet 8 inches tall and
115 pounds. He was wearing a dark
hooded sweat shirt and blue jeans.
©restore ;j
uments <j
MONUMENT from page 1 ^
Thacker said his company had
helped restore U.S. national parks
for severtfyears, donating abput
$12 million, and it wanted to
become involved with a project of
national prominence.
“Two years ago, we went to the
national parks and said we wanted to
be identified with one really impor
tant thing we could do - something
that would be very symbolic and
appeal to the whole mass of
America, and we’d like to adopt
that,” Thacker said. %
ThackOJ^said the National Park
Service suggested that Target help
restore the badly deteriorating
Washington Monument. '
Thacker said Target adopted the
plati, and visited the monument to
see its ©racking walls, broken eleva
tor and damaged interior.
“We raised $5 million in one year
in hopes that the monument would
be i$$tof||l by the mjljennium,”
until fpffPwH have ^n architec
turally designed scaffolding.
Thacker said he requested the
services of Michael Graves, a
prominent architect who designed a
scaffolding at his cost.
He said the scaffolding would be
a silver, aluminum structure with
blue grid work. The grid work would
be a mesh-like substance which
would allow people to view the
lighted monument through the scaf
folding at night, he said.
“I wanted the monument to still
be a piece of art while it’s being
restored,” Thacker said.
He said if the monument were to
have traditional scaffolding, people,
especially children, would not be
able to enjoy it.
“The monument is a 50-story
building and it dominates the sky
line. The thought of 2 million peo
ple, and especially about 1.5 million
school kids, seeing an eyesore would
really be a crime,” Thacker said.
Thacker said he also wanted to
insure Target had a liaison to work
between the company and the
National Parks Service, which is
restoring the building.
He said Bob Ripley, who lives in
Lincoln and is also a UNL graduate,
a
The thought of 2
million people...
seeing an eyesore
would really be a
crime”
Bob Thacker
vice president marketing for Target
was a nationally recognized authori
ty on restoration projects.
Ripley also is heading the
restoration of the Nebraska State
Capito.l
“I wanted to make sure that we
had someone who really was an
authority on historic builcjjngs, who
is an architect, who knew govern
ment and who has a national reputa
tion in restoration and architecture -
and we got Bob Ripley - he’s a gem
right here in Lincdfn,” Thacker said.
1 hacker said visitors would nde
to the top of the newly renovated
Washington Monument in a partly
glass elevator, where they would be
able to see the stones that represent
different states and cities.
He said the stones also were
deteriorated, and that he would
request the help of the respective
states or cities to restore them.
Thacker said another man from
Lincoln, associated with the Save
Outdoor Sculpture group, was
assisting Target with its other goal -
restoring 100 monuments across the
nation.
An exhibit featuring the 100
monuments Thacker said Target
would restore, will be at the base of
the monument.
The monument, along with the
100 other exhibits, would be
unveiled in a collective celebration
of the millennium.
The renovation of the monu
ments is a part of Target’s communi
ty service efforts, which Thacker
said are unprecedented in the retail
industry.
“The reason you do it is because
it strengthens die community. You
can’t have a great store if the town
isn’t strong,” he said.
y3lW* '.
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