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Movies to music, theater evolves
What do Jennifer Lopez and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy have in common? They've both recorded at the Springs Theatre.
By BRIAN WHITE
Published July 1, 2005
When John Zumwalt Stephan opened a recording studio in the Springs Theatre eight years ago, Sulphur Springs wasn't in good shape.
Homeless people and panhandlers wandered the neighborhood. Prostitutes boldly solicited customers on Nebraska Avenue. Residents had few places to go to relax.
Today that's changed. The city opened a community pool in 2000, and plans are under way for a new park around the old water tower west of Interstate 275.
"It looks like a beach town, with little kids walking with towels over their shoulders going to the pool," said Stephan, 50.
A landmark of Sulphur Springs, the Springs Theatre has drawn artists such as Jennifer Lopez and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The theater has three studios, including a two-story studio for large group recordings where the Florida Orchestra holds rehearsals.
Stephan likes to mix old and new technology. A microphone from the 1950s might be used with new digital equipment and computers.
The theater at 8029 N Nebraska Ave. had many uses during the 20th century. It opened in 1938 and for years was a movie house. On Saturdays, kids didn't need money to watch cartoons, Stephan said.
"All you had to have to get in was four RC bottle caps," he said.
For a while, it was a porn theater. But by the 1970s, the theater had stopped showing any movies.
Stephan bought the theater from a printing business in 1997 and turned it into the recording studio.
It has attracted big names such as Robert Smith, front man for the Cure, who recorded the theme song for Dragon Hunters, a Canadian TV show, at the theater. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy did a recording for Comedy Central, and Jennifer Lopez prepared for appearances on Saturday Night Live and at Super Bowl XXXV, which was held in Tampa, in 2001.
Lopez "had to have everything white," Stephan said, so they spray-painted a keyboard to match the white drums and guitar.
Local artists also use the studio, which charges $125 per hour.
"We went all the way to Virginia for our first CD," said Jasmine Hart, lead singer for Juniper, a Celtic band in Tampa that's recording a new CD at the theater.
"This would have been so much easier."
- Brian White can be reached at bwhite@sptimes.com
[Last modified June 30, 2005, 09:10:08]
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