Now that the Ellie Caulkins Opera House has had its gala opening this past weekend, the city’s “No.1” cultural priority turns to raising the $5 million needed to build a studio theater on its fourth floor, said Jack Finlaw, Denver’s director of theaters and arenas.
The space would accommodate up to 400 seats in any configuration desired.
“I envision a multifunction space that would be ideal for dance, theater, chamber music and lectures,” Finlaw said. “But primarily I see this as a resource for our community’s smaller dance and theater companies – those among the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District’s Tier III.
“Our wish is to invite the best of all the dance and theater productions taking place in all the funky little spaces around town to the Denver Performing Arts Complex.”
Why would small companies transfer their productions downtown, and how would they be able to afford it?
“When Jose Mercado brings his North High School productions to the Buell Theatre as a fundraiser, that’s the type of thing that would be ideal for the studio theater,” Finlaw said. “I would like to see the best production at Su Teatro this season, or Shadow or Curious, come down here for anywhere from one night to three weeks.
“You would be in the same building where you’ve got this wonderful Chambers Grant Salon space,” he said. “That’s where Kevin Taylor will have his restaurant, and where there is plenty of space for private receptions. So you could do your play in the studio theater and then precede that or follow that with a fundraising dinner in the lobby of the opera house itself.
“It really will be an environment that we will design to nurture these homegrown theater companies.”
The financial risk, especially for one-night events, would actually be minimal to a small theater or dance company. The city charges rent for all its facilities based on the number of available seats. While the Buell would cost $2,880 to rent, the studio theater would run only $300-$400.
“We would also work with the stagehands union to create an apprentice program that would keep the cost of operating the space at far below the cost of some of our other spaces,” Finlaw said.
The math is simple enough: A company should be able to get in and out for less than $1,000 a night. But if they were to charge, say, $50 for a special benefit performance, they could gross as much as $20,000.
Rodney Smith, the city’s director of programming and event services, said the community groups would benefit from the recognition that comes from performing at the DPAC.
“And hopefully it would allow them to grow their audience and donor base by drawing out a certain part of our audience that is only used to coming to see things here at the DPAC,” Smith said. “If you can tap into that crowd, you have already broadened your potential audience. I think it is going to be huge for those groups.”
During the daytime, the studio theater will be a rehearsal home for the Colorado Ballet and Colorado Opera. While the seating configuration is mutable, the studio’s stage dimensions will be the same as the primary stage below. If the opera is performing in the main house in November while the ballet needs to rehearse for “The Nutcracker,” the studio’s stage can duplicate the dimensions.
The studio was included in the original $150 million dream plan produced a decade ago by Semple Brown Design. But it was put on a waiting list in 2002 when it was determined citizen approval was necessary for a general obligation bond. At that time, the project was scaled back to a more bare-bones, $75 million project. The Webb administration already had set aside $50 million in seat-tax revenues, and it was decided that $25 million was the maximum bond amount that would result in no tax increase. The studio idea was shelved.
The plan to raise the $5 million is two-pronged: “We are currently writing grant proposals to some of Colorado’s major foundations seeking a series of three or four grants that would add up to $5 million,” Finlaw said. “We are also talking with several private donors who are capable of giving the whole $5 million in exchange for naming rights.”
Finlaw predicts funding will be in hand by spring. Construction will take about a year.
“So I would hope to open it in the fall of ’07,” he said.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
