Campus Theatre’s ribbon cut April 20

President Dorothy Leland points out features on the renovated Campus Theatre

As the Campus Theatre welcomed visitors into the new black box theater at a grand opening April 20, many GCSU students and faculty, as well as Milledgeville community members, eagerly plunged into the newly furnished space.

GCSU President Dorothy Leland gave a speech centered on the history of the building and the finalized restoration process. Milledgeville Mayor Richard Bentley also contributed words, stating that the spirit and excitement for the theater and the growing community is what Milledgeville is all about, not a scandal by a visiting celebrity (referring to a recent late-night incident involving NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger). One particularly enthusiastic devotee to the new Campus Theatre is Karen Berman, GCSU Artistic Director of Theatre Programs.

“We are so excited to be in a place where all our faculty and staff will have their own office space together, where we can bond and have a special green room for the students,” Berman said. “We are really excited to have a design lab where students can work on 3D programs. Students can create designs for set, lights, and costumes. Also, we have our own acting lab now. We have never had that before to call our own.”

Berman is also animated about the location being so convenient for downtown restaurant guests and shoppers.

“Being in the heart of community, in downtown, will allow us to be a part of the community,” Berman said. “It will bring a new vitality to the community. It’s really an honor to be this space with this beautiful art deco marquee.”

Yet, with so many thrilled supporters, there were also some unexpectedly let down devotees. Whereas many members of the theater department knew the Campus Theatre was going to be a part rental space, many claim that they did not expect it to be to such an extent as was recently laid out.

Russell Staples, Technical Director for the Theatre Department, was one of the people that knew it was going to be a partial rental space upfront. However, he asserts that it was not until after the restoration project was completed that he became aware of the specific limitations. He maintained that he was told it would be a rental space 46 weekends out of the year, and the theatre department was only given six weekends.

“When we first were talking about the space we were under the impression that it was going to be a theater space/rental and in fact it is going to be a rental space/theater,” Staples said. “Yet, either way it goes it is a space for our students. It is still a great learning space and is very positive. Yeah, there are some negative things and it’s not the ideal we are hoping for, but it is better than what we got.”

Junior theater major Stacey Silverman was disappointed when she heard this news through word of mouth from fellow students.

“I am bummed out,” Silverman said. “You walk up to the building and it says ‘Department of Theatre’ and while it has our classrooms, it is no longer just our theatre. It was a false promise.”

It seems that the limitations being placed on the theatre department using the space is confusing many people. Berman claims that early on the Campus Theatre was meant to be a multi-purpose space. However, she said that the limitation of six weekends a year is not correct.

“From the beginning we knew this was a part rental space. There were no specific promises. I am not sure how this will all work out yet,” Berman said. “We do want to rent out because it’s going to help the university to pay down the debt of the building. So rentals will be important and it will help everyone on campus if this building is rented.”

Berman points out that it is important to have “this space be available to the community, as well as to the Department of Theatre, the bookstore, and Jittery Joe’s.” Ideally, she wants to unify with the community and provide those with warm memories of the theatre to be able to visit it and find “creative uses for this beautifully restored space.”

Overall, the many visitors that flooded the lobby of the Campus Theatre during the ribbon cutting ceremony were impressed by the clean, lavish restoration to the interior. They were greeted by jugglers, free candy, popcorn, and soda, as well as a silent film featuring the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy in the black box theatre.

After GCSU acquired the old cinema in February 2008 many are glad to see it open after two years of construction on the sidewalks of historic downtown.

Kyle Cullars, executive director of Auxiliary Services, said all rentals of the black box theater will be going through the Facility Reservations Office. Although he said it would be the “primary performance space for the theater department itself”, he also knows that there are already outside parties looking to rent the space.

“The black box theater will be rented out for private use to help pay off the building,” Cullars said. “I think there is already a big demand for it, but time will tell. There are outside parties that may want to use it for theater events. The other primary use would be for civic organizations or private individuals that want to rent it for an event, like wedding receptions.”

The GCSU theater will be presenting “Steel Magnolias” in November 2010 and “Milledgeville Memoirs,” an oral history project of current Milledgeville residents, in spring 2011. “Milledgeville Memoirs” will be dramatized by playwright Professor David Muschell.

“I’m pleased that we have been allowed to have the first choice for selection of dates and we are planning two major shows next season in the new theatre,” Berman said. “Since this is a black box venue, it is not the ideal space for every type of performance we produce. But, it will be a wonderful addition to our performance options for intimate shows such as ‘Steel Magnolias.’ ”

Berman believes one of the best features of the theater is the intimacy the actors can have with the audience.

“The audience will have this wonderful opportunity to really see the facial expressions,” Berman said. “Our costumes will have to be so meticulously designed and built so that the audience being so close up will see the artistry of them. It will give us a space to work in that is so different from the 940 seat Russell Theatre.”

Through the next 20 years the new building will be paid off through bonds issued by the Georgia Higher Education Facilities Authority. The $6.9 million renovation was able to maximize space to optimize its potential by increasing the square feet from 17,000 to 25,000 feet. Now, for the first time since the movie theater’s closing in 1983, the Campus Theatre will be open and available to students.

Posted by Chelsea Thomas on Apr 30 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry