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Writer and editor Home > Blogs > Brain Droppings > Archives > 2009 > August > 21 > Entry
A new Dayton theater on the way
The folks at the Dayton Theatre Guild know people were talking about them.
They know what they were saying, too: that they would never get their new theater done. That the sign in a vacant lot at Fourth and Patterson downtown announcing the “future home” of the Dayton Theatre Guild wouldn’t amount to much. I admit, I wondered myself.
Turns out, everybody guessed wrong.
The first new production at the Dayton Theatre Guild’s brand new home will be “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” the devilishly complicated 18th-century costume drama made popular as the film “Dangerous Liaisons” in 1988. On Aug. 28, it’ll play out in what was formerly the Dayton Gym Club, a building on Wayne Avenue in the Oregon District that the Guild bought last year.
They’ve been working practically nonstop since. It’s not enough that they decided to open their new season with a huge piece with a cast of 13 and more than 70 period costumes — they had this little matter of finishing their new theater building, too. Last week, painters, drywallers and electricians toiled in the former Gym Club basketball court that is being divided into a 120-seat theater with a thrust stage, and a large storage space/work area for props, costumes and the like.
The stage should feel as intimate as the 80-seat theater at the Guild’s old home on Salem Avenue. “We didn’t want to change who we are,” said Debra Kent, vice president for resources for the all-volunteer organization. On the other hand, the new facility will completely upgrade the profile of the Theatre Guild.
For one thing, it provides the first time their entire operation is under one roof. No more props stored in board members’ garages because of no room at the old 2,700-square-foot place. For another, the big lobby, high ceilings and smart new facade will put a classier face on the quality of the stagework. For another, it places the Theatre Guild in the flourishing Oregon District.
“We’re very excited to be in the Oregon District with all the wonderful business partnerships possible there,” board president Carol Finley said. “Pacchia has already stepped to the plate to help us with wonderful food for our opening night after-party. This is a good fit for us, and it’s exciting to be within walking distance of a dozen restaurants; that offers us new dinner and theater options we’ll be exploring.”
The Guild’s board looked at dozens of buildings before finding the Gym Club, with its open spaces and parking. It had hoped to build at that Fourth Street lot it bought several years ago, until the cost of new construction got too high.
The Gym Club cost $425,000, and they’ve spent $280,000 to get the place up to code and ready to perform in. Finley expects they’ll spend another $100,000 over the next three years, plus spend countless hours of volunteer time, to turn the building into the showplace the Guild envisions — one that includes not just the main theater, but a cabaret space downstairs and practice and rehearsal rooms that other nonprofits could use.
So, how did it all get done?
“We have a very loyal group of patrons,” Finley said of the Guild, which was founded in the 1920s. “And some have been very generous.” In particular, local philanthropists Caryl D. Philips and L. David Mirkin gave significant gifts. “But for the most part, this has been done with $20, $50 and $100 checks,” she said. “We have a small group of determined people who’ve been consistently with us year after year until it happened.” Was she, like many of the rest of us, worried that the new Guild theater would never happen?
“No. I never thought we wouldn’t get done. I never thought we’d give up on it.”
They’re close enough to the realization of this years-long dream, in fact, that now they can afford to joke about it, even as they slouch bleary-eyed toward the finish line. Greg Smith, the longtime board member who’s directing “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” and is making many of the costumes himself, took the same question: Did he ever think it wouldn’t get done?
He gave a boisterous laugh: “I’m still there! It’s not done yet!”
It’s done enough. The show will go on, in a great new space that will make our local artscape a bit brighter. Bravo.
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By Michael Martin
August 22, 2009 9:58 AM | Link to this
On behalf of the members of the Oregon District Business Association, I am absolutely thrilled to welcome the Theatre Guild to the Oregon District. The group is a Dayton Gem as is the historic Oregon District…what a great match! We are excited about our future relationship and are anxiously awaiting opening night on August 28! Mike Martin, President Oregon District Business Association