Twenty years ago, the Kirov Orchestra came to Morristown’s Community Theatre to play Tchaikovsky.
But it’s The Star Spangled Banner that Laryssa Krupa remembers.
“They had never performed the National Anthem,” Krupa recounted Monday, at a ceremony marking the anniversary of a show that would save the dilapidated venue.
Krupa’s late husband, the acclaimed pianist Alexander Slobodyanik, had invited conductor Valery Gergiev to bring the Kirov from St. Petersburg.
As showtime approached, hasty calls produced sheet music, courtesy of the New Jersey Symphony, and the Russian visitors learned America’s song during their 20-minute rehearsal.
Krupa and her husband then dashed around the outside of the building–the only way to get from backstage to front-of-the-house in those days–so they could hear the anthem commence the historic performance.
And it was…?
“Phenomenal,” said Krupa.
That word pretty much describes the Community Theater’s transformation, into what is now the glistening Mayo Performing Arts Center.
Video: ‘It Feels Like Home’
Chances are, Valery Gergiev won’t recognize the renamed concert hall when he returns in January 2015 with his re-named Mariinsky Orchestra.
Tony Bennett, Ringo Starr, Bill Cosby and the late Joan Rivers are among the show-business legends who have played the 1,300-seat Mayo Center, which hosts more than 200 shows annually and pumps an estimated $14 million into the local economy.
“It’s a very big plus for me,” said Jim Mongey, whose Dublin Pub caters to theater patrons and the entertainers.
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MUSHROOMS AND MARQUEES
Rewind two decades: Slobodyanik, a Morris Township resident, correctly guessed that a prestigious concert would galvanize the public. A small army of volunteers spent months preparing the place–an abandoned movie palace that was sprouting mushrooms–for the big gig.
Three capital campaigns followed, raising $16 million for renovations. The latest drive has given a $2 million facelift to the theater entrance. An electronic marquee greets visitors. The lobby has a fresh look. A new box office and elevator were constructed. Rest rooms have been expanded.
“To look around now, and see what this has become–it blows my mind. I’m humbled by it,” said MPAC Board Chairman Joseph M. Goryeb.
He thanked all the donors who supported this renaissance, and singled out three recent contributions exceeding $250,000, from brothers S. Dillard and Jefferson Kirby; Neil and Lois Gagnon; and John and Peggy Post.
Chairman Emeritus Bud Mayo, the center’s namesake; architect Andrew Passacantando; and Paul Larena, who has quarterbacked much of the construction, also rated special mentions. So did Mayor Tim Dougherty, who was joined by Councilwoman Alison Deeb at Monday’s ceremonial ribbon-cutting.
Teens from the Mayo Center’s Performing Arts Company serenaded invited patrons with It Feels Like Home, written for the occasion by one of their instructors, Tony-nominated composer Keith Herrmann. (See video above.)
VOLUNTEERS AND PRISONERS
Goryeb, a 1975 graduate of Morristown High School, saw movies at the old Community Theatre. But it’s the musical memories that resonate most deeply.
He caught some rock concerts there during the theater’s brief reincarnation as The Morris Stage. More recently, he has been thrilled to see Peter Frampton, Heart and other favorites from his youth grace the Mayo stage.
“I’ve always had a love of music. My parents bought me a Fender Stratocaster when I was 12 years old,” said the Mendham resident, who has played classic rock in a band with his wife, Jeanne.
“It gives me a tremendous sense of pride to see how far we’ve come, and the tremendous effort and hard work by everyone here” at the center, said Goryeb, a retired principal of the Champion Mortgage Co. Inc.
Krupa, an accomplished classical pianist, still marvels at the frenzied work that tamed the mildewed Community Theatre for the Kirov’s appearance on Sept. 29, 1994.
Prisoner laborers were brought in by the Morris County sheriff’s office to help rip up carpets and remove old seats, she recalled.
“When they worked alongside the volunteers, they felt they were part of something special,” she said.
More than special, in fact.
“It was magic,” Krupa said.