The Grand Opening celebration of the Geneva Theater will continue on Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10, 2017 with free showings of the family movie Sing at 11 a.m. both days for Lake Geneva Residents. The 2016 animated movie, from the makers of Despicable Me, is fitting for the reopening event as the plot involves an old theater that undergoes rejuvenation.
The Grand Opening begins on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 of the Geneva Theater. A ribbon cutting at 4 p.m. kicks off an open house that will include live music, tours, light hors d’oeuvres and prize give-aways. At 6 p.m. a formal presentation will grace the theatrical stage installed 89 years ago by business magnates and Geneva investors William Wrigley, Jr. and William Pabst, Jr., and The Gumps cartoonist Sidney Smith, among others. In fact, Tuesday’s show is modeled after their Gala Opening Program dated June 6, 1928, when the Geneva Theatre Orchestra provided the overture to a slate of local performers. The reopening gala will feature special appearances by local arts groups as well: the Lake Geneva Orchestra, Broadway Academy of Art and Dance, Lake Geneva House of Music, a theatrical performance by James McClure, as well as a few surprises. All events are free and open to the public.Just 13 months ago, Shad Branen, the owner of the Plaza Theater in Burlington, purchased the dilapidated Geneva Theater that had been shuttered for a decade. Branen partnered with the City of Lake Geneva to renovate the historic structure, preserving what remained of the original 1928 architecture, while adding digital movie projectors, new surround sound equipment, and luxury seating. The local theater advocacy group, the Friends of the Geneva Theater, is also participating in upgrades to the stage lighting and curtains.
Plaza Theater and Geneva Theater general manager, Daniel Colwell, said, “We are excited to open the doors to Lake Geneva so people can celebrate this milestone.
“There was more work to be done than anyone anticipated, but we had a great team to get the lights on, the sound up, even crawl underneath the main auditorium to get at 60 feet of rusted- out pipe that needed to be replaced.” added Colwell.
“The most inspiring aspect of this project has been the community support, both from movie- goers who tolerated unfinished details the first few weeks, to the local business and community leaders who contributed so much to the effort,” he said.
Branen said, “While any closed business is a blight on a community, a shuttered theater seems to cut a little deeper. A hometown theater is part of a community’s fabric, and we are so pleased to restore Lake Geneva’s to its former glory and deliver it to the people for their entertainment and cultural fulfillment.”
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