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Despite rainy day, art league morale still high
By JORGE SANCHEZ, Times Staff Writer
CITRUS HILLS -- Sunday's drizzle may have dampened the tours of the partially completed theater at the Citrus County Art League, but it did not douse the spirit among the many people who have worked hard over the years to make the building a reality. The new theater, clearly visible from County Road 486 at Annapolis Avenue, still must undergo a few months worth of work before it is completed. The slab, some of the plumbing and most of the brick walls are finished. The roof trusses are next, and the building should be "dried in," meaning weatherproofed, by the end of the month. Art league officials are confident that when the curtain rises on the upcoming season in September, the audience will be seated in the new theater. "Construction should be finished in a couple of months, but then a new phase begins," said Sharon Harris, the art league president. "We'll have to make and hang the stage curtain, put in all the chairs and hang the lights for the plays, but we'll have it done by September." The new art league theater will seat about 200 people, who will be able to see the plays on a 36-foot-wide stage raised two feet off the floor. Actors will be more comfortable in two large backstage dressing rooms, with another construction room available for set and costume designers. Sunday, the art league held an open house for people to tour the partially completed theater and meet some of the painters, actors and directors involved in the project. Though tours of the new facility were offered, the rain kept most of the people inside the existing art league gallery. They were content to peek through the windows to get a view of the construction project. Pat Lewkowicz, who has directed many of the art league's plays, will direct the inaugural production, Our Town, when the new theater season begins in September. "It's a great honor," she said. "I'm glad we're opening with Our Town, because it's a play that requires very little scenery. We're also going be using some local VIPs as extras in some of the scenes. It will be very exciting." Harris said she thought the new theater would be part of a larger growth movement in the area. "Central Citrus is probably the fastest-growing area of the county, and having a new theater here, that will be a big factor in other businesses, such as restaurants, when they make a decision on where to build." The new theater will complement the existing buildings at the art league. Executive manager Chris Skinner said the two existing buildings will be renovated to create several smaller rooms to use as educational areas for painting classes. -- Jorge Sanchez can be reached at 860-7313 or sanchez@sptimes.com .
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