… to restore, improve cultural hub
Venice Gondolier-Sun
VENICE —Venice Theatre put on a show Monday for an audience of one: Savannah Sipsy, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s Gulf Coast regional director.
Executive Director Kristofer Geddie, Board Member Debbie Gericke and Director of Advancement Camille Cline gave Sipsy a tour of the facility in the hopes Rubio can be of assistance in the theater’s continuing effort to rebuild after the devastation Hurricane Ian left behind nearly two years ago.
Reaching out to Rubio and U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, whose representative visited a week ago, is a “moonshot” attempt to get federal assistance, Cline said. The theater had been reassured by several people that it was in line for $6 million of the $201.5 million the Department of Housing and Urban Development gave the county to distribute, only to be denied any funding, she said.
Everyone was “shocked” when no money was awarded to it through the Resilient SRQ program, Board Member Doug Taylor said later, in a sit-down session with Sipsy.
“It’s left us not knowing which way to turn,” he said.
It “triggers” him that the theater became the public face of Ian’s wrath, yet there’s been no assistance at the state or federal level, he said.
“I think that’s wrong,” he said.
Shows can still go on in the Raymond Center and the black box Pinkerton Theatre “but we desperately want our full theater to come back,” Gericke said.
Without it “we won’t be Venice Theatre,” Taylor said.
The theater is losing $200,000-$250,000 per month from not having the use of the 432-seat Jervey Theatre, the main stage area, Cline said. And it’s having a ripple effect on downtown businesses used to serving pre- and post-show patrons.
From the days when the theater only put on a few shows a year, Geddie said, it’s now busy about 350 days a year, with a main stage production bringing about 500 people downtown.
The Jervey Theatre being dark significantly reduces the $50 million financial impact the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County states Venice Theatre has on the area, he said.
And, he said, it’s limiting Venice Theatre’s ability to feed a growing demand for the arts that’s “like no other,” he said.
Backstage
Sipsy’s tour began in the lobby, which escaped damage from Ian because the doors to the Jervey Theatre were kept closed, Geddie said.
The building had been through many incarnations before being converted to a theater in the early 1970s, he told her.
“And we’ve been renovating ever since,” he said.
From there, the group moved to the Pinkerton Theatre, which Geddie said is his favorite venue “because it can be transformed into anything.”
It’s currently staged for a production of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap,” whose run starts Friday. A Broadway production will open later this year, he said, with a notable difference: Because the Pinkerton Theatre seats only 90, the set requires much more attention to detail than the Broadway version will.
Every piece of the set has been touched by a volunteer, Production Manager and Technical Director John Andzulis told Sipsy, including cutting plastic foam and staining it to look like wood.
“I’m amazed every day when I come in to work because there’s something changed every day,” Geddie said.
Gericke said that she never would have guessed before joining the board how much work goes into a production.
An upstairs rehearsal studio the same size as the Pinkerton Theatre is a “pivotal” one to restore, Geddie said, while boxes of various items still line the hallways waiting for a new home after repairs are completed.
The building was emptied after Ian so everything could be checked for mold, he said. The costumes ended up being sent to Texas for cleaning, returning in a semi for volunteers to measure, tag and hang, he said.
About 70% of the costumes were salvaged, he said, which was fortunate because the cost of replacing them would have been “astronomical.”
Spaghetti
The final stop was the lighting booth area upstairs. But instead of looking out on the main stage, the view today is of the outdoors, where the part of the building destroyed by Ian used to be.
Electrical panels “crumpled and exploded,” Geddie said, and the staff referred to the remains of the wiring as “spaghetti.”
He told Sipsy of upgrades that include a lift that will enable people with disabilities to get on the stage, and a catwalk that will make the rigging accessible without having to hoist someone in a harness to deal with it.
The theater also needs to make sure everything meets the current building code, not the one in effect at the time earlier improvements were made.
That all means extra costs, none of which is covered by insurance, Geddie said.
“You can’t insure for the building you want,” he said.
Insurance covered about $5.5 million and fundraising so far has brought in another $3.5 million. However, the project’s price tag is $25 million. Hence, the appeal to Rubio and Steube.
Steube’s representative was “very compassionate and interested,” Gericke said, but is focused on helping people recovering from Tropical Storm Debby. The congressman will write a letter in support of a funding request, she said, which is something Rubio can do as well.
Sipsy said his office could also request a report about potential grant opportunities the theater could pursue, which could be a big help, Cline said.
The theater wants the senator to be able to tell the story of its recovery, she said.
Donate to the restoration effort at VeniceTheatre.org.
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