Theater to open amid renovations

By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer

Although the 24th Street Theatre isn't completely renovated yet, its doors will open for the first time tonight, culminating nearly two years of work and preparation by the USC School of Theatre.
The theater's renovation is the School of Theatre's community service project, called the 24th Street Project, which aims to increase the role of theater, dance and other arts in the USC community. The 70-year-old building is to be completed with all repairs and renovation next month.
"It was a mutual need," said Jon White-Spunner, executive director of the project. "We needed a space (to perform), and School of Theatre Dean Robert Scales had a building and someone in the community to back it."
"The theater is an independent venue (from USC) working to expand theater in the community," White-Spunner said.
White-Spunner said the 3,300 square-foot theater will provide a center where the community can gather and involve the local youth by offering them opportunities in the arts. It also hopes to offer entertaining theater and to work with the community to create programs addressing important local issues.
The 24th Street Theatre will not serve as a replacement for USC's Greenroom Theatre, which was destroyed by fire last summer, said Ryan Martinez, a junior majoring in theater. Martinez, who is a cast member of tonight's production, "Burn This," is glad to see its opening.
"I think it's a good theater for the community," he said. "It's perfect for the School of Theatre, which has suffered a lot because it hasn't had the Greenroom. The new one will lighten that burden."
Many find the new theater to be versatile. The 99 seat theater space will be able to be transformed into different stage settings.
Anne-Merelie Murrell, president of Giroux Glass, Inc., owns the building, which is located on the 1100 block of 24th. The building's site was converted to accommodate a theater.
"Hopefully, (the new theater) will bring other people to appreciate this district," Murrell said.
Murrell also hopes that the 24th Street Theatre will help expose children to theater arts, furthering their education, a major goal of the 24th Street Project.
This non-profit project will fill a gap that exists in the arts curriculum of schools near USC, like 32nd Street Magnet and Norwood Elementary, White-Spunner said.
In a proposal to the Good Neighbors Outreach, a university program that stresses school involvement with the community, Dean Scales said that nowhere in the surrounding area is there a community arts center or any venue where professional theater groups can perform.
Not only will the 24th Street Theatre serve as a community arts center for the 7,000 residents in the USC area, but it will hold professional productions as well.
Glorious Players, a professional theater group, is working closely with White-Spunner to bring professional theater to the surrounding area. "The Music of Magdalena Bay" will be their first production at the theater.
Along with professional performances, USC students will also be able to utilize the theater as well.
"We want the space to be used, and we want the students to use it," White-Spunner said.