November 21, 2008 Enquirer Article

Cincinnati Enquirer

November 21, 2008

By Steve Kemme

Community theater troupe ready to stage its comeback

LOVELAND — It could be written as a three-act play.

Act I: Flames leap skyward from the community theater in the small town’s historic downtown. The accidental fire leaves the recently restored building in ruins.

Act II: Members of the crestfallen theater group rally quickly and complete their string of scheduled musical performances at a high school theater. With encouragement from town officials and others, the group starts a fundraising effort to rebuild.

Act III of this real-life drama has yet to be written.

Since the Oct 20 fire at the Loveland Stage Company’s theater at 111 S. Second St., donations and good wishes have poured in. In only a month, donors have sent $15,000 to the Loveland Stage Company Fire Fund at Lebanon Citizens National Bank in Loveland.

The theater group will need to raise $400,000 to rebuild.

“Let’s face it, we need some big bucks,” said Pat Furterer, president of the 29-year-old group.

Furterer said she values the notes of encouragement people send as much as the checks themselves.

“You can’t believe the wonderful notes and the good wishes for us,” Furterer said. “The outpouring is just fabulous. It’s nice to know we have made a positive impact on the community.”

Bob and Cindy Kessler, who operate a stained-glass studio in Loveland, had donated two stained-glass windows for the front façade of the theater just weeks before the fire. The Kesslers have agreed to replace the two windows, valued at $6,000, for free.

Theater company members have been cleaning out the rubble-strewn building with no roof.

The company began making plans to rebuild as the city determined the building was structurally sound. Architect Dave Welsh, a member of the company for 26 years, has developed sketches for restoring it exactly as it was.

The theater has been a staple of Loveland’s downtown life since the Loveland-Symmes Firefighter’s Association donated the building to the Loveland Stage Company 10 years ago. The company’s members have put in countless volunteer hours over the years, making continual improvements in the building, a former movie theater constructed in 1939.

While standing in the building Thursday morning, Furterer and Welsh struggled with their emotions as they talked about their 10 years of work.

“It was my baby,” said Furterer, wiping away tears. “It’s hard for me to be in here.”

The fire started early Monday evening when a temporary light clipped onto the back of a chair on the second floor fell onto flammable costumes. The company’s members are grateful that no one was injured in the fire.

“We haven’t lost anything we can’t put back,” Welsh said. “It’ll just take time and money.”

Two of the theater’s walls have been shored up to prevent them from collapsing in high winds. Work has resumed on an addition that will provide more storage space for costumes and props.

The weekend after the fire, the company held its last three scheduled performances of the musical “The Pajama Game” at Loveland High School. Its Dec. 20 performances of “Jingle Bells Rock” will take place at City Hall, 120 W. Loveland Ave., just around the corner from the theater.

The Association for Community Theaters will have an open-house benefit for the company, 1-8 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Madisonville Arts Center, 5021 Whetsel Ave. It will be a Community Theater Holiday Open House, featuring a variety of performances.

The company’s members hope to celebrate the grand opening of its restored theater next fall with the debut of “Miss Saigon.”.

That would give Act III of this real-life drama a very happy ending.