A LONG INTERMISSION ENDS: MUSICAL THEATRE RETURNS TO TRAVERSE CITY’S 1891 OPERA HOUSE
A Press-Ready Travel Feature
From the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau PHOTO CREDIT: Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau
PHOTO CUTLINE: Preserved by spite: In the 1920s, a consortium of local movie theatre owners purchased Traverse City’s 1891 opera house simply so they could shut it down and eliminate the competition it represented. In so doing, they preserved the historic 115-year-old hall from the ravages of time. It is now the oldest historically-intact opera house in Michigan.
By MIKE NORTON
TRAVERSE CITY – It’s been a long intermission.
For the first time in over a decade, this Northern Michigan resort community’s handsome 1891 opera house will begin entertaining audiences this summer with a regular schedule of live musical theatre.
Newly restored and renovated, the ornate Victorian performance hall will host a summer stock production of the musical comedy “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!” from July through September. The show is being produced by Theatre North, a semi-professional troupe that has produced successful dinner theatre productions at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa over the past two seasons.
“We’re so pleased to be able to have real stage performances in this wonderful space again,” said Geri Greenspan, executive director of the City Opera House Heritage Association, the nonprofit group that operates the facility. “It’s a very adaptable venue, but when all’s said and done, this is what the opera house was built for.”
Traverse City’s 115-year-old Opera House, the oldest historically intact Victorian-era opera house in Michigan, has hosted innumerable plays in its career – not to mention its fair share of vaudeville shows, concerts, balls, public meetings, high school graduations and political rallies for candidates from William Jennings Bryan to John McCain.
But the second-story performance hall has not hosted regular stage performances since the early 1990s. It was closed to regular events in 2001 to accommodate a massive $8.8 million restoration project in which almost all of its major architectural features – floors, walls and 43-foot vaulted ceilings – were replaced and redecorated. The restored 41,000-square-foot facility now includes state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment, elevators, a caterer’s kitchen and seating for 730 people.
The opera house reopened in 2005 for tours, meetings, weddings and other semi-public events – including a pair of high-profile fundraising concerts by local jazz keyboardist Bob James and actor/director/songwriter Jeff Daniels. This summer’s theatre production represents a return to regularly scheduled entertainment in the lavish performance space, said Greenspan.
“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” written by playwright/lyricist Joe DiPietro and composer Jimmy Roberts, holds the record as the longest-running off-Broadway production in history. Its cast of two men and two women take turns portraying more than 60 characters as they explore romantic relationships from high school through marriage, parenthood and old age.
OTHER THEATRE OPTIONS:
The return of theatre to the Opera House is one of several signs that Traverse City may be recovering some of its old reputation as a regular summer performance venue. During the 1960s and 1970s, the town was well known as the home of comedian Pat Paulsen’s popular Cherry County Playhouse, which produced light comedies starring prominent stage, screen and television stars of the time. Although no one is talking about reviving the Playhouse, there’s been a modest expansion of other stage offerings in recent years.
Two well-established venues that continue to offer regular high-quality theatre programs are the nearby Interlochen Center for the Arts, which is presenting its own production of “Chicago” this summer, and the Old Town Playhouse, whose 2006 summer bill includes the rollicking “Musical Comedy Murders of 1940.” Recently, they’ve been joined by the Williamsburg Showcase Dinner Theatre, which took over a former multiplex east of town as a venue for nostalgic musical revues and an intriguing dinner menu.
Still, the best theatre bargain in Traverse City is the free Shakespeare in the Park program held on summer evenings along the tree-shaded banks of the Boardman River. Audience members simply spread their blankets out on the grass, open their picnic baskets and prepare to be entertained. This year’s production, “The Winter’s Tale,” will be presented on the last two weekends in July.
For more information about tickets, showtimes, and other events at the Traverse City Opera House – and for a complete listing of other activities, attractions, lodging and dining options in the Traverse City area – contact the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau’s toll-free number, 1-800-TRAVERSE or visit their web site at www.mytraversecity.com
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Mike Norton
Media Relations
Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau
mnorton@mytraversecity.com
231-947-1120
101 W. Grandview Parkway
Traverse City, Michigan 49684
