The Garden Theater has been going through a re-birth. Last year a community group led by Peter Yockel and Rick Gore began re-building the main auditorium, and produced the first musical in the space – Stephen Sondheim’s Follies – to very positive reviews. But conditions required them to stop for the winter, focusing on a second stage – called the Short North Stage – for performances that would generate awareness of the project, audiences and revenues.
The process of bootstrapping a performance space requires many careful – but bold – decisions. Similarly the process of creating a successful performance requires planning and robust creativity. This video highlights the path of one local artist – singer/actor Eileen Howard – as she goes from concept, through rehearsals and the ultimate closing applause of her original concert concept – Winter Blues – performed in February, 2012. Her “cabaret weekend” show was very successful both for the theater and for her personally – did you attend the reprise of the act over the weekend?
More information about the future of The Garden Theater and the Short North Stage – as well as how to acquire tickets for future performances – can be found at www.shortnorthstage.org.