Dreams Come True

Blogreader,

You know how some buildings are designed so well that stepping into them feels like moving through a portal and stepping into another world, one far removed from whereever you thought you were?

That's the beauty of architecure. You can step into a cathedral and be taken to another plane of being, somewhere holy.

Last Friday night, I was taken to a metropolitan isle, a paradise of plushy seats and dramatic lighting.

I am naturally given to exaggeration, so please excuse the following words used to describe my first experience in the new Florence Little Theatre on Dargan Street -

The brick and mortar representation of the divine touch between Adam and God in Leonardo di Vinci's Sistine Chapel painting.

It was a packed house. The Dargan Street theater holds 400 people, but I feel like they might have found a way to cram more in there. It was a sea of penguin suits and flashy dresses. It was class...except for me, who looked more like a homeless who had robbed a thrift store.

I had seen the new theater before hand, preparing a piece for 8 Days A Week, but there's something about a place that changes once it feels up with people: people in tuxes, people in designer dresses, people with Florence faces and accents stepped through the glass doors of the Little Theatre and emerged with metropolitan gaits and cosmopolitan attitudes.

To look around, you would have thought you were anywhere but Florence.

A question that ran through my head constantly, "Where's the McDonald's? Where's the Burger King?"

Nowhere to be found. This building arose from the palm sweat and pockets of the Florence community.

Blogreader, it was rainy that night and, as you know, rains can be quite harsh on downtown Florence, but in the Theatre it was New York, it was Chicago!

The one phrase that nearly every patron I interviewed shared was "I can't believe I'm in Florence."

This was before they even got into the theater itself. This was still in the lobby.

Once the performance was over, those who entered the lobby surprised, emerged from the theater wide-eyed, exhuberant.

The performance of "Jesus Christ Superstar" was nice. Glen Gourley, with his Cabaret-style interpretation of Herod, stole the show. The energy was high-octane throughout the entire show. Lead actor Roger Kirby hit the high notes and played the Jesus character fairly orothodox-ily...if that's the right way to put it.

Only a couple of small complaints about it. One wishes that a few of the High Priests and Apostles were more audible (Judas fell beneath the music at times and maybe he could loosen up a bit). But everything else was fantastic!

The costuming was wonderfully anachronistic.

It is a relief as the hype leading up to the new theater within the Florence community was comparable to, and may have even surpassed that of Spiderman 3.

It may also be another kink in the argument of many naysayers concerning the planned Downtown Revitalization. Those who went to the Little Theatre last night saw the possibilities if the community is willing to put some work and some money behind the creative minds of the Florence artsy-fartsy.

It has begun to convince me. For a while, blogreader, I was a skeptic, downright cynical, that it was possible in this community that has managed to thrive economically but has faltered culturally.

But tonight proved me utterly wrong. The combined effort of the arts community showed that a pan-Florence artistic effort by concerned citizens certainly produces incredible results. The only thing to do now is to keep the momentum going. As quickly as possible, the red tape on the new Performing Arts Center planned to be constructed just down the road from Florence Little Theatre needs to be taken care of and construction should be begun as soon as possible.

Hit them with art, blogreaders, and they'll never go back!

For those who have been unable to attend "Jesus Christ Superstar" yet, I encourage you to do so. Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and now (recently added) Sunday are excellent chances to get a better look at over a year's worth of work.

One look inside may convince you that something special is going on in Florence.

Log In | Register as a new member