The whine of power tools will soon give way to the roar of the crowd at Wausau’s historic Grand Theater, which has been closed since May and stripped to its bones for a monumental $17 million summer glow-up.
This weekend, the 99-year-old landmark wakes up from its summer slumber with larger seats, restored historic details and a packed calendar of shows waiting in the wings. Thanks to community and donor support, the Grand Theater is living up to its name and stepping back into the spotlight brighter, bolder and more vibrant than ever.
“Every inch of the theater’s been touched, from the top to bottom,” said Executive Director Sean Wright.
Patrons are bound to notice all kinds of changes at their first show back at the Grand, but the one change they will surely feel right away is the new seats. To accommodate the new, softer custom-built seats, overall capacity was decreased from 1,208 to about 1,169.
But the verdict on the new seats is resounding: They are indeed more comfortable. And in some cases, they’re larger. The Golden Circle area up front features wider chairs, along with the lower balcony seats — which used to be the smallest seats in the theater.
Perhaps the most useful, and requested, addition to the seats are cupholders — something manufacturer Kotobuki had never before made for performing arts seats.
“We told them, ‘This is Wisconsin,’” Wright joked.
A little extra polish was added to the seating with one-of-a-kind end caps affixed to the aisle seats, carved in a classic style to match the rest of the theater.
“We’re the only theater in the world with these end caps. They were custom made by Kotobuki for this project,” Wright said. “People who have seen it have said, ‘Oh, is that historic that from 1927?’ and that’s exactly what we were going for. We wanted it to look and feel historic even though it’s on a very modern seat. That’s the level of work they do, the incredible detail in terms of paint and carpet to make it all look historic.”
It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do.
The Grand, previously a mix of beiges, tans and reds that somewhat muted its gold accents, has been transformed by Conrad Schmitt designers. The primary goal was restoring some historic accuracy and ditching the dated look of the previous, overly warm blend.
“That was kind of a theme in the 1980s, you made everything a little tiramisu,” Wright said. “Everything just kind of floated in shades of gold and tan.”
The new paint colors were chosen to evoke the historic colors of the original Grand, but also to complement the architecture and help bring out the craftsmanship of the artful trim and accents throughout the theater.
“Now you can see all the levels of detail,” Wright said. “We wanted to have people stop and go, ‘Oh I’ve never looked at that before, I never realized that’s there.’ All these things that were a little monochrome before now will stand out for all the different architectural work and color.”
The most striking additions are pops of jade and gold color that accent the delicate trimwork, as well as a historic glazed blue paint that brings out the stunning texture of the sidewall panels that was always there, but hardly noticed under the dull red paint.
The restored original entrance is one of the most dramatic changes visitors notice when they return to the Grand. The entrance under the marquee has been restored to its original style and function. Gone is the awkward sloped floor and the obstructive interior set of doors. Instead, visitors will walk into a flat entryway, centered around the original 1927 box office, that flows right into the foyer outside the theater.
“Doors were put in there to block it off to keep the house warm,” Wright explained. “We worked with our architect to open this space back up with fully restored, historic doors, creating a gathering space where people can enjoy a drink before the show.”
Additionally, changes to the Great Hall will have a big effect on how people gather before, during and after a show. In addition to a spruced-up bar space, the floors and walls of the Great Hall have been updated with a more meaningful and practical design.
“It’s going to be a much better experience. All the bars are fully operational, making bar time much more efficient, and we’ll have pre-show performances like the Jerry Ensemble,” Wright said. “We really wanted to showcase the history as a theater versus the modernness of the Great Hall, including custom touches like bringing in the water and wood patterns drawn from the region’s nature.”
But it’s not just about looks — new acoustic panels drastically reduce the reverberation and cacophony in the Great Hall, too.
“That’s a major, major piece of this for us,” Wright said. “We’ve noticed it being in here during construction — you can have a conversation in here and not be yelling.”
The new sound dampening materials, along with flexible staging options, will now allow the Great Hall to function as a secondary performance space for events ranging from classical quartets to standing-room general admission shows. This flexibility will allow the Grand to not only diversify performances, but potentially increase the number of shows offered in a season.
“A Broadway show now in our theater takes at least a day on either side to strip the theater down and then restore it, and sometimes even two days to truly restore,” Wright said earlier this year. “So that’s an opportunity where instead of having two dark days, we have the opportunity to do something in the Great Hall from a performance standpoint. It just opens up a whole new world of possibilities for us from a programming standpoint.”
Wright said, when working on a building this old, the crew was thankful there weren’t too many surprises that popped up along the way. The few surprises they found were often positive.
“One great surprise was finding original 1927 crown molding tucked away in a storage room, which we were able to use to create the mold for the new plasterwork,” Wright said.
Guest services are improved by installing a family restroom to the foyer area and a men’s restroom to the balcony foyer near the bar.
Backstage, a new greenroom was built out of a largely unused kitchen. The expanded area is centered around a stunning solid wood table built by a local craftsman. The fridge and cupboards will be stocked with locally sourced snacks — like cheese curds and Wisconsin beer — to literally share a bit of Central Wisconsin flavor with nationally touring talent.
A good chunk of money was also spent on elements that no guests will be taking a selfie in front of. Massive improvements were made to the HVAC, roof and electrical systems to help future-proof the Grand and ensure another century of shows.
“Scaffolding was up for three months,” Wright said. “I think we topped out early in the process at close to 100 subcontractors a day working in this building on various projects and we’re thrilled that the vast majority of them are either strictly local or within the state of Wisconsin.”
The renovation comes on the back of a resurgence for the Grand Theater. Eleven years ago, Wright said, the Grand hit a subscriber low point.
“In 2015, we bottomed out at 410 subscriber accounts and we’ve been growing it ever since,” he said.
Subscribers are patrons who purchase tickets to four shows at the start of the season and have access to presales. After clearing the COVID setback, the Grand is nearing a record 1,100 subscriber accounts.
“That’s still about 50 more accounts than we’ve ever had before so it shows that people are excited,” Wright said.
Subscribers represent more than just ticket sales — a healthy subscriber count shows the Grand is cultivating a following that trusts the venue will provide a quality slate of shows every year. It’s an investment.
“We’ve bucked the trend. Subscriptions as a whole in the performing arts industry have never come back from where they were in the early 2000s,” Wright explained. “It looked like that was going to be the case for us as well, but we made a concerted effort to build that base back up and really program for all of our audiences. Those people aren’t just buying tickets, they’re truly advocates for our organization and they’re donors to the capital campaign. They’re excited and telling us how much they can’t wait to be back in the theater.”
With only days left before the Grand opens to the public for Wayne Newton’s concert on Saturday, Nov. 7, staff is excited to share the renovated venue with the community once again.
“I hope they come in and appreciate the work and that they’re proud of the work that’s been done,” Wright said, “because the Grand isn’t about any one of us. The Grand is about the community and the people who come in and buy tickets, who support it, who have had their kids dance on that stage and have written a check to help bring us back to life. I hope that they come in and say, ‘They did a really nice job and I’m excited to be back.’”
For a full schedule of the Grand’s special centennial season, visit grandtheater.org.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here