Spring. A time of sunshine. Flowers in bloom. Children selling lemonade on suburban sidewalks. And Spring Cleaning, the ritual of clearing out the miscellaneous unused and unwanted detritus that has accumulated during the cold winter months. It’s a time to reorganize, to refresh, to begin anew as the trees do, sprouting new leaves at the first sign of warmer weather.
So…we jumped the gun a bit! Though the air is freezing, the snow is falling, and people are hidden behind layers of down and fleece, the house crew at the Oriental along with several contracted companies have done quite the “spring cleaning” job on the Oriental Theatre! The entire stage area was restored to be shiny and new. We even replaced and repainted our entire stage floor! Holes were patched, three dumpsters worth of aforementioned detritus was removed, trap rooms were organized, bulbs replaced, paint applied and inventory taken.
Backstage areas were completely recarpeted and repainted as well as the bars and merchandise stands. A long “to-do” list got shorter and shorter by the day, as “the theatre that once housed “Wicked” turned itself back into the glorious “Oriental Theatre”.
We are excited for the audiences of our next production in the space, Chicago, to be the first to experience the splendor of a newly restored theatre!
-Stephanie, Production Associate
