Monday, April 1, 2024
A Day in the Life of the Strand Theatre’s All-Volunteer Staff
Strand Theatre volunteers David Finkel and Steve Frazee talk logistics as Crush Bon Jovi Experience, a tribute band, sets up Saturday.
by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Strand Theatre volunteers have staged more than 1,650 shows since acquiring the old movie theater 20 years ago, and the seamless visitor experience is proof. But behind the scenes, setting up a single performance requires exhaustive work. I spent some seven hours observing the process Saturday, and that was only about half of David Finkel’s investment, not even counting the cones he placed in front of the Strand at midnight Friday to ensure loading access.
I met Finkel at 1:30 p.m., and we were immediately on the move, taking his vehicle to Shelbyville Paint, Flooring & More to collect tickets purchased there for the evening’s show: Crush Bon Jovi Experience. We then leave to find an equipment tester the band needs.
“The Strand has a culture of ‘yes,’” Finkel says as we pull up at his house. “‘Do you have a cable?’” he says, relaying a conversation with the band crew. “‘No, but I’ll find one.’”
There’s also attention to detail and strict adherence to the Theatre’s core values: quality of life, community self-esteem, economic vitality and artistic freedom. They don’t host weddings. They don't operate the in-house bar, which is instead staffed by Capone’s Downtown Speakeasy.
“It’s not part of our core mission,” Finkel explains. “And it’s not what’s best for our volunteers.”
There are no paid staff members at The Strand. Instead, 14 volunteers appear as the afternoon wears on. They staff concessions, hang “Reserved” signs on seats for those who paid an extra $10 for the privilege and interact with audience members as the show nears. Last year, 604 cumulative volunteers put in 2,416 hours at The Strand.
But much of the technical problem-solving needed throughout the afternoon is handled by Finkel and Steve Frazee. For example, after searching unsuccessfully for a solution to a cable connection issue, the pair developed a workaround.
“It’s not just about creating the art,” Finkel says to me as he hastens from the front of the house to the stage, and I try to keep up. “It’s knowing where to stop, when your art is finished. The same is true in leadership. When are we not going to go forward? Could I have found that cable? Probably, but it’s 2:30 in the afternoon.”
He and Frazee lay and staple the cord as needed, and then it’s on to angling a ladder out of a closet, grabbing the necessary letters for a marquee change, and heading outside. Finkel changes two panels and, during the second half of the concert, returns for two more, which advertise offerings for the upcoming solar eclipse weekend. The Strand will show “Night of the Comet” (1984) as part of the regular Friday Night Frights series on Friday, April 5, 7:30 p.m. The remaining weekend events are free. On Saturday, “Space Jam” (1996) will show at 1 p.m., and “Wizard of Oz” Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and again Sunday, 7 p.m.
“Everybody expects an old movie theater to show movies, and we are,” Finkel said.
A free film festival will be held Sunday, 1 p.m., and Scott Shrader and Friends will perform an acoustic version of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album at 3 p.m. Sunday.
These are a lot of free events for a self-supporting theater, especially in the post-pandemic era.
“Last year was a horrible ticket-selling year,” Finkel said.
This year has been stronger, with nearly 200 seats selling on Saturday in the 369-seat venue.
As the band returns from Pudder’s, and Karen and Lindel Smith and Nella Hoover set up the bar, Finkel, now changed into a button-up shirt and tie, moves even faster.
He checks to ensure the loading area in front of the Strand is still open, then prints off the alcohol permit and places it in a binder, always ready for a surprise inspection. “We’re not slouches,” he says, showing off the organized tabs.
He then changes the electronic posters and communicates with the band’s merchandise team.
“This is my life,” Finkel says, now with ear plugs in while the band, headed by Triton Central graduate Doug Shepard, practices “Bed of Roses” at around 100 decibels.
The crowd starts arriving over an hour before the 7:30 p.m. show. One local concert-goer says it is her first time back in the building since the Cinema era two decades ago. (The Strand opened in 1916.) Others on the pre-purchase list are regulars.
Finkel starts selling tickets to walk-ins and checks names off while answering questions. Best seat in the house? In the balcony, he says. When a volunteer asks how best to accomplish a task, Finkel defers to her judgment. “You’re in charge,” he says.
As tasks are completed, he tosses some items into a plastic box marked “Archives”: Ticket stubs, set lists, lists of attendees. “It’s like sedimentary layers,” Finkel said of the preservation system, which will someday provide a flavor of each event. “It’s for the anthropologist, not the historian.”
He does a final check with the crew, and then with the band in the dressing room. He ensures cool water bottles are in the fridge and room temperature ones within reach. On a nearby table is a stack of Rolling Stone editions. Finkel, a lifetime subscriber to the magazine, points and says with a smile, “You have to work to stay current.” He asks the band to sign a white wall filled with the markings of past performing artists.
He then tells the band he’ll start with an introduction that will take approximately two minutes and 40 seconds.
Finkel walks on stage and welcomes the crowd. He asks for applause from those who live outside Shelby County. It appears as if the majority do. There is also a strong response when he asks to hear from first-time attendees. He highlights upcoming events and signs off. “Give it up for Crush Bon Jovi!” he says to cheers. I stop my timer. Two minutes, 36 seconds.
As the band opens with “Raise Your Hands” from the 1986 “Slippery When Wet” album, Finkel moves to the next set of tasks.
“Anyone can start (a performance venue), but most fail in operations,” he says. “When we leave tonight, this will be performance ready.”
I accompany Finkel to the balcony to take in a few minutes of the show before heading out. The volunteers’ night is still young, and I ask for an update after clean-up, after concessions are loaded, after the CO2 is turned off, after the thermostats have been adjusted.
At 1:15 a.m., Finkel emails. He has just finished the final audit of the night’s numbers.
“It was a good night financially, but could have been a great night,” he writes, noting the event competed with the NCAA tournament, and it was Easter eve. Then he cuts to the most important part. “From a core mission standpoint, it was a home run. The performance was outstanding.”
BELOW: David Finkel prepares to change a marquee panel.
NOTEBOOK:
St. Ann Altar Society’s annual rummage and bake sale is Friday and Saturday, April 5 and 6, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church Hall, 4218 E. Michigan Rd., Shelbyville. Items available include clothing, housewares, shoes, holiday decorations, toys and more.
NATIONAL NEWS: According to the USDA’s Prospective Planting Report released on Thursday, U.S. farmers are expected to plant 90 million acres of corn, a decrease of five percent, and 86.5 million acres of soybeans, an increase of three percent over last year. In Indiana specifically, farmers said they expect to plant 5.1 million corn acres (down by 350,000), and 5.75 million soybean acres (an increase of 250,000) in 2024. According to market observers, the market was prepared for reduced corn acreage this year due to the large harvest in 2023 causing a decrease in the crop’s profitability. But these are just predictions; and as any farmer will tell you, mother nature will have the final say in how much gets harvested come autumn. (Indiana Public Media)
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This Day in Shelby County History
2014: Caleb Armentrout, 18, received his Eagle Scout rank. He was a junior at Morristown Jr.-Sr. High School and had been involved in Boy Scouts 11 years. His Eagle Scout project had been planning and building a prayer garden with trees, a bench and a stone bench, the Ten Commandments and a cross at Shelbyville Community Church.
2004: Plans for Central Park, a new 359-home subdivision, were approved by city planning boards. The neighborhood would have an enclosed drainage system, preventing potential flooding problems in the future.
1994: Shelby County’s unemployment rate reached 6 percent, despite many surrounding counties only seeing jobless rates around 3.5 percent. Rush County was also at 6 percent.
1984: Overhead Door bought the Tokheim Corp. facility on St. Joe St. Tokheim was in limited production, but mostly closed. Overhead Door officials indicated they might employ up to 125 at the location.
1974: The City of Shelbyville joined with the Major Hospital Board of Directors as plaintiffs in a suit concerning the will of William S. Major. The city was requested to be a plaintiff in the case by the hospital board because the city owned the title to the property on which Major Hospital was located. The board was investigating the possible enlargement and/or addition to the W. Washington St. facilities or building a new facility. Due to the stipulations in the Major will, the board felt it necessary to have a court determine the consequences and legal effects if the then-present hospital ceased operations. The Major will stipulated that if the City would fail to maintain, use and operate Major Hospital for a period of one full year or more, the real estate would revert back to Major’s brother, Alfred L. Major, and his sister, Elizabeth Reed, The Shelbyville News reported. However, both were deceased and the will did not name any other persons as heirs. The board wanted to know the court’s decision before proceeding with facility planning.
1964: SCUFFY reached its goal of $99,805.38. Carl McNeely was drive chair. The drive had been a challenge, The Shelbyville News reported, due to economic conditions and “a measure of complacency engendered by the comparative ease of reaching quotas in past years.” SCUFFY board president John C. DePrez said there were 6,679 individual contributors during the campaign.
The Piatt Furniture Company Store moved from 222 S. Harrison St. to the former Western Auto Store at 48 E. Washington St. The S. Harrison St. location, owned by Nate Kaufman, was being razed for off-street parking.
1954: A public demonstration by Indiana State Police of a new speed measuring device was held at the east edge of Shelbyville on U.S. 421. Both police and local motorists were invited to see the electronically operated device, which was activated by two rubber tubes stretched across the pavement several hundred feet from the location of the machine. When a car ran over the first tube, the timer began to move. When the car hit the second tube, a calculation of speed was made. Vehicles in the opposing lane did not trip the timer.
1944: A 40-foot section of brick wall fell from the top of the Pike St. side of the Sandman Bros. building located at the corner of Washington and Pike Streets. Although pedestrians were in the area, none were hurt by falling bricks. Strong winds were believed to have caused the incident.
1934: A memorial service was held for Miss Wilma Wheatcraft at Shelbyville High School for the teacher who had been killed in a car accident. The service began at 8:15 a.m. W. Eden Thurston, violinist, played two hymns accompanied by Martin Schultz. Mr. Breck and Mr. Loper then spoke about Wheatcraft, who was known to help students financially. She also provided Christmas gifts each year for young people at the Rockville Sanitarium. School was dismissed for the day following the service.
1924: Plans were announced to demolish the old Morrison house on North Harrison Street, making way for two “modern” homes. The 75-year-old home was located at the northeast corner of Harrison and Mechanic streets (current location of Talk to Tucker office). “Uncle John Morrison and his wife, Sarah, in the beginning of Shelbyville and reaching far into its history, were closely identified with every forward movement made,” The Republican said. They were the grandparents of Harry Morrison, who by 1924 was the judge. Judge Morrison had several chairs at his house handmade by his grandfather. John and Sarah Morrison had been visited frequently by Shelbyville residents and out-of-town visitors. “After a while this practice of visiting at the Morrison home was so common that the couple realized that they were being eaten out of house and home,” the paper said. So as a “matter of self-protection, one day Mr. Morrison hung out a sign ‘Boarding House.’ It was not his intention to go into that business or even to keep such of his friends away, as they liked to visit them, but simply to get away from the people who were making it a business of sponging off of them.” Nevertheless, the home became a famous boarding house, which was maintained until the couple was in their 80s. The original house had a large veranda, but as the town progressed, residents objected the porch was blocking the sidewalk, so city council ordered the veranda removed. Also removed was a stairway on Mechanic St. that led to Morrison’s basement woodshop. “As (John Morrison) grew older and fatter, he was generally known as ‘Uncle Johnny,’” the paper said. “He never would swear but like all other humans, he would sometimes get aggravated. Under such circumstances his byword was ‘b’gosh,’ and he used this word to the extent that many of his boarders called the Morrison House the ‘B’Gosh House.’”
1914: Three local men suffered major injuries to their hands on the same day while working in furniture factories. Charles Smith was hurt at the Shelbyville Desk Factory, George Swartz was injured at Spiegel Cabinet Co. and Curtis Jerrall was injured at the Excel Furniture plant.
What’s Happening at Your Library?
by DONNA DENNISON
Your Shelby County Public Library is here to help everyone! As we see people coming in for the eclipse this weekend, I thought I would highlight some of our services that you don’t need your library card to use. Our computer lab has eight computers for public use. If you are visiting from out-of-town, just ask the computer lab staff for a guest pass; they are always happy to help. Our library bookstore is open for anyone who would like to buy books, movies and CDs. Our WIFI is open and free for use even in our beautiful outdoor plaza. We have a notary on staff and can send faxes for a small fee. If you want to learn some local history or how to start your family history search, we are here with Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com for free, and four skilled librarians on staff to help. Our programs are also always open to everyone.
Remember to fill up your gas tank, get a few extra groceries, come to the library for your eclipse glasses and be safe this weekend!
Baby and Toddler Storytime: Friday, 10 a.m.; Children Storytime: Tuesday, 10 a.m.; Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.; Thursday, 1 p.m. This week’s theme: The moon!
Teens - Make Your Own Potato Chips Night: Tuesday, 5 p.m.; Neocities Night: Wednesday, 5 p.m.; D&D with Blake, Saturday, 1-3 p.m.
Adults - D & D Journey, Monday, 5:30 p.m. (in room C in Annex); Roll a Picasso Art, Tuesday, 6 p.m.; Board Game Club, Thursday, 6 p.m.
For more details and great things going on at our Morristown Branch check out our website.
OBITUARIES
None today