25.9.09

HISTORIC RHODE ISLAND THEATER TO REOPEN AFTER RESTORATION


THE STAGE HAS BEEN DARK AND THE VELVET CURTAINS CLOSED AT THE NEWPORT CASINO THEATER FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS, BUT A LITTLE IMAGINATION CAN CONJURE UP IMAGES OF A TIME LONG PAST WHERE WILL ROGERS OR OSCAR WILDE ENTERTAINED THE CROWDS. THE BUILDING WAS DESIGNED BY STANFORD WHITE, A NEW YORK ARCHITECT FOR THE RICH AND GLAMOROUS, WHOSE SHOCKING MURDER BY A GIRLFRIEND'S JEALOUS HUSBAND BECAME TABLOID SENSATION, AND CONTRIBUTED TO THE GLIMMERING LANDSCAPE THAT MADE NEWPORT A POPULAR SUMMER RETREAT FOR THE AFFLUENT INDUSTRIALISTS AND THEIR FAMILIES DURING AMERICA'S GILDED AGE. NOW AFTER MANY YEARS OF VACANCY AND DETERIORATION, THE HISTORIC BUILDING, OWNED BY THE INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME AND LOCATED AT THE NEWPORT CASINO COMPLEX, IS BEING REVIVED THROUGH A $4.6 MILLION FACE-LIFT THAT WILL RETURN IT TO A FUNCTIONING THEATER.
"THE THEATER ITSELF IS A GEM OF ITS AGE", SAID BILL GALE, A THEATER CRITIC FOR WRNI, RHODE ISLAND'S PUBLIC RADIO STATION, WHO HAS REVIEWED NEW ENGLAND PERFORMANCES FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. THIS FALL, WORKERS WILL INSTALL HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING AND NE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, MAKE THE BUILDING HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE, RESTORE THE EXTERIOR AND TOUCH UP OTHER SIGNS OF STRUCTURAL DEFECTS THAT LED THE BUILDING TO CLOSE IN 1987. THE THEATER IS EXPECTED TO REOPEN AS SOON AS NEXT SUMMER. IT WILL BE MANAGED AND MAINTAINED BY SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY, A NEARBY CATHOLIC COLLEGE WHOSE STUDENTS WILL PUT ON DISPLAYS THERE DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR. THE THEATER WILL SERVE AS SALVE'S MAIN PERFORMING ARTS SPACE, BUT WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE TO THE NEWPORT COMMUNITY AND TO THE TENNIS HALL OF FAME FOR LECTURES, MEETINGS AND OTHER PROGRAMS. NEWPORT TAKES PRIDE IN MAINTAINING ITS HISTORIC BUILDINGS, BUT EFFORTS TO RESTORE THE THEATER STALLED UNTIL SALVE AGREED TO TAKE THE LEAD AND MAINTAIN IT. THE BUILDING, WHICH WILL SEAT ROUGHLY 300 PEOPLE, MAINTAINS ITS ORIGINAL TOUCHES, FROM GRAND VELVET CURTAINS AND AN ORCHESTRA PIT BENEATH THE STAGE TO GREEN-FABRIC CHAIRS WITH SPACES BELOW FOR MEN TO PUT THEIR TOP HATS.

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